In the second of a 2-part series exploring graduate unemployment, we wanted to share what we see as the path forward for higher education-to-careers. You can find the first post here.
The challenge is communication — while shifts in the job market accelerate, the information provided to universities and students is sparse. Specifically, job markets aren’t providing universities with updated & accurate information on its trends and needs, universities struggle to support student career development without this information, and students are left in the dark, not sure where to even start.
Given the challenges, how can universities increase students career success, without compromising personalization, scalability, or their role in academia? Make it easier for students to take greater control of their career development.
We envision students designing their careers, guided by personalized, data-driven platforms to ensure their combinations are relevant and lead to successful outcomes. The guidance would be adaptive, considering the students’ college progression or complex situations like pivoting majors and/or target career paths. Essentially, students would know exactly which majors/minors, courses, and internships to take at any given point during their college experience. This would provide a level of flexibility and control that enables students to:
- Mix and match disciplines for the interdisciplinary careers of today
- Specialize in a single field of study
- Study majors unrelated to their target career paths, while still being highly prepared
This may sound far-fetched, but it’s really a task of connecting the dots between data we already have access to. Job market data is readily available in the form of job postings, which lay out the duties and required skills. Similarly, information on majors, minors, and courses are available on university websites and databases, along with descriptions of its contents. The challenge is deriving relationships between these datasets, unlocking actionable insights for students. Insights they can use to guide decisions ranging from choosing majors/minors to knowing which internships to pursue.
Things get even more interesting when you consider the data-driven insights this would unlock. Just like how websites & apps use Google Analytics to drive product development decisions via real-time, data-driven insights on user activity, universities would have access to key insights that would guide upgrades to the college experience like: which career paths students seek to prepare for, which skills are in demand but not provided, or what experiential learning needs are missing. Every investment to revamp the college experience would be data-driven, ensuring universities make the best use of their budgets.
Another key use of the data would be to convey each graduate’s “career story” (i.e. background, skills, passions) in a more coherent and quantitative manner to employers. As roles increasingly require interdisciplinary backgrounds, proficiencies with tools and technologies, and demonstration of soft skills, employers need a more reliable analysis of candidates’ skills and abilities. The data from student-led career development would reveal invaluable insights, providing employers detailed snapshots of the qualifications of each candidate. These are some of the many benefits universities will benefit from by becoming a data-driven institution.
The world of higher education is going through very interesting times. Universities will see major transformations to become data-driven, efficient, and better at the core mission of developing great citizens.
What solutions have you come across to solve the student career success challenge? Share your thoughts below!
A note about us
We’re recent college graduates with first-hand experience of this issue. We (and most students you talk to) realize that career development is way harder than it should be, and our mission is to make it as seamless, personal, and efficient as possible — so students can immerse in the more important aspects of the college experience.
The solution we are working on, PathBase, is a smart career companion that helps students build dream careers by using job market data & machine learning. It helps with things like discovering their path, finding out which skills to build, and landing opportunities using its tools & data-driven ePortfolio/resumes. It’s free for any student, and just started Beta — so use it with your students!
Originally published at blog.pathbase.io on August 23, 2017.
