Ep. 18: Preparing for the Shift in Higher Education, part 2
In this episode, Ziz and Pam, revisit the subject of our ever-changing economy and the need for a shift in higher education. Students entering the workforce in the shrinking corporate world will also need to look for opportunities in the gig or sharing economy. This is the future of work. Most companies are outsourcing and relying on freelance workers to meet their needs. Technology is changing so fast that many degrees are being rendered obsolete. Instead, certificate programs through MOOCs or corporations are available to get people up to speed. What can schools and families do to support our children in this environment? Teach kids to be agile. Focus on soft skills and building networks. According to LinkedIn, 85% of jobs are found through networking. Teach kids how to get a job but also how to create a job. By allowing our children the opportunity to explore, experience, and find their way, we are creating the best possible environment for them to flourish. RESOURCES Fiverr Upwork Scott Galloway, NYU 60-year curriculum https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRlo-K7WQYk David Deming STEM majors Jim Goodnight, CEO of SAS Western Governors University QUOTES Pam: "The college degree is not preparing (students) for the literal agility they need to be able to move between the different economies at different times." Pam: "Somehow we've associated education with the school building. And that's a new construct, an industrialized construct when we were preparing for compliance and conformity, to work in factories, and to work in institutions where you had to fit in. That is no longer the case." Pam: "This whole idea of being agile in an uncertain environment, having to figure out, having to navigate, we need to prepare our kids for that." Pam: "That's the hindrance of a system that was built for the 20th-century institutional economy. We've shifted to this entrepreneurial networking economy and the skill sets are different. So in fact, the way we're teaching devalues the human being and their worthiness and the individual by standardizing them based on their age." Pam: "In the past when we've gone through shifts in arrows, from agriculture to industrial and industrial to the information age, it's been a kind of a longer spread, a hundred years. Now in 20 to 30 years, boom, complete shift. It's because technology builds on technology. This whole idea of machine learning, where they can all connect and learn from each other on a greater level, completely reshaping what's happening, what we do, but also creating tremendous opportunity." Ziz: "What we're saying is a major paradigm shift is underway. As you already know, if not: attention, attention, the paradigm shift is happening. It's happening in higher education. We have clearly identified the full-time/corporate job, gig, and sharing economy." Ziz: "Our jobs will be found through another human being through a network. Open up your networks, figure out who's in your network. Understand who's in your network, which also means you have to understand who you are and what you have to offer." Pam: "As community members, as parents reaching out with other parents with businesses to say, it's all our jobs to create the environments that allow these kids to explore, experience, et cetera. That is critical. We have a big job ahead of us in this next century, not in defining them, but in creating the environments that allow them to flourish."
