Every year, approximately 5,300 colleges and universities in the U.S.
busily churn out thousands of graduates. And American higher education
remains a sought-after commodity worldwide, as evidenced by the
million-plus (according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement)
international students flocking to the U.S. to study.
Given the apparent abundance of available talent, why do many industry
leaders and other employers continue to complain about a “skills gap,”
asserting that they can’t find qualified candidates to fill positions?
And why, according to the Economic Policy Institute, are more than 7% of
U.S. college graduates unemployed and nearly 15% under-employed?
At a recent Wharton Reimagine Education conference in Philadelphia,
representatives from Google, EY, IE Business School and others tackled
the question, “What do employers want?”
Nunzio Quacquarelli, founder and managing director of Quacquarelli
Symonds, a global provider of specialist higher education and career
information and solutions, moderated the discussion. He asked the
panelists if they thought today’s higher education institutions were
developing graduates with the skills employers need.
“That may not be the right question,” said Jake Schwartz, the CEO of
General Assembly, a New York-based global educational institution that
Schwartz described as “the largest coding boot camp in the world” and
which runs courses in design, marketing, technology and data.
“Is it higher education’s mission to prepare people for the skills they
need in an up-to-date fashion for the 21st century?”–Jake Schwartz
“Is it higher education’s mission to prepare people for the skills they
need in an up-to-date fashion for the 21st century?” he asked. “I would
posit that most people involved with higher education institutions would
say no, or not in a direct sense.” He called that “problem number one”
in the disconnect between academia and the working world
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