What Do Future Students Look Like?
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The employment landscape is changing; Australian education needs to keep up.
Everywhere we turn, there is upheaval. Already, the next generation of workers face unprecedented uncertainty. And as the first generation Z students start to graduate, what does the future of education and employment look like in Australia?
Since the 2007 Global Financial Crisis, youth underemployment in Australia has remained consistently high – young people still take an average of 2.6 years to obtain full-time work (FYA 2019).
The struggle for young people to find work has been further exacerbated by the sudden onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, the Grattan Institute estimated that about 40 percent of employed teenagers would lose work due to the COVID-19 shutdown, while people in their twenties were the next group most likely to lose work.
According to the majority of experts, the COVID-19 crisis is now expected to have a generational impact. Like the rest of the world, Australia is expected to sink into a recession by the end of 2020. With a decrease in economic activity, employment opportunities will be further reduced.
Large redundancies will mean Australian graduates will no longer be just competing with their peers, but will most likely be competing with out-of-work professionals with years of work experience for the fewer jobs that are available.
However, many of the work opportunities that students will compete for in the future do not yet exist. Similarly, many jobs that exist today will not exist in the same form years from now. Adequately preparing students for the jobs of the future will help Australia become a world leader in innovation and productivity, and assist in solving the problems of today and tomorrow.
Over the past few years, Local Peoples has been conducting independent research that explores the perspectives of over 800 students, graduates, educators and industry leaders.
We revisited our research during COVID, wanting to delve deep and understand what might better equip students to adapt to the countless changes they will experience within their careers. Overall, we found that students are stressed.
Due to the economic and financial impacts of COVID-19, 66 percent of over 700 students from major universities around Australia reported feeling stressed about their job prospects, while only 55 percent reported feeling confident that their studies have prepared them to land a job in their chosen field.
How, we asked, can education be better designed to prepare students for the rapidly changing employment landscape? At Local Peoples, this is a problem we have been grappling with.
Our research showed that 39 percent of industry professionals in Australia are not confident that universities are equipping students with the skills required to land a job in their industry. Similarly, 33 percent are not confident that students have the skills to perform in the workplace at all.
We must recognise that there is an opportunity in bridging the perceived gap between academic theory and industry practice. That there is an overwhelming student demand for practical, hands-on experience.
Students and recent graduates are also extremely interested in learning future skills so they can adapt to change and thrive into the future. In our research, we found that while 64 percent of students reported wanting to understand future career paths, an overwhelming 86 percent wanted to gain greater practical experience.
Industry, for a long time, has widely recognised that, in its current state, traditional higher education programs can do better in preparing students for their future careers. However, this would require a seismic shift in how the industry defines and reimagines the student experience in Australia.
Right now, we have a unique opportunity for education institutions across the country to adapt to the new needs and skills that are being demanded.
So how might we support students and graduates as the future of work and education shifts?
In 2019, LinkedIn highlighted the most in-demand soft skills for the future of work. These include creativity, persuasion, collaboration, adaptability and emotional intelligence. We asked students if they were interested in learning them. Yes, was the overwhelming answer.
We believe industries must form partnerships with students and higher learning institutions to better equip students with the skills required for the future of work. Educational institutions have a responsibility to listen empathetically and adapt accordingly – to better support the student experience and journey towards meaningful employment.
We can no longer view students as individuals that need to be told, but rather as individuals that must be involved.
Doing so will result in the most resilient and capable generation of students yet.
Interested in learning more about our research into the future of education and how Local Peoples can contribute to this change?
Illustrations by Kyle Grigg
