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Higher Education in US – Eight economic facts

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The higher education sector itself is an important piece of the U.S. economy. In the fall of 2013, institutions of higher education that participated in Title IV federal financial aid programs employed almost 4 million people. The higher education sector also confers a large advantage to the United States in the global market for talent. In the 2015–16 academic year, more than 1 million international students studied at U.S. colleges and universities. These students contributed more than $32 billion to the economy and supported more than 400,000 jobs .

Fact 1: The median lifetime earnings for individuals with bachelor’s degrees are twice that of those with high school diplomas.
Fact 2: Federal tax credits generally do not increase college enrollment.
Fact 3: For the past twenty years, women have outpaced men in college attendance and degree attainment.
Fact 4: More than a quarter of low-income students who enroll in a four-year institution drop out by the end of the second year.
Fact 5: Student financial aid has increased dramatically over the past 15 years, while state direct aid to institutions has stagnated.
Fact 6: Two thirds of undergraduate borrowers receive less than $20,000 in loans and 90 percent borrow less than $40,000.
Fact 7: In 2015, 3.5 million students over the age of 30 were enrolled in higher education.
Fact 8: The vast majority of defaulters have less than $10,000 in student loan debt.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at Eight economic facts on higher education | Brookings Institution


Higher Education and Job in India – 27 Grads for each new job

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The discourse on jobs has captured popular imagination in recent months. The availability of reliable data on employment in India, on the other hand, has always been sparse but we have culled out data from various government surveys (Labour Bureau, National Sample Surveys), from the Central Bank, the IT industry body and others to arrive at a few conclusions and to hypothesise few, likely scenarios from the analysis. As per our estimates, the ratio of the number of students who earned higher education degrees (undergrad and above) to new jobs created had worsened from 9x for the three year period FY11-13 to 27x for FY14-16. Further, as per the latest employment surveys, the job creation at 0.19mn (excl. banks) over 9MFY17 is running short of the 8.8mn who graduated in FY16. Clearly, the gap between demand (for labour) and its supply could only increase with: a) the traditional legs (public sector, manufacturing, IT/ITeS and BFSI) of job creation waning, b) slow evolution of unconventional sources of employment such as personal and social service and c) rapid supply of qualified labour with an inherent mismatch in scope. We hypothesise three likely scenarios playing out as a result of the rising gap between demand and supply of jobs – a) increased outsourcing in the services sector benefiting flexi-staffing companies, b) increased penetration of credit to SME sector and self-employment due to rising self-employment and easy availability of capital, and c) along with the continued migration from agriculture to other sectors, this could temper inflationary pressures going forward.

Widening gap between demand (for labour) and its supply

Based on the quarterly employment survey and RBI’s data on banking employment, a total of 2.5 mn jobs had been created in nine labour intensive sectors that contribute to over 65% of the GDP in the three year period FY11-13 while 22.7 mn people earned higher education degrees in the same period (a ratio of 9 students per new job created). In the following three year period FY13-15, the corresponding numbers stood at 1 mn jobs and 25.9 mn with higher degrees (a ratio of 27 students per job created, more than 3x the previous period). According to the new quarterly employment series, a total of 0.19 mn jobs (excl. banks) were created in the first nine months of FY17 while 8.8 mn students passed out in FY16. The rate of supply of labour has far exceeded that of demand. Especially of concern is that textiles, IT/BPO and banks, which have contributed to about 90% of these new jobs, are exhibiting signs of increasing sluggishness. The misalignment between the education imparted and high growth areas of job creation further complicates the problem.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at JM Financial Ltd.

Grads in UK – A significant difference between their expectations and their experiences

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For the second year in a row, the results of the Accenture Strategy UK University Graduate Employment Study highlight a significant difference between the expectations of new university graduates and the experiences of recent graduates.

The class of 2016 is entering the workforce with confidence in how they have been prepared and great expectations for their careers.

But our data also points to some bad news: reality is not matching those expectations. Employers are missing the opportunity to convert workforce passion and energy into purpose and long-term engagement. Business success over the next decade depends on attracting and retaining the best and the brightest of the workforce of the future.

 

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at 2016 UK University Graduate Employment Study – Accenture

Grads in US – 51 Percent feel underemployed

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Why do new college graduates end up so disillusioned, underemployed and undervalued after a couple years of work?

The Accenture Strategy 2016 U.S. College Graduate Employment Study highlights the disparity between new graduate expectations and the reality of the working world, and examines how employers can improve the employee experience to attract and retain top talent.

Grads are wary of large companies. They want a more personalized work and career experience and they’re not getting it. They want interesting and meaningful work, but they’re not getting it. They want an open and engaging culture, but they’re not getting it.

If large companies expect to attract and retain the best and brightest, they need to deliver a different kind of work experience—what we’re calling an internal gig experience.

That means offering the security of full-time employment, but at the same time moving employees from gig to gig internally—taking a project-based perspective with more frequent job rotation.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at 2016 U.S. College Graduate Employment Study – Accenture

Grads in France – They obtain on average about 82% of their potential earnings after three years

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It is no longer the norm for an individual leaving full-time education in France to obtain a job on a standard employment contract. Typically a young person will spend a number of years moving between fixed-term contracts, special employment measures and, in some cases, unemployment1. However young persons do not remain young, and at some point they will usually come to occupy a stable job with a standard employment contract.

Stochastic earnings frontiers have been used in a relatively small number of papers to analyse workers’ ability to capture their full potential earnings in labour markets where there is inefficient job matching (due to lack of information, discrimination, over-education or during process of assimilation of migrants). Using a representative survey of young persons having left full-time education in France in 1998 and interviewed in 2001 and 2005, this paper examines the process of their assimilation into normal employment and the extent to which job matches are inefficient in the sense that the pay in a job is below an individual’s potential earnings (determined by education, other forms of training and labour market experience). Our results suggest that young workers manage to obtain on average about 82% of their potential earnings three years after leaving full-time education and earnings inefficiency had disappeared four years later. The results are robust to the treatment of selectivity arising from the exclusion of the unemployed in the estimation of the frontier.


via IZA – Institute of Labor Economics

Non-Cognitive Skills – University education has significant effects study finds

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Recently, a public debate has emerged on whether universities teach the right skill-sets that prepare students for a continuously changing and globally expanding labor market. Various articles from leading scholars and journalists emphasize that university education falls short of teaching students creativity, socioemotional skills, attributes of ownership, and the ability to learn on the fly. They argue that such non-cognitive skills are valued highly by employers and by society-at-large.

In this paper we contribute to this discussion by providing a first empirical glance at the role that university education plays in building non-cognitive skills, an alternative component of human capital. We follow the educational decisions and the evolution of non-cognitive skills – proxied by the Big Five personality traits and mental health – of 618 Australian adolescents over eight years. We pay particular attention to possible interactions between university education and socioeconomic status.

We find that university education has significant effects on outward orientation and mental health, and agreeableness for students from low socioeconomic status. These effects cannot be explained by individual-specific heterogeneity, time-varying life events, work experience or differences in the initial level of non-cognitive skills. The buffering effects of university education on extraversion are equally strong across all university groups and fields of study, suggesting that they are not driven by self-selection of students into specific degrees or universities.

We draw two conclusions from our findings. First, university education in Australia is successful in shaping some non-cognitive skills which employers and society value. The public discourse is misguided on claiming that universities need a major overhaul of curriculums and the way they teach students. Second, our robust findings contribute to a wider discussion that seeks to enhance non-cognitive skills through the education sector.

Our findings also suggest that non-cognitive skills can still be shaped at later stages. This conclusion may result in the possibility for targeting interventions to boost non-cognitive skills in the secondary and tertiary education sector.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at Do Universities Shape their Students’ Non-Cognitive Skills? | UQ LCC

Integration of University-Educated Immigrants in Canada – Pre-landing Canadian work experience plays an increasing role

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International students are increasingly regarded as an important group of young and well-educated individuals from which to select permanent residents. In December 2015 there were 353,000 international students with a valid study permit in Canada, up from 84,000 in December 1995. Of the international students admitted to Canada in the early 2000s, 25% became permanent residents over the 10 years that followed. Of these, nearly one-half applied as principal applicants in the economic class.

A small number of studies from Australia, Canada and the United States suggest that the earnings advantage that former international students have over other economic immigrants may be either small or non-existent. This suggests that pre-landing study experience in a destination country such as Canada may not in and of itself improve immigrants’ labour market outcomes over university degrees acquired abroad. Policy-makers and researchers are thus shifting their attention to the complementary role played by other factors, such as pre-landing work experience. A study released today by Statistics Canada offers new evidence on this issue.

The study examines the earnings trajectories of three groups of university graduates: international students who obtained a university degree in Canada and then became landed immigrants (i.e. Canadian-educated immigrants); individuals who had a university degree from abroad at the time they immigrated to Canada (i.e. foreign-educated immigrants); and university graduates born in Canada. The earnings trajectories of these groups were examined over 6 years for the cohort of individuals aged 25 to 34 in 2006, and over 20 years for the cohort of individuals aged 25 to 34 in 1991.

Among the 2006 cohort of male Canadian-educated immigrants, average annual earnings one year after landing were 48% lower than those of Canadian-born graduates. This gap narrowed to 34% six years after landing. Among female Canadian-educated immigrants, the earnings gap vis-à-vis Canadian-born graduates was 39% one year after landing and 32% six years after landing.

Most of these earnings gaps were accounted for by differences in the work histories of immigrant and Canadian-born graduates. Prior to becoming landed immigrants, 12% of male Canadian-educated immigrants had no work experience in Canada and 40% had prior work experience with annual earnings under $20,000. Among male Canadian-born graduates, virtually all had prior work experience and almost 90% had prior work experience with annual earnings of $20,000 and over. These patterns were broadly similar among women.

When group differences in prior Canadian work experience were taken into account, the earnings gap between Canadian-educated immigrants and Canadian-born graduates in the 2006 cohort disappeared among both men and women. Likewise, prior work experience accounted for much of the earnings gap observed among the 1991 cohort.

Canadian-educated immigrants had higher post-immigration earnings than foreign-educated immigrants, but prior work experience once again played an important role. Five years after landing, male Canadian-educated immigrants with no pre-landing work experience had annual earnings 20% below those of male foreign-educated immigrants. Among women, the shortfall was 7%. This takes into account a broad range of socio-demographic and source country characteristics. Canadian-educated immigrants who accumulated pre-landing work experience fared far better relative to their foreign-educated counterparts.

Canadian-educated immigrants with three years of pre-landing work experience that paid less than $20,000 had annual earnings five years after landing that were similar to, or higher than, their foreign-educated counterparts. Those with three years of pre-landing work experience that paid $20,000 to $50,000 had annual earnings five years after landing that were 42% to 61% higher. For the approximately 10% of Canadian-educated immigrants who had three years of pre-landing work experience that paid more than $50,000, their earnings five years after landing were more than double those of foreign-educated immigrants. These differences in earnings were larger among the 2006 cohort than the 1991 cohort.

These results suggest that pre-landing Canadian work experience and earnings play an increasing role in differentiating the post-immigration labour market outcomes of university-educated immigrants.

via The Daily — Study: International Students, Immigration and Earnings Growth

Degree Reclamation in US – 35 million aged 25 years and older have “some college, no degree”

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MILLIONS OF AMERICANS have attended college, accruing significant amounts of college credit, without ever receiving a college credential that appropriately recognizes their learning and effort. In 2015, there were more than 35 million such Americans aged 25 years and older, a group widely recognized as having “some college, no degree.” Millions of Americans enter higher education with the expectation of completing a degree, yet nearly one in five leave empty-handed after investing con- siderable time and resources, and amassing substantial debt. Labor economists project that by 2020, 65 percent of all U.S. jobs will require a college education, thus the higher education system must take greater responsibility for helping the “some college, no degree” population finish what they started and get back on the pathway to economic and social prosperity. Despite labor market demands for a more educated workforce and engaged citizenry, nearly all states are currently below the college attainment levels needed to fill these future jobs.

Degree reclamation deploys evidence-based and equity-focused strategies for institutions and systems to support potential completers—students who have accumulated roughly two or more academic years’ worth of credit and have stopped out of an institution or transferred from a two-year to a four-year institution before receiving a degree—in attaining degrees that are meaningful to their education and career goals.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at The potential of degree reclamation: a path to reclaiming the nation’s unrecognized students and degrees


Immigrants with University Education in Canada – A large earnings gap with their Canadian‑born counterparts, even in the long term

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The number of international students pursuing education in countries with advanced economies has been rising rapidly over recent decades. International students are often regarded as an important group of young and well‑educated individuals from which to select permanent residents. However, a few studies from Australia, Canada and the United States have shown that the earnings advantage of former international students over other economic immigrants is either small or non‑existent. These empirical findings have been reflected in recent changes to immigrant selection policies in Australia and Canada.

This study compared the earnings trajectories of three groups of young university graduates: former international students in Canada who became permanent residents (Canadian‑educated [CE] immigrants), foreign‑educated (FE) immigrants who arrived at age 25 or over and had a university degree before immigration, and the Canadian‑born population. It asked two questions. First, do university‑educated CE immigrants earn as much as Canadian‑born university graduates both in the initial years after immigration and in the long term, and, if there is a large earnings gap between the two groups, what are the possible determinants? Second, do CE immigrants have a large earnings advantage over FE immigrants in the short and long term?

Three data sources were used in this study. The sample of CE immigrants was drawn from the linkage of three files: the Temporary Residents File (TRF), the Immigrant Landing File (ILF) and the T1 personal tax file. International students were identified among temporary residents as anyone who ever held a study permit in Canada. The sample of FE immigrants was derived from the Longitudinal Immigration Database (IMDB). The sample of Canadian‑born workers was created from the linkage between the 20% sample file of the 1991 Census and the Longitudinal Worker File, which is a 10% random sample of the tax‑filing population, and the linkage between the 20% sample file of the 2006 Census and the T1 personal tax file. Common to all three data sources are the longitudinal earnings data from the tax file.

This study examined the earnings trajectories of university‑educated individuals, by immigration status, in two cohorts: the 1991 cohort and the 2006 cohort. The 1991 cohort included the Canadian‑born population aged 25 to 34 in 1991 (the census year), FE immigrants who arrived in Canada and were aged 25 to 34 in 1991, and CE immigrants who became landed immigrants from 1990 to 1992 and were aged 25 to 34 in the year of landing. Similarly, the 2006 cohort included the Canadian‑born population aged 25 to 34 in 2006, FE immigrants who arrived in Canada and were aged 25 to 34 in 2006, and CE immigrants who became landed immigrants from 2005 to 2007 and were aged 25 to 34 in the year of landing.

CE immigrants who graduated from university had a large earnings gap with their Canadian‑born counterparts both in the initial years after immigration and in the long term. In the first full year after becoming permanent residents, CE immigrant workers earned on average 50% less (for women) to 60% less (for men) than Canadian‑born workers in the 1991 cohort. This gap narrowed in the first 10 years after immigration to 20% among women and 31% among men, but there was no further catching up afterwards. Narrowing of the initial earnings gap was also observed during the six‑year follow‑up period for the 2006 cohort. Part of the earnings gap was related to the fact that most CE immigrants belonged to a visible minority, and they tended to spend more time pursuing additional education. However, most of the gap could be accounted for by differences between CE immigrants and the Canadian‑born population in their Canadian work history before the follow‑up started. For both the 1991 cohort and the 2006 cohort, about 50% of CE immigrant men had medium or high earnings in Canada before the year of immigration, compared with about 90% of Canadian‑born men. When group differences in prior Canadian work history were taken into account, the earnings gap of CE immigrants became much smaller in the 1991 cohort and disappeared in the 2006 cohort.

On average, CE immigrants had some moderate advantages in post‑immigration earnings over FE immigrants. The earnings advantages of CE immigrants were concentrated among those who had medium or high earnings in Canada before immigration. CE immigrant men without a Canadian work history before immigration earned significantly less than FE immigrants, while CE immigrant men who had worked in Canada with low earnings before immigration did not have a significant earnings advantage over FE immigrants. Only CE immigrants who had medium or high earnings had much higher earnings than FE immigrants. The post‑immigration earnings of CE immigrant women without prior Canadian work experience were similar to those of FE immigrant women. However, as long as CE immigrant women had prior Canadian work experience, they surpassed FE immigrant women in post‑immigration earnings by a wide margin.

Conditional on the earnings level in Canada before immigration, an extra year of Canadian work or education experience before immigration made little difference to post‑immigration earnings for CE immigrants. These results may suggest that what matters to CE immigrants is not the length of Canadian work or study experience, but the realized market value of this experience, as indicated by the earnings level before immigration.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at International Students, Immigration and Earnings Growth: The Effect of a Pre-immigration Canadian University Education

School-to-Work Transition – 5 main types of regimes

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This report presents the comparative overview of the school-to-work (STW) transition pathways, structures and related effectiveness in eight countries : Estonia, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the UK. In addition, France was reviewed where possible as representing a particular Continental STW transition model. We have applied the Pohl and Walther’s typology of STW transitions to the comparative review, which distinguishes between five main types of youth transition regimes: (i) Universalistic (SE); (ii) Liberal (UK); (iii) Employment-centred (DE, FR, NL); (iv) Mediterranean (ES, TR); and (v) Post- Socialist/Transitional (EE, PL).

Across the EU, VET, including apprenticeships, is considered key to lowering youth unemployment and facilitating the school-to-work (STW) transition transitions of young people and policy makers across Europe have been attempting to improve VET in order to provide an attractive alternative to general upper secondary and tertiary education and in order to better meet the skill requirements of the labour market. Overall, VET/apprenticeships still play a critical role in facilitating fast and smooth transitions, albeit to varying degrees and depending on the path-dependent institutional and cultural context. It has proved to be a key STW transition mechanism in the employment-centred cluster, notably Germany and the Netherlands, but less so in the Mediterranean (ES, TR) and liberal clusters (UK), while its take-up is decreasing in the universalistic cluster (SE). Not surprisingly, we found that VET participation was much higher than the EU average in the employment- centred regimes and much lower in the Mediterranean and the post-Socialist clusters. These differences in the participation rates in VET across the EU countries can be attributed in part to the differing perceptions of VET and its centrality in the STW transition process.

Overall, although with some notable exceptions, such as Germany and the Netherlands, VET is generally associated with a lower status and quality than general/academic education, meaning that fewer students voluntarily choose the VET track and, in many instances, VET is seen as a ‘second best’ option destined for students with lower educational attainment. In contrast, in countries characterised by the employment-centred STW transitions model (e.g. DE, NL), VET is perceived as a core instrument ‘for sustaining the competitiveness of the economy’ and in these countries, VET in its various forms, such as dual apprenticeships and school-based VET has long been established and represents the main STW transition mechanism.

Crucially, there has been a convergence in policy across all clusters, in that apprenticeships are now being promoted as a high quality route to achieving improved outcomes for young people in all clusters. However, the success of this policy shift is dependent on the specific structural and institutional frameworks in place to support this agenda, which varies greatly between clusters.

Consistently shown to be key to the success of particular VET schemes, notably apprenticeships, is the extent, type and nature of social partner involvement. However, this involvement varies considerably between Member States and VET programmes. In general, the role of social partners is clearly prescribed in highly regulated VET/apprenticeship systems with a corporatist form of governance such as Germany and Sweden which, in turn, leads to very strong and active social partner involvement. In contrast, in market-led systems such as the UK, social partner involvement is rather uneven. Likewise, social partner involvement in school-based VET systems tends to be less extensive than in work-based VET systems.

Dual (work-based/apprenticeships) or school-based VET systems, the strong involvement of all relevant stakeholders and a co-operative institutional framework ensures that the employment-centred regimes have a strong STW transition model – for example, Germany and the Netherlands, particularly, have below average youth unemployment rates and STW transition duration. On the other hand, France is characterised by lengthier STW transitions and diverse labour market inclusion instruments ranging from a variety of subsidised employment contracts to an array of VET placements, each with varying degrees of effectiveness. The STW transitions under the UK’s liberal regime are fast but unstable, with a focus on youth employability and the promotion of young people’s economic independence as quickly as possible. Within the Mediterranean cluster, characterised by high youth unemployment, STW transitions are lengthier, unstable and complex. In Turkey, for example, STW transitions tend to be slow although there have been numerous attempts to improve their speed and quality, particularly for disadvantaged youth. Similarly, in Spain, STW transitions are protracted and fragmented while the prevalence of temporary, short-term employment contracts among young people reflects the fact that this type of employment has traditionally been a key (but controversial) STW transition instrument.

The Estonian STW transition model is focused more on a general education (school-based) pathway, while its work-based VET in the form of apprenticeships is relatively underdeveloped. In Poland, youth unemployment has been a key policy issue for the past decade, but it is also characterised by a high degree of labour market dualism with the highest share of fixed-term contracts in the EU and a low (20%) transition rate from temporary to permanent employment. This has clear and negative implications for the STW transitions of Polish youth.

The Swedish model has historically been associated with a high quality and effective education and training system, including VET, producing well-educated youth able to make fast and successful STW transitions. Similar to Germany and the Netherlands, it has been argued that these smooth STW transitions can be attributed to a high share of students combining work and study, a proportion well above the EU average. However, as in other countries, these smooth STW transitions do not hold for all young people; with those who have not completed secondary education, or young migrants and refugees or those with disabilities, facing particular barriers to their labour market entry.

The countries also varied in their EPL as well as the focus of their ALMPs. Differences in ALMPs between France, Germany and the Netherlands are driven by the highly different educational systems and the general economic performance of these countries. Whereas dual vocational training is one important pillar of the German educational system, it is less important in the Netherlands and even still less in France. In this case, wage subsidies play a crucial role in France and the Netherlands to facilitate the acquisition of work experience and/or first job by young people. In the UK, ALMPs are not specifically targeted at young people, although there have been some flagship initiatives such as the Youth Contract as well as some youth specific support targeted at disadvantaged youth, including NEETs. Likewise, although Swedish ALMPs are often aimed at all age groups, programmes like the Job Guarantee focus on young people. ALMPs in Spain often seek to improve young people’s skills, both theoretical and practical and/or to provide them with work experience. In the post-socialist cluster (EE, PL) labour market policy is less differentiated compared to employment-centred countries like Germany. This is also true for ALMPs where there little focus on youth in both countries, although recently some projects/programmes do focus on the specific needs of young people. In both countries, ALMPs that are used to support the STW transition of young people include training and/or employment subsidies to increase the supply of work experience placements.

Our analysis has also highlighted that, especially as a result of the Great Recession of the late 2000s, some of the characteristics of each of the Pohl and Walther’s STW transition regimes are in a state of flux. For example, VET (and apprenticeships) are becoming more important STW transition mechanisms even in clusters such as the liberal (UK) and the Mediterranean (ES, TR) clusters. On the other hand, in the universalistic cluster the quality and effectiveness of the Swedish education and training system, including VET which, in the past, produced well-educated young people who could make fast and successful STW transitions is currently under-performing, with obvious implications for these transitions. At the same time, VET take-up is falling. That said, it is still early to assess whether such changes represent paradigmatic shifts in the key STW transitions mechanisms, especially in view of the path dependency and cultural and institutional specificity of STW transitions.

A requirement highlighted by our review is the need for the Pohl and Walther’s typology of STW transitions to be updated and further refined on the basis of the developments that have occurred during and after the recent crisis and which have led to an ongoing reconfiguration of education and training systems, labour market policies and institutional arrangements which are pertinent to young people’s successful entry to sustained employment. Linked to this is the need for further differentiation within the clusters themselves since there is variation in a number of institutional arrangements and this leads to variation in the STW transition outcomes as is, for example, the case of the employment centred cluster (DE, FR, NL). The above discussion notwithstanding, our analysis did not really change the way STW transitions in each cluster have been traditionally regarded, especially in relation to their length, quality and sustainability.

Universities in UK – Almost one million jobs, and add £21.5 billion to GDP

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The higher education sector is vital to the UK economy. In 2014–15 it supported almost one million jobs, and contributed £21.5 billion to UK gross domestic product.​
This report​ investigates the economic contribution that universities make annually​ to the UK economy through generating GDP, jobs and taxes, and their longer-term impact on the UK.

The research – carried out for Universities UK by Oxford Economics – also quantifies future economic benefits by estimating the long-term impact of the research, development, and skills generated in UK universities in the academic year 2014–15.​

WHAT IS THE OVERALL ECONOMIC IMPACT OF UNIVERSITIES AND THEIR STUDENTS’ SPENDING ON THE UK ECONOMY?

UK universities and their students generate signi cant economic activity in the UK, equal to £95 billion gross output in 2014–15. Thanks to this, the UK higher education sector:

    • makes a substantial contribution to UK GDP, equal to £52.9 billion gross value added (GVA), or about twice that of the city of Birmingham
    • supports almost 944,000 jobs1 of all skill levels in the UK economy – approximately three times as many jobs than in the city of She eld
    • generates £14.1 billion worth of tax receipts for the government that can be reinvested into public services, which is equivalent to 2.7% of all tax receipts received by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in 2014–15

 

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at The economic impact of universities in 2014–15

Canadian Alliance of Student Associations – Investing in Transitioning Post-Secondary Students into the Workforce

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Canada’s youth, post-secondary students, and recent graduates face significant obstacles in their efforts to transition into the workplace. Unemployment and under- employment among these groups remain stubbornly high. This is particularly problematic for underrepresented and marginalized youth. Student debt has also risen steadily in recent years, putting more pressure on students to find work that draws on their skills and experiences, while also allowing them to meet pressing financial responsibilities.

Youth who are educated and have relevant qualifications, but who have difficulties integrating into the labour force, are sometimes called Poorly Integrated New Entrants (PINEs). PINEs find themselves moving frequently between temporary jobs or unemployment, even when the economy is growing. The Canadian Career Development Foundation has made several recommendations for addressing this issue. Key recommendations include a well-advertised national strategy to help youth transition from school to work, better access for youth to work experience and career training, research on PINEs and employer consultation efforts.

For those youth and recent graduates who do manage to enter the workforce, a growing concern is a general decline in training opportunities offered by Canadian employers. Canadian employers spend about 64 cents on the dollar on training compared to employers in the United States, and in recent years their spending on employee development has declined by about 40%. For new entrants into the working world, this means fewer opportunities for those at the outset of their career, as well as less money for programs and training opportunities specifically targeted at students and recent graduates, including paid internships.

Based on these concerns and challenges, CASA recommends the following strategies and policies to facilitate the successful transition of Canada’s youth into meaningful and remu- nerative employment:

  • A provincial roundtable to discuss best practices on the issues of youth unem- ployment, underemployment and unpaid internships. Provincial and federal coop- eration should be encouraged on these issues.
  • The federal government adopt the Canadian Career Development Foundation’s 8 recommendations to support “Poorly Integrated New Entrants” (PINEs).
  • The federal government invest in programs and implement strategies that connect disadvantaged and marginalized youth with employers and the labour market. Among other programs and strategies, this could include youth employment outreach efforts, linking youth with career training services, establishing grants and incentives for employers to hire marginalized youth and adapt the workplace to accommodate youth with special needs, educating businesses and employers on diversity and accommodation and surveying employers on how to retain marginal- ized and disadvantaged youth.
  • A comprehensive study by the Senate of Canada on the issue of unpaid internships in Canada.
  • Expanded investment in the Post-Secondary Industry Partnership and Co-operative Placement Initiative. This program was announced in 2016 with the goal of supporting experiential learning opportunities, such as co-ops, for students in STEM and business fields. While a positive step, expanding this program across disciplines and programs is essential to supporting all post-secondary students.
  • A federal Canada Training Incentive, modeled after Quebec’s training requirement program, to address the ‘employer training gap’ issue by incentivizing large employers to commit a minimum percentage of resources to training initiative and opportunities. Training opportunities covered by this program should include those designed specifically to support students and recent graduates, including co-ops, paid internships and research collaborations.
  • Creation and support of more partnership programs between graduate students and private or public sector groups to engage in collaborative research across elds of study.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at Policy Paper: Student (Un)Employment in Canada – Canadian Alliance of Student Associations

Canadian Alliance of Student Associations – Improved labour market indicators for youth and student employment

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Increasingly, Canadian students are facing difficult decisions regarding their career paths and finding gainful employment after graduation. Proper data is needed for students to make informed career decisions, and it is also essential to facilitate evidence-based employment policy at all levels of government. Despite the difficulties youth and students have continued to face in securing high quality employment, there is no consistent nation-wide data to address the issue. There is also a lack of data on the local, regional, and provincial contexts for youth employment issues.

These information gaps hinder the development of policies, programs and initiatives that address the underlying causes of prolonged unemployment, the perceived draw- backs some employers may hold about hiring students and the reasons youth and recent graduates may face difficulties connecting to employment networks. There have been some relevant labour market information surveys over the years, including the National Graduates Survey (NGS) and Follow-up of Graduates (FOG), Access and Support to Education and Training Survey (ASETS), Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED) and the National Apprenticeship Survey (NAS). One of the more useful tools to examine youth employment transitions, the Youth in Transition Survey (YITS) was discontinued in 2009. Likewise, the ASETS and SED are currently inactive. The Canadian Labour Force Survey is only partially useful because it excludes those who live on reserves or in rural areas. The NGS has undergone recent changes in terms of the frequency of data collection and inconsistencies in the intervals at which the survey is conducted makes the data less reliable and harder to interpret.

The Advisory Panel on Labour Market Information’s 2009 report recommended that the federal government improve the national statistical system to provide more reliable labour market data for all provinces and territories. Recommendations related to students included creating an education section in the main Labour Market Information portal for specific types of users, making considerable efforts to link educational training and opportunities to career outcomes, working with provincial governments to collect educational Labour Market Information and collecting and disseminating educational outcomes routinely.

To provide students with the information they need to make informed decisions about their education and employment opportunities and to ensure that government programs aimed at improving student and recent graduate employment are grounded in evidence, CASA recommends:

  • The federal government implement the Advisory Panel on Labour Market Information’s recommendations pertaining to data collection, in order to better capture the complexities of youth, student and new entrant employment, unemployment and underemployment.
  • The federal government review how it collects Labour Market Information and how it establishes high-demand fields, in an attempt to help students make informed decisions about their post-secondary education course of study.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at Policy Paper: Student (Un)Employment in Canada – Canadian Alliance of Student Associations

Higher Ed in US – Low-income undergraduates are most likely to attend the schools with the least resources and worst outcomes

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As higher education researcher Kelly Rosinger writes in this paper, the Equality of Opportunity Project’s Mobility Report Card data “provide the clearest picture we have to date of the role that colleges play in access, success, and upward mobility.”
There’s some very good news in the Mobility Report Cards study. First and foremost, there are four-year colleges that are doing an excellent job of providing social mobility to the low-income students they enroll. Some less prominent public universities are real workhorses, enrolling a substantial number of low-income students and propelling a signi cant share of them into the top 20 percent of the income scale. Ivy League and other extremely selective institutions don’t enroll many low-income students. But they tend to do a tremendous job with those they do enroll, helping hoist them to the top of the ladder.

Meanwhile, the study clearly shows that when low- income students are given the opportunity to attend rigorous colleges, they do at least as well as their more afluent peers. This study should put an end to the dangerous myth that even the most highly qualified, low-income students can’t hack it at top colleges.

And although this paper sounds the alarm about declining access at public universities, our analysis shows that about a quarter of these institutions are becoming more accessible by enrolling more low- income students and fewer high-income ones than they were in the late 1990s.

Still, there is also a lot of bad news in the Mobility Report Card data. Just as in elementary and secondary education, low-income undergraduates are most likely to attend the schools with the least resources and worst outcomes, putting them at a huge disadvantage to their wealthier counterparts. And the news that the overwhelming majority of selective public universities are becoming less accessible—including those that have historically given low-income students a leg up—is extremely alarming.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at  Moving on up?: what a groundbreaking study tells us about access, success, and mobility in higher ed

Students Grants – Within 10 years, imputed taxes fully recoup total government expenditures research

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We estimate the effect of grant aid on poor college students’ attainment and earnings using student-level administrative data from four-year public colleges in Texas. To identify these effects, we exploit a discontinuity in grant generosity as a function of family income. Eligibility for the maximum Pell Grant significantly increases degree receipt and earnings beginning four years after entry. Within 10 years, imputed taxes on eligible students’ earnings gains fully recoup total government expenditures generated by initial eligibility. To clarify how these estimates relate to social welfare, we develop a general theoretical model and derive sufficient statistics for the welfare implications of changes in the price of college. Whether additional grant aid increases welfare depends on (1) net externalities from recipients’ behavioral responses and (2) a direct effect of mitigating credit constraints or other frictions that inflate students’ in-school marginal utility. Calibrating our model using nationally representative consumption data suggests that increasing grant aid for the average college student by $1 could generate negative externalities as high as $0.50 and still improve welfare. Applying our welfare formula and estimated direct effects to our setting and others suggests considerable welfare gains from grants that target low-income students.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at “ProPelled: The Effects of Grants on Graduation, Earnings, and Welfare” by Jeffrey T. Denning, Benjamin M. Marx et al.


Post-Secondary Education Gap in British Columbia – Forgoing up to $7.9 billion in GDP and over $1.8 billion in lost tax revenues annually

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British Columbia’s economy is forgoing up to $7.9 billion in GDP and over $1.8 billion in lost tax revenues annually, because too few people have the education and skills needed to help businesses innovate and grow.
• Reliance on workers with post-secondary education (PSE) has grown in recent decades. In 1991–92, the share of jobs held by individuals with PSE and those without was evenly split. today, approximately 70 per cent of all jobs in B.C. are held by workers with PSE. By 2025, that is expected to rise to 77 per cent.
• B.C. employers have strong concerns about the future availability of highly educated workers in the face of an aging population and rising retirement rates.
• B.C.’s public PSE system will produce 421,000 skilled workers over the next decade. The rate of growth in demand for PSE-educated workers is outpacing the growth in supply, leaving a potential shortfall of 514,000 skilled workers in the province.
• B.C. employers are looking for employees with “soft skills” and competencies important for workplace success. Critical thinking and problem-solving skills are identified as the most challenging skills to find in new workers.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at  PSE Skills for a Prosperous British Columbia: 2016 Edition

Social Sciences and Humanities Grads in Canada – Many face challenging career transitions

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Thousands of students graduate from Canadian post-secondary institutions each year with an undergraduate degree in the social sciences or humanities (SSH). While most go on to a wide range of rewarding careers, many face challenging career transitions as they struggle to define their career paths and expectations and establish themselves in the labour market. These transition-related challenges have led some to argue that SSH graduates lack the skills needed to be successful in the labour market and too often end up in low-paying, low-skilled jobs. They argue that post-secondary education (PSE) programs should focus on developing the applied skills required for specific careers.

In reality, SSH students acquire a wide range of valuable skills — from critical thinking and written and oral communication to cross-cultural understanding and creativity — and eventually go on to rewarding careers. Many suggest that non-applied skills will become even more valuable in the future when an increasing number of jobs or tasks are automated. But the increasingly in-demand SSH skills cannot be easily replicated by computers. SSH graduates require more support and training to help them articulate and market the value of the skills they have learned to employers, as well as increase their awareness of potential career paths. By ensuring SSH students have access to comprehensive career development programming and experiential learning opportunities tailored to their disciplines, PSE institutions and SSH faculties and departments can help ensure the continued vitality of these disciplines and create greater understanding of the valuable social, cultural, and economic contributions of SSH graduates.

Findings

• An undergraduate degree is no longer a guarantee of meaningful employment, and a larger number of SSH undergraduate degree holders are competing for “good” jobs compared to previous generations.
• Many recent SSH graduates have a limited understanding of potential career paths; difficulty translating the skills developed through their studies into language that appeals to employers; and limited work experience.
• In the long term, most individuals with an undergraduate degree in the social sciences or humanities (SSH) go on to a wide range of rewarding careers. However, in the short term, many recent graduates face challenging career transitions.
• Recent SSH graduates may face challenging career transitions due to difficulty articulating the value of the skills developed in their ssH program to employers, insufficient understanding of possible career paths, and limited work experience.
• Some post-secondary institutions have implemented initiatives to ease career transitions for SSH undergraduate degree holders. the most effective initiatives combine experiential learning with the development of career management skills.

In the years immediately following graduation, SSH undergraduate degree holders earn less, are less likely to be employed in a job directly related to their degree, and are more likely to be overqualified for their current position compared with undergraduate degree holders as a whole. Three years after graduation, SSH graduates are somewhat more likely than university graduates as a whole to be employed in part-time work. Meanwhile, only 74 per cent of humanities graduates found full-time work three years after graduation compared to 84 per cent of graduates across all fields of study.
However, the employment outcomes of SSH graduates improve over time. While SSH graduates earn less than graduates with degrees in computer science, math, engineering, and business, their earnings were more stable, growing at smaller but more consistent rates, eventually narrowing the earnings gap with their STEM counterparts. Most SSH degree holders also report being generally satisfied with both their career and program of study. Furthermore, while the career outcomes of SSH graduates lag those of STEM graduates, they earn more than individuals with a college diploma and have more stable careers.

Lack of work experience, limited awareness of career paths, and employer misperceptions about the skills of SSH graduates are making it difficult for SSH graduates to make efficient transitions to the workforce. The report urges the PSE and skills sectors to direct more resources towards addressing the career transition challenges facing SSH graduates.

Governments, post-secondary institutions, faculty, career services staff, employers, and students can support initiatives that help SSH students explore career paths, navigate the labour market, and apply their skills. The report provides eight recommendations to help ease career transitions of SSH degree holders:

  • Collect and distribute information on the career pathways and transitions of SSH graduates.
  • Communicate to students the skills developed in SSH programs.
  • Encourage students to think about career paths and skills development at the beginning of their degree program.
    Increase opportunities for participation in experiential learning.
  • Offer career development programs tailored to SSH students.
  • Strengthen links between SSH students and alumni.
  • Increase employer awareness of the valuable skills taught in SSH programs.
  • Evaluate and share information on career development initiatives.

 

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at Getting to Work: Career Skills Development for Social Sciences and Humanities Graduates

Non-cognitive skills – Much more associated with graduates’ occupational status, especially with managerial occupations, than cognitive skills

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While the effect of education and experience on labour market outcomes has been widely studied, the literature that analyses the influence of human capital competencies (talents, skills, and capabilities) is still relatively scarce. Using cross-sectional data from the REFLEX Project, we investigate the effect of personal competencies (both cognitive and non-cognitive) on two labour market outcomes among European university graduates: occupational status and earnings.

Our estimates suggest that individuals endowed with a higher level of competencies are more likely to occupy managerial and professional positions and, to a lesser extent, technician jobs. Additionally, they also receive higher wages, but the relation is only significant for men.

When we distinguish competencies according to their cognitive or non-cognitive nature, we find that only the latter are significant in explaining occupational status. In contrast, cognitive competencies are more related with wages.

As regards the role of specific competencies, our findings suggest that leadership is the most relevant competence for the occupational status of males, especially in managerial positions. In contrast, initiative and enterprise abilities seem to be the most relevant skills for women in such positions. Intelligence produces the highest rewards in terms of earnings among the male subsample, while none of the competencies exerts a significant impact on females’ wages.

Highlights

• Occupational status is more associated with non-cognitive skills.

• Cognitive skills are significantly related with male wages.

• Leadership is the most related competence to managerial positions among men.

• For women, initiative and enterprise is the most relevant in managerial positions.

• None of the competencies exhibits a significant association with females’ wages.

Most of the literature analysing labour market outcomes has concentrated mainly on traditional human capital predictors such as education, experience, or job-specific training. Nonetheless, scholars have begun to question whether education continues to provide the skills that are most demanded in today’s labour markets. This was motivated by the fact that graduates are now expected to be competent in a broad range of areas, comprising both field-specific and generic skills. As a consequence, more attention has been paid in recent years to the importance of various types of human capital competencies as an effective tool to improve graduates’ chances of a smooth transition to the labour market.

This paper has aimed to shed more light on these issues. In particular, we have attempted to contribute to the existing literature by examining the relationship of both cognitive and non-cognitive competencies with graduates’ occupational status and wage formation. In addition, we have aimed to provide evidence of gender differences in these relationships. For this purpose, we have used microdata from the REFLEX database that contains information on young European graduates who were interviewed five years after graduation.

Although our results should be interpreted cautiously insofar as we cannot derive casual effects on the relationship between the competencies and labour market outcomes of European graduates, some relevant issues can be highlighted. Non-cognitive skills appear to be much more associated with graduates’ occupational status, especially with managerial occupations, than cognitive skills. Gender differences become apparent when looking at the specific competencies: leadership abilities seem to be more important among males working as managers, while females employed in such positions display higher levels of initiative and enterprise skills. In addition, it should be noted that the variety of competencies that are relevant for women in order to be employed as professionals, and especially as managers, is broader than that for men, thus suggesting that the labour market is tougher with regard to women’s competencies and skills. In contrast, cognitive abilities seem to be more rewarded in terms of earnings. Again, our results provide evidence of differences between males and females. Competencies associated to intelligence are associated with higher wages in the three occupational groups considered in our analysis only for males. Other types of cognitive abilities are also related to higher earnings among males employed as technicians and associate professionals. This is the case of new technologies and foreign language skills. In contrast, none of the identified factors that comprise cognitive abilities are statistically associated with women’s wages.

These results are of special relevance for both educational institutions and students who should work together in fostering those competencies that are most in demand and/or are most often in shortage. On the one hand, higher education systems could, for instance, promote more innovative educational methods that combine lectures with group assignments in order to more effectively develop those competencies that are more demanded by employers and produce the highest rewards in terms of wages. On the other hand, and given the heterogeneity and changing nature of the productivity-enhancing characteristics of graduates, it is important that they know which competencies are more valuable for employers in order to facilitate their educational choices and the acquisition of those skills that will enable them to take advantage of promising job opportunities. All these findings should be considered in order to design the best policies for improving the school-to-work transition process of graduates in Europe. Moreover, and for the purpose of improving labour market equity, policymakers should take into account the existence of gender differences as regards the association between competencies and labour market outcomes.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at Competencies, occupational status, and earnings among European university graduates – ScienceDirect

Education in Europe – 39.9% of 30-34-year-olds have completed tertiary education and 10.6% of 18-24-year-olds out of education and training in 2017

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Today, Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, publishes the most recent data for the EU and its Member States on achievement against the two Europe 2020 education headline targets.
One of Europe 2020 strategy’s targets is that at least 40% of 30-34-year-olds in the EU should have completed tertiary education by 2020. This share continued to steadily increase, from 23.6% in 2002 when the series started to 39.9% in 2017. This growth pattern was even more significant for women (from 24.5% in 2002 to 44.9% in 2017) than for men (from 22.6% to 34.9%), meaning women being above and men still below the overall Europe 2020 target.

Meanwhile, the share of early leavers from education and training (aged 18-24) has steadily decreased in the EU, from 15.3% in 2006 to 10.6% in 2017. Young women (8.9%) are less affected than young men (12.1%). The Europe 2020 target is to reduce the rates of early school leaving in the EU to below 10% by 2020.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at Europe 2020 education indicators in 2017 :The EU has almost reached its target for share of persons aged 30 to 34 with tertiary education – The share of early leavers from education and training continues decreasing

Soft Skills Development in Europe – Different methodologies and approaches

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Pushed by current socio-economic projections, a rising number of governments and international institutions are trying to bring closer the world of education and training and the world of work: graduates’ employability, innovation and entrepreneurship, ICT use in tertiary education, are just some of the topics on this agenda. The level of youth unemployment across the world is one factor in the increasing pressure on universities to tailor their curricula on current labour market needs as well as anticipating competencies for future jobs. From gathering evidence on skills demand, experimentation with curricula design, research on the training and assessment of soft skills in academia, to university-business cooperation, universities can provide an important contribution both with research initiatives for evidence-based policies and actively working toward the development of national and international skills strategies.

Soft skills, might be listed among the expected outcomes of the university curriculum. From 1999 to 2010, the Bologna Process members aimed at creating the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), which was officially created with the Budapest-Vienna Declaration of March, 2010.

Since 2001, Dublin Descriptors have been adopted as the cycle descriptors for the framework for qualifications of the European Higher Education Area. They offer generic statements of typical expectations of achievements and abilities associated with awards that represent the end of each Bologna cycle: knowledge and understanding, applying knowledge and understanding, and the ‘soft’ skills; making judgements, communication skills, learning skills. The Member States have gradually integrated the descriptors within their Higher Education systems. In Italy, for example, in 2010, the Ministry of Education published the Qualifications Framework for Higher Education, which summarises the main features of the Italian Higher Education Degree System, describing each course in terms of credits and general learning outcomes. In spite of this general trend, the focus of the programmes offered at most EU universities is still based on teaching traditional scientific skills rather than on soft and complementary skills.

The decade 2010-2020 has been aimed at consolidating the EHEA, so that universities may become motors of change and innovation. One strategic action is the curricular reform to tailor higher education institutions to the requests coming from the labour market.

Mismatches between skills and jobs, such as skill gaps in the workplace, shortage of adequately skilled figures for certain positions or the abundance of candidates in sectors where there are not enough suitable vacancies need to be corrected. Effectively anticipating which skills will be required by companies in years to come is crucial in order to equip future workers with the ‘right’ competencies.

The aim of this article was to enhance understanding of soft skills and to indicate key areas for soft skill development at University level.

One difficulty is represented by the fact that different countries have different methodologies and approaches to the teaching and recognition of skills for employability. The presence of such discrepancies requires that cooperation should be strengthened among the different stakeholders to find common solutions and educational models that provide a common set of skills and of training tools.

Another obstacle is represented by the absence of a common language. This is why in the first part we discussed different definitions and classifications of soft skills in order to enhance the understanding of this theme.

One further issue is to identify the soft skills most required by the labour market. Different studies have investigated on this theme. We presented two examples, carried out during two European projects, of quantitative and qualitative researches.

The comparative analysis of the state of the art of soft skills development in different European countries presented in the fourth part of this article painted a very dishomogenous picture: although the topic is widely debated in all the countries, in some of them (Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, UK) there are many initiatives going on, whilst in some others (Greece, Italy, Spain) the topic is still developing. Nevertheless, besides national and transnational initiatives (many European projects have been carried out on this theme), we mapped “best practices” coming from European halls of residence, where besides with learning methodologies and techniques, soft skills development is fostered through an opportune environment.

The importance of the “environmental factor” is also stressed in the recent Report published by the High Level Group on the Modernisation of Higher Education:

Universities and higher education institutions, as part of the education system, should not educate students only in narrow, knowledge-based specializations, but must go further, seeking the integral education of the person. […] Efforts need to be concentrated on developing transversal skills, or soft skills […]. In order to develop these skills, teaching is not enough: an appropriate environment is also required. For example, extra-curricular activities, whether organized in a university/college/institute environment, ranging from volunteering, culture and the arts, to sports and leisure activities, help develop soft skills and nurture talents.

Future research should focus on the relationship between soft skill development and environmental conditions, not only at university but also in schools and on the job, also exploring the connection between these skills and what was already known as “hidden curriculum”, i.e. the unwritten, unofficial, and often unintended lessons, values, and perspectives that students learn, as a function of implicit values held by the institution as a whole. The hidden curriculum consists of the unspoken or implicit academic, social, and cultural messages that are communicated to students while they are in a specific environment (school, university, hall of residence etc.) and that are part of the organizational culture of that environment. Educators (school teachers, university professors, halls of residence directors etc.) need to be aware of the symbolic aspect of the environment and of their role in structuring students’ soft skills.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at “Lost in translation”. Soft skills development in European countries | Cinque | Tuning Journal for Higher Education

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