By Colin Lumsden (Re-purposed for DCC from How Online Edtech Partnerships Bridge the Skills Gap)
Post Secondary Institutions are constantly under pressure to diversify their offerings, serve new students and learners, reduce costs, and drive enrolment – all in a volatile, unknown, complex, and ambiguous external environment with compounding factors such as labor market changes, evolving skills gaps, and technology disruptions.
Institutions are facing an existential crisis with a popular refrain every Fall semester across industry and mainstream media of “is a degree worth it?” Significant challenges to the traditional approach and efficacy of the four-year, residential-based, high school graduate-centric, “need a degree for a job” model has been happening for the better part of a decade now as students and parents become more savvy and particular. However, progressive institutions exist and are disrupting the historical model and responding to the expectations of students and parents and the workforce. From Western Governors’ competency-based learning models to Royal Roads’ integrated personal/academic model, to Southern New Hampshire, ASU, and others going big for online offerings and corporate partnerships, the institutions that win have quickly adapted and transitioned with the market and the changing nature of work.
Pivotal, Vital Place in Overall Education Ecosystem
Higher Ed institutions have a pivotal and vital place in the education ecosystem. Still, it is too simplistic to think that they alone can do it, or that without them, the sector, community, and students will prevail. The moment is ripe for the industry to continue its evolution and adopt new ways of operating. Higher education will always have a place in our society — but the hard part is figuring out how to grow, change, and adapt to an evolving market, not against it.
The changing nature of work is the primary concern facing both institutions and students/learners. These considerations must be top of mind when institutions form their go-to-market and product market fit strategies. The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report reveals 44% of worker’s core skills are expected to change in the next five years, 60% of global organizations anticipate the skills gap as a barrier to industry transformation, and 62% of businesses expected ROI on the investment into employee skill development to happen in less than a year. Deloitte’s 2023 Higher Education Trends report calls for institutions to look at their business models, core offerings, and overall responsiveness to market changes in order to remain viable.
Best Path Forward Amidst Challenges
Universities and colleges must champion new solutions to efficiently and effectively meet the evolving needs of their students and learners, corporate partners, and the overall labor market. The best path forward is developing content that is aligned with the demands of their respective student and learner segments. Students are very conscious about ensuring the programming aligns with their lifelong learning needs. For new undergraduate students, it takes the form of acquiring the knowledge and network early in life, for adult learners, it is more often focused on reskilling or upskilling. This is particularly imperative in the tech space as new domains are created (cloud computing), others rapidly evolve (AI), and others sunset (word processing). Students, viewed with a lens of them being consumers, are sophisticated and selective. They interrogate the many variables on the path to a decision for their learning options: the cost, ROI, duration, outcomes, and the fit of the institutional brand.
The Future
Holon IQ’s Education in 2030 report highlights how service-centric, mentor-based, and peer-to-peer learning is the future of academic and developmental interactions. To navigate this environment, institutions have the option to “build or buy.” As the academic community has evolved over the last 25 years, partnerships (the “buy” model) between private or public organizations and traditional academic institutions have become a common, effective, and sustainable option.
The online program management (OPM) space has advanced since the early days of online education and partnerships. From newer models like Coursera, which was originally for short courses and/or MOOCs to broaden access, to General Assembly and Springboard “bootcamp” (non credit certificate) partners focused on tech-related upskilling and reskilling content, there are proven models available to meet the needs of your unit, university, and student/learner community. In the bootcamp space, the partnership focuses on quickly (under 9 months), affordably (typically under $10K), and effective (measured in completion and placement rates) reaching adult and professional learners to allow them to secure new employment opportunities, retain their current roles with improved skills, or secure a promotion by having the latest knowledge and skills.
With an economy and labour market that is rapidly changing, institutions must reflect on whether students are truly provided with the options they need to succeed and the ultimate goal should be building optionality for learning and development that will complement and supplement workforce needs and create an ecosystem from the start of the students’ post-secondary journey..
What does this mean for students pursuing post-secondary opportunities? - Contribution by Diana Chang
With today’s evolving economic and labor market needs, where does that leave a high school student deciding what to pursue next?
Tools to succeed today may very much differ from tools to succeed tomorrow. But the good news is, like anything classic (Beethoven, Marcus Aurelius, Picasso), let’s unearth some timeless tips and tricks.
Communication Skills
While AI allows us to beautify language, tone, and syntax, editing the most basic prompts into artful, grammatically sound sentences, our ability to communicate and connect will remain a top skill that employers (and humans, in general) value.
How we engage in social settings matters: body language, eye contact, firmness in one's handshake, small talk abilities. Yes, AI can craft our elementary words into advanced prose, but it can’t create energy in your interactions, nor help you leave a positive or warm first impression. Forbes highlights Top Five Soft Skills That Every Employee Needs in the 21st Century “...communication with colleagues, the ability to negotiate” as an important factor to success. Harari reminds us of the relevance of the four C’s: critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity.
For students, the good news is that your approach to choosing your school can be less about the subject or department and more about the skills you want to develop as a human being. Start by considering the type of person you want to be: what qualities do I want to develop? How do I want to grow? What excites me? What am I willing to give up to pursue my passion? (Passion’s root word is ‘to suffer’) In 15 years, what type of human being will I be proud of being? What skills do I inherently have and want to develop? With this reflection, let’s move on to choosing your school.
Choosing the Right School
As a former university and boarding school recruiter, I have always advocated for “best fit”, meaning I would gladly redirect students at international fairs to schools that better suited their personalities, needs, and interests (strong correlation to the motivation behind starting my own company methinks). I am rigorous about advocating for students to make their own decisions confidently, and navigate as gracefully as I possibly can, at reminding parents to give their child, space. There’s too much external noise as it is for teenagers, and parents hounding their child on their own vision of success is simply not the way.
Here are some tips that may be useful for both students (parents to participate sparingly, please):
Visit the school (in-person or virtual open houses are a thing now)
Ask to be connected to existing students
Engage the alumni network - what cool things are graduates up to? Is a global network relevant? Why might it matter in the long term? Or not?
Talk to admission reps and ask tons of questions (this is their job) and attend education fairs
Research, research, research
Explore the school’s list of student clubs, exchange partnerships, study abroad opportunities; the interconnectedness with the school’s local community, their relationship with indigenous land and ancestry; the school’s leadership; the school’s career services; the school’s values, etc.
What are funding options to ensure accessibility? Are there entrance scholarships - merit or needs-based that you qualify for? What about grants within your community?
How does the school ensure your success? What tools do they provide to help you grow and develop in ways that matter to you?
Choosing the Right Program
Now, we can look at course offerings. Across Canada, we are blessed to boast world-renowned, research intensive, academically sound post-secondary options, a mari usque ad mare. Though program offerings and strengths are diverse (Marine and Freshwater Biology at Dal, Journalism at Carleton, Engineering at Queen’s), your unique campus experience and values match are more critical ingredients to success than the academic program you wish to take, IMO.
A good (and traditional) start is exploring Canada’s U15 schools, whose sole mission is to “optimize research and innovation policies and programs that advance knowledge, develop highly qualified leaders for all sectors, and mobilize knowledge for the benefit of all Canadians.” This is a sound route if you prefer the more linear pathway, and yes, a lot of employers still value an undergraduate credential.
Next, let's delve into Canada's strong colleges and institutes. According to RBC, while university grads out-earn non university counterparts, “the return on investing in post-secondary education has shrunk in recent years.”
I highly recommend Bow Valley College (Misheck is doing big things for the province) or Saskatchewan Polytechnic’s 95% graduate employment rate, or what about Red River College Polytech’s recognition for EDI strategies, policies, and systems? Post-secondary success need not fit into a box of a four year undergraduate degree.
What matters to you will differ vastly from what your friend or parents are looking for. Personally, I wanted to take time off but received a hard no from parents, so I found the perfect combination and spent my first year at Queen’s University’s international campus, Bader College.
You’ve Got This 🙌🏻
Ask yourself what resonates with you most, do your research (make sure you have the right prerequisites, please), consult mom and dad (experience can often lead to wisdom), but be confident in the decision you make. After all, it’s your life. And whatever you choose, you’re going to learn a ton of lessons, regardless. Lastly, don’t forget to have fun and enjoy every bit of the journey - it’s a rapid one, so make each moment count. ***
Colin Lumsden was VP Business Development at Springboard, the online learning platform preparing students for in-demand technology careers through mentor and instructor-led programs. Previously he was VP, Partner Relations at ApplyBoard serving over 1,700 partners and almost 140,000 programs. Colin also served as VP & Program Lead at 2U, where he was GM-level responsible for the holistic oversight of the Data & FinTech Bootcamps. He held additional roles at Academic Partnerships, York University, and Pearson. Colin holds a bachelor’s degree from Toronto Metropolitan University and earned his MSc in organizational leadership from Norwich University. He is pursuing his Ph.D. in higher education administration from the University of Toronto. Colin is based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Diana Chang was Head of Partner Acquisition and Relations at Springboard and previously Associate Director, Business Development at ApplyBoard, reporting to Colin Lumsden in both roles. Today, Diana spends most of her time at Minerva to help change the face of leadership in British Columbia through their signature leadership programs for girls and women. Diana holds a bachelor’s degree from Queen’s University and earned her International Coach Federation Associate certification in Academic Life Coaching. She still works with students interested in pursuing boarding school and post-secondary options through Diana Chang Consultancy. She has a 100% boarding school placement, over 1200 coaching hours with folks spanning age ranges from 5-65, and has helped hundreds of families secure pathways in education. In her spare time, Diana likes to #squashbarriers on and off the squash court. Diana is originally from Hong Kong.
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