Formula for economic prosperity
According to a global report, college students today are three times more likely to be unemployed than previous generation. Students with only a high school diploma will have 78 % chance of being unemployed. The reasons given are globalization and technological changes have impacted almost every country as workers are no longer be confined in a local market but have to compete with others from all over the world. The same is true for small and medium sized local businesses as they have to compete with larger and well managed global companies with huge assets and aggressive strategies.
All over Europe, especially Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy more than 40% of college students are unemployed. The situation is worst in the Middle East and Northern Africa where over two third of college students between the age of 18 to 25 are unemployed. The report warned that if these young people cannot find jobs soon, their society will have to be prepared for more demonstrations, more crimes, or much more violence.
At the same time, there is a shortage of skilled workers in every country. Countries such as the U.S. UK and Germany are having difficulty to find skilled workers for their growing economies and the problem is getting worst. The 2012 industry forecast report indicated that by 2020 there will be a shortage of 15 million entry level job in Information Technology (IT) due to the high demand in this industry when many older workers retire. The report warned that these countries will not be able to maintain their economic growths if they cannot find enough workers to fill the gap.
For years, economists have warned about the imbalance in global workforce due to the lack of technology education but no one pay attention until now. The fact is many country leaders do not understand globalization and the impact of technology to have proper strategies to deal with it. For example with globalization, factory works can be outsourced to lower cost countries very quickly. Few years ago, factories in Spain, Portugal and Greece were moved to lower cost Eastern European and Asian countries but government failed to respond accordingly to educate their people with technology skills to replace job lost and meeting global demands, which led to high unemployment and economic collapsed.
With globalization, businesses and jobs will go to any place that has large numbers of skilled workers. By understand this factor, education systems must focus on this needs so that students will have the skills they need to compete for work. That also means governments must provide a clear direction for the education systems to change and catch this opportunity. Unfortunately, most governments are too busy to provide any clarity on which is important and which is not and most education systems are reluctant to move outside of their comfortable zone.
Last summer when I was in Europe I found that, on the average, each university graduated about a hundred software engineers a year and countries like Spain, Italy or Greece would only produced few thousands software engineers when the demand was in fifty thousand or more. Many local companies have to hire Indian and Chinese software developers to come and work there. When asked, a professor explained: “State universities received government funding and have to distribute to hundred fields of study, we cannot put a large amount into few areas such as software, technology, or engineering. We do not have enough qualified professors in those areas. Even if we do, what will happen to professors who teach arts, music, social studies, literature, or history? That would be unfair to them.” Another professor said: “We teach general skills for students so they can use them throughout their lives. We do not teach specific skill to meet the needs of the market. We are educator, NOT vocational teachers. Universities are designed to focus on theories and general knowledge NOT specific skills for anyone.”
As I travelled in Asia, I saw similar things with high unemployment among college graduates and universities were still teaching the same thing that they did many years ago. Why are they not seeing that globalization and technology have changed everything? When I talked to students, most were not very well informed about what happened in the global market and the needs. Many students told me that they chose what to study based on their own interests as they did not have good understanding of which fields of study lead to careers with job openings and good wages. A student said: “We only know what happen in our country, not with others. We only look at what local market needs, not what global market wants. We do not know that we can work in other countries if we have the needed skills. No one tell us to look outside for jobs or careers. We have limited knowledge of what has changed in the globalized world. As Asian, our parents and teachers have a lot of influence over our decisions but they also do not know much about the changing market.”
I think it is about time that students must receive training about globalization and have access to programs that are relevant to global market needs. Without major changes in education system, the situation will only get worse. The vast majority of jobs now require more technical skills, problem solving, and communication skills. But most students do not know what businesses expect and universities do not teach them these skills. Students need to know that most jobs created over the next decade will require at least a bachelor's degree in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). These jobs pay much more than any job that they see today. Instead of selecting what to study randomly, universities should encourage students to study in “STEM” fields and focus on having the skills that global market demands.
To be competitive in a global economy, a country must ensure that their students meet certain academic standards that allow them to excel. Every school should adopt certain quality standards so in the future every student can graduate with the knowledge and skills they need for success in this changing world. Of course, this will require significant change and investment but there is no investment better than to invest in education; by investing in the next generation it invests in the future of the country because the best defense of a country is how well educated and how well informed their citizens are. By emphasizing practical skilled learning, where trainings are closely aligned with the demands of the global market, it will help raise skill levels of all new graduates and it is a key factor in the formula for economic prosperity.
Sources
- Blogs of Prof. John Vu, Carnegie Mellon University
