What skill development courses do students prefer
India’s higher education system has played an underlying role in the country’s evolution to a modern economy. Around 50 years ago, newly set up institutions like the Indian Institute of Technology and Indian Institute of Management produced the home-grown talent India needed for nation building. Today, our higher education system has very different challenges to tackle, but they are as pressing. Universities urgently need new solutions to prepare students for an unseen future, where technology will change the skills for jobs at an accelerated pace. New research from the Coursera Campus Skills Report 2022 has impactful insights on the approaches institutes can take, to meet this challenge effectively.
Here are four takeaways from the learning choices of over 17 lakh students on Coursera in India, which promise to shape the next phase of higher education in the country.
The BIG digital opportunity
The Campus Skills Report finds students preparing for highgrowth digital and technology jobs like that of a data scientist, data analyst, software engineer, and machine learning engineer. They are actively building foundational and emerging digital skills such as HTML and CSS, data structures, cloud computing and C programming, in line with rising jobs in India’s expanding digital economy -- the ‘top jobs by student demand’, include Software Engineer (18%), Data Scientist (15%) and Data Analyst (6%). Higher education students in India have unerringly chosen major opportunity areas ahead. Microsoft data estimates 2.8 crore new technology jobs in India by 2025, with big demand for jobs in software development, cloud and data roles, machine learning and AI. The government’s vision for Digital India, a thriving start-up sector and skyrocketing demand for digital skills across industries -from IT to manufacturing and retail -- is only going to fuel the demand for digital skills. Colleges, on their part, will have to consistently upgrade their curriculum to focus on emerging jobs and future digital competencies.
Enhancing student employability
Keeping curricula up to date is a constant struggle for institutions, especially in fields like data and technology where businesses are struggling to keep pace with skill changes. Universities lack the resources to identify these skills and develop courses for timely impact. However, campus trends demonstrate how institutions can effectively align their curricula with labour market needs by integrating online courses taught by experts in their fields. Blended learning models allow universities to instantly upgrade their curricula to deliver in demand learning at scale. Leveraging online learning will also enable institutes to add shorter pathways to credentials with high industry alignment. Universities will be well-positioned to give students access to a growing number of online professional certifications from industry leaders such as Google and IBM, helping them develop real-world skills that employers want. Enhancing student employability can further lead to cascading advantages, from higher enrolments and stronger reputation to deeper industry partnerships.
The value of multidisciplinary skills
One of the transformational ideas in the National Education Policy 2020 is around Holistic Multidisciplinary Education -the end of rigid streams, where one day, it may be possible to design your own degree. As the Campus Skills Report shows, students are already flexibly choosing their own unique skill combinations when they learn online.
Multidisciplinary skills can empower students to successfully pursue multiple career paths. For example, data analytics for an arts and humanities student, which can open up more job opportunities. Multidisciplinary skills are transferable, so they apply to multiple majors and career paths -- a valuable advantage for students entering the current, competitive job market. For universities, enhancing multidisciplinary course choices in the curriculum through blended learning, particularly those related to the use, analysis, and design of data and technology, can steer students to stronger career outcomes.
Skills-first learning matters
While higher education is organized by academic disciplines, today’s jobs are organized by skills, creating a disconnect between what students learn and the skills employers are looking for. That is changing. The report finds students in India are building skills online that show employers what they are capable of. Indian learners lead the world in the adoption of Guided Projects or ‘hands-on’ learning, demonstrating their ability to apply job-relevant technical skills to employers. This trend is completely aligned with the new direction for skill development proposed in the Union Budget’s DESH-STACK initiative, which focuses on realigning the national skill qualification framework based on dynamic industry needs. The Campus Skills Report recommends conceiving curricula in terms of ‘specific skills’. Having a shared framework of skills will connect all players in the education-toemployment ecosystem, plugging critical skill gaps.
Students in India are clear about what they want -- a jobrelevant education and skills that lead to career impact. The good news is, Indian higher education institutions are proactively embracing change. By enhancing student choices with high-quality blended learning options, they are arming students with in demand skills, bridging the industry-academia gap, and bolstering employability, transforming to engines of progress as India transitions to a digital future.