The 4 biggest challenges to our higher education model – and what to do about them – World Economic Forum
- Education models need to reflect the demand for lifelong learning to cope with the technological and social changes brought by the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
- Skills not degrees may be the reality of the future.
- Start-ups and new business models are disrupting traditional educational institutions and operating models.
In a future of unprecedented societal shifts, education is crucial to managing the challenges ahead. With more automated, digitized and fluid job markets, today’s higher education systems are quickly becoming incompatible with the future we are looking towards. We are two decades into the 21st century, yet higher education is generally still geared to succeeding in the 20th. Indeed, universities themselves (at least in the US) express doubts about their ability to adapt to future developments.
While most debates around the future of education focus on the skills needed for the future and the imperative of reskilling, it is equally important to discuss the inevitable structural transformations of higher education.
There are at least four – and arguably many more – major developments that in their interconnectedness structurally challenge the current higher education model.
1. Increasing need for life-long learning in a non-linear world
We need to continually learn and update our skills in order to stay relevant. Work in the digital economy will, not surprisingly, consist increasingly of knowledge work.