economies and a carbon-neutral future is to ensure qualifications, programmes and curricula deliver ‘green skills’, be they for newly emerging occupations and sectors or for those sectors undergoing transformation for the low-carbon economy.”14 While the report emphasized the need for intercultural understanding, colleges and universities must question whether skills development is being addressed at the same level as ideological argument.
There is cause for worry. A recent Cengage survey of Americans who graduated from a two-year community or four-year college in the past five years found that nearly one in five (19%) reported that their college education experience did not provide them with the skills needed to perform their first post-degree job. Additionally, more than half (53%) of these college graduates have not applied to an
entry-level job in their field because they felt
unqualified, and nearly half (42%) felt unqualified because they did not have all the skills listed in the job description.
For these reasons, commentators argue that “now is the time for employers to increase credibility for skills-based hiring, to remove stigmas around vocational education, and to move forward to create equal opportunities for all students.”15 If students start avoiding colleges and universities because they do not provide the skills needed to get a job, then efforts to increase cultural awareness – whether legitimate or not – will be for naught.
What this means is: higher education must change not only to remain relevant, but to best serve the students in their charge by providing them with both a “quality” education as well as the “skills” required to compete in the 21st century. And this change must occur within practices involving faculty, staff, and students.
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