The Education of yesterday and the reality of today
Each year around the world, millions of students have graduated from university, some have a job but many do not. This year (2016), according to several newspapers in Europe, more than half of college graduates may have to work in jobs that have nothing to do with their education or require a college education. However, these graduates are lucky because a third of European college graduates may not even have a job. If you look at the number of unemployment college graduates in Asia and Africa, it is much worse, and some countries have reached a critical stage that could bring severe impact to their economic development.
For many years, I have written about the situation where there are plenty of job openings, but many graduates do not have the skills to meet the requirements. Why such a mismatch between the market demand and the supply of skills? Why not enough students studying these skills where there is a high demand? Why is university still producing graduates with obsoleted skills that they cannot find a job? Even with these facts, many universities still believe that their graduates are well prepared for the job market although most hiring companies do not agree. The difference is easy to explain because what universities teach is what academic professors think students should learn but may not be what the market needs. In many universities, there are professors with training goes back several decades, and without updating and retraining, they can only teach what they know even technology and market have changed significantly. That is why students still spend years studying obsoleted things that may not help them to find a job in today 's market. If the education systems do not change then the future for college graduates, business companies, and the economy will be bleak, and soon it will be impossible to fix. So who to blame and what is the solution? In my opinion, the schools, the companies, the governments and the students themselves are all responsible for this problem.
For many years of teaching in both Europe and Asia, I can say that many universities fail to provide students with career advice that allows them to make the right decision on the options available in the job market. Many universities are staffed by professors who live in the “Academic world ” which is far away from the reality of the current market. Many professors do not have the knowledge required to advise students on careers outside their academic world. Many professors even do not consider that is their job. An Asian professor once told me: “My job is to teach, not to advise.” Without proper guidance in the classroom, it let the students to figuring out what to learn, and many do not know how. Even today, many Asian universities are still focusing on “rote memorization” and knowledge to pass exams instead of developing the skills that allow students to meet the job market demand.
Governments always support the education of their country, but many leaders do not know how to align education with the economic growth. In this competitive world, government leaders should encourage universities to provide the skills that are important to foster employment, improve the businesses and help grow the economy. They should require more students to study areas such as Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) that have high demand and help the economy to grow. Since the government has spent much money on education, why not direct their schools to teach what are needed to solve the unemployment problem? Why not require their schools to focus on training in high demand areas such as STEM? Why not encourage more students to study the subjects that the economy need? Why not set policy to require the education system to align with the job market need? Why continue with the old belief that education should be left to academic people to decide what to teach and allow students to choose whatever they want to study?
Business leaders should not be passive and allow the shortage of skills to continue. Their companies need skilled people to grow else they will not be able to compete in the global market. Company leaders should approach universities and demand curriculum change else they will not hire students from certain universities. Company managers should provide careers advice to students on which skills they will hire. By actively involving in working with universities, educators, and students, companies can emphasize the importance of specific technical skills that they need and let students make a decision on their future.
Students also have a responsibility to acquiring the skills that can help them develop a long-term career and help improve their country's economy. A college education requires time, efforts and money and students must understand that they should not waste their time and money to learn something that does not meet the need of the employers. It is important that students should learn more about the job market and future opportunities before choosing what to study. They should be told whether a particular degree will provide them with certain skills needed by employers. I also think that the Media, TV, Newspapers, Magazine should provide young people with relevant guidance and information that will help them make a good career decision.
Today, on-line education is available everywhere via the Internet. The Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) is focusing on making education accessible to everybody. There are many excellent courses taught by the best professors from the best universities in the world. I believe soon MOOCs could disrupt the traditional education systems. Unfortunately many students ignore that opportunity and continue with the traditional education system and end up with a degree that is not considered by companies. They told me that in their country, companies is still hiring people with a degree. That is wrong as it has pushed students into spending time, money and efforts in schools that cannot help them to build a career and contribute to their economy. If they look at the new trend today, many large companies such as Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Facebook are hiring thousands of skilled people all over the world, many without a college degree.
As the global economy continues its expand rapidly, it is absolutely important for every country to have enough people with appropriated skills to help grow their economy else; they will be at risk of unemployment, chaos, famine and massive exit of their best people to another country. Future of the county depends on the government, the school, the company and their citizens to work together to solve these complex problem but everything should start with the proper education of young people because they are the future.
Sources
- Blogs of Prof. John Vu, Carnegie Mellon University
