When I entered my first job after university, there was no internet and women could expect to retire at 55. Today, for my work at any one time I use at least two intelligent devices, several systems, operate with large volumes of data. I also expect to retire at 67 if all goes well. During the past 30 years, I have had to learn and adapt, including mastering another language, and I expect my development to continue. The truth is, this is not remarkable; in fact, it is the norm for everyone who wants to remain economically active, whether self-employed or employed.
We have had a lot of change in the tertiary sector over many years across the globe, including funding models and structures, but the fundamentals have remained the same. It is not an unreasonable assumption that we should own our outcomes and careers and that we should have the confidence required to seek the experiences, knowledge, and skills we need throughout our adult lives.
Does our education system equip and support us for this journey in a way that we can be active and productive contributors, innovators, creators over the period of our working lives?
At the workshop, we heard about examples of complex individual journeys through the tertiary system which resulted in successful employment and valuable experiences with successful outcomes. Some of these lasted a couple of years longer than ‘the norm’ and allowed for a refocus in discipline and changes in education providers. It is impossible to say whether it would have been possible for the individuals concerned to resolve the issues they faced faster or recognise their strengths and interests earlier; however, their confidence, determination, and clarity on purposeful employment were palpable. For the individuals concerned these were positive outcomes from which they will be able to draw in the future as well. While we can speak of ‘the norm’, the average time and average individual may need to complete their tertiary education, individuals do not all take the same length of time to learn, to understand their own potential, and become confident. What does ‘the norm’ mean and does it matter in any case, when considered over a work life that can be expected to last in excess of 45 years?
In Scotland, the data from November 2021 suggest that c22% of people aged between 16 – 64 were economically inactive, (c. 755,000 people, SDS Labour Market Insights November 2021), of which only a quarter were studying. How much of this is a direct consequence of the pandemic is not yet clear, but the pandemic has increased inequalities and changed the nature and skills requirements of work, with further accelerated change and innovation expected. Any investments into recovery will need to be mindful of the need for fairness and inclusion. For example, not everyone will be able to take time out to retrain or learn. So, how should a tertiary system be positioned to support people in this situation?
We also know that there are skills shortages, and some employers are struggling to fill vacancies. For example, the pandemic accelerated digital development in every sense. Businesses and organisations had to pivot and realign what they do/offer and how they go about their work and education was no exception. As a result, new skills are required and new ways of working are expected now, but realistically, such changes will not be less frequent or less consequential in the future, although we hope that they will not be happening on the back of events such as a pandemic. Our ambitions in relation to environmental sustainability will be the next challenge reflected in skills, knowledge, and experience too. Therefore, for educators to anticipate what will be required for the future to grow, to challenge and to develop is critical. A successful tertiary system must ensure that its collective institutional missions focus on the knowledge and skills required today as well as in the future.
There are different ways to reflect on an education system which responds to the above challenges and priorities, but at the heart of it all are individuals, young as well as not so young, who need to be equipped and enabled to traverse through it freely and reliably over a lifetime so they can be productive, positive, and contributing to society.
At the Advance HE event, we (representatives from the four nations) developed our understanding of the opportunities and challenges. This included different models of funding, regulation, structure, and policy, but also recognised that there is much that we can learn from each other; and surely that must be the starting point for the sort of challenging discussion that a tertiary education for the future requires.
When ambitions are set high in this way, there is so much to achieve and enable! And so we should not be thinking about how to do less, or even more of the same, but how to ensure that we can be more inclusive, more flexible and more impactful for longer.
Ester Ruskuc is the Director of Strategy and Policy at the University of St Andrews. She has 30 years of HE experience and is passionate about the value of education.