Future skills : Developing skills for jobs that do not yet exist in sectors that have not yet been invented

In this paper, the author reconsiders the question of whether compulsory education systems are ‘fit for purpose’, when the purpose is to provide adequately educated people with the Knowledge, Skills, and Attributes (KSAs) that allow them to be useful and productive members of society. By the use of...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Alasdair White
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2022
Online Access:http://journalarticle.ukm.my/21264/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/21264/1/60105-199154-1-SM.pdf
_version_ 1848815310357921792
author Alasdair White,
author_facet Alasdair White,
author_sort Alasdair White,
building UKM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description In this paper, the author reconsiders the question of whether compulsory education systems are ‘fit for purpose’, when the purpose is to provide adequately educated people with the Knowledge, Skills, and Attributes (KSAs) that allow them to be useful and productive members of society. By the use of structural unemployment rates, the author shows that even though the populations were increasing, unemployment remained the same over a long period suggesting that the right KSAs were being provided. The author then considers the changes to compulsory education that occurred in the last two decades of the 20th century in medium and high-income societies, and how this has, potentially, broken the link between the KSAs provided and the KSAs needed. He ends with a call for action to rethink the provision of tertiary education so as to ensure those experiencing it are fitted with the skills needed for the future. This paper was delivered as the keynote opening speech at the iCiTRA conference in Malaysia in September 2021, the text itself is taken from the author’s 2017 paper Unfit for Purpose? Graduate business education and the real world: a reflective and evidence-based discussion about education, jobs and unemployment.
first_indexed 2025-11-15T00:47:57Z
format Article
id oai:generic.eprints.org:21264
institution Universiti Kebangasaan Malaysia
institution_category Local University
language English
last_indexed 2025-11-15T00:47:57Z
publishDate 2022
publisher Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling oai:generic.eprints.org:212642023-03-07T02:11:23Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/21264/ Future skills : Developing skills for jobs that do not yet exist in sectors that have not yet been invented Alasdair White, In this paper, the author reconsiders the question of whether compulsory education systems are ‘fit for purpose’, when the purpose is to provide adequately educated people with the Knowledge, Skills, and Attributes (KSAs) that allow them to be useful and productive members of society. By the use of structural unemployment rates, the author shows that even though the populations were increasing, unemployment remained the same over a long period suggesting that the right KSAs were being provided. The author then considers the changes to compulsory education that occurred in the last two decades of the 20th century in medium and high-income societies, and how this has, potentially, broken the link between the KSAs provided and the KSAs needed. He ends with a call for action to rethink the provision of tertiary education so as to ensure those experiencing it are fitted with the skills needed for the future. This paper was delivered as the keynote opening speech at the iCiTRA conference in Malaysia in September 2021, the text itself is taken from the author’s 2017 paper Unfit for Purpose? Graduate business education and the real world: a reflective and evidence-based discussion about education, jobs and unemployment. Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2022 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/21264/1/60105-199154-1-SM.pdf Alasdair White, (2022) Future skills : Developing skills for jobs that do not yet exist in sectors that have not yet been invented. MALIM: Jurnal Pengajian Umum Asia Tenggara, 23 . pp. 255-262. ISSN 1511-8393 https://ejournal.ukm.my/malim/issue/view/1563
spellingShingle Alasdair White,
Future skills : Developing skills for jobs that do not yet exist in sectors that have not yet been invented
title Future skills : Developing skills for jobs that do not yet exist in sectors that have not yet been invented
title_full Future skills : Developing skills for jobs that do not yet exist in sectors that have not yet been invented
title_fullStr Future skills : Developing skills for jobs that do not yet exist in sectors that have not yet been invented
title_full_unstemmed Future skills : Developing skills for jobs that do not yet exist in sectors that have not yet been invented
title_short Future skills : Developing skills for jobs that do not yet exist in sectors that have not yet been invented
title_sort future skills : developing skills for jobs that do not yet exist in sectors that have not yet been invented
url http://journalarticle.ukm.my/21264/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/21264/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/21264/1/60105-199154-1-SM.pdf