The " Mini Degree " Era !

Our working world has certainly changed and there is the expectation that it will change a lot more in the years ahead.  We are told that the average person will probably make several career changes in their lifetime and perhaps our present university system needs to change to meet that need.

The present university system is geared towards the needs of the past.  School leavers need to attain the Higher School Certificate  level to qualify for a place at University and then spend several years gaining a diploma.  That qualification is necessary for entry into many professions and in the distant past, that assured the holder of a better than average income.

A different future is envisaged by Bruce Reed who was former President Bill Clinton's top domestic policy adviser and chief of staff to vice president Joe Biden.   Mr Reed is scheduled to address University leaders in Canberra.

There is no doubt that we are heading into a future in which robotics and automation will play an ever increasing part.  The impetus is likely to change away from young people gaining a general life skill to  older workers repeatedly coming to university to learn the particular skills that will allow them to serve in this ever changing workplace.

The future is likely to be " mini degrees " - earned in a matter of months and applicable to aspects of industry as they emerge.  This is illustrated with the needs of the computer industry.  Its expansion is reliant on coders and these specific skills are in high demand.  At present they are a part of a general course over several years when gaining that specific skill would better serve an individual looking for immediate placement where such skilled workers are scarce.   Such a worker would return to university for an upgrade as that vocation technically advances.

It is quite possible that what used to be called TAFE will become an integral part of university culture providing this form of advanced learning by way of evening courses to allow retraining to coincide with earning ability.  Instead of reaching an overall standard in a number of years the need will be for specific skills, earned in a far shorter period to qualify for the fast developing needs of individual industries.

It is likely that this provision of mini degrees will run in tandem with diploma courses.  That diploma will still be necessary to enter many professions but there is a new need to train the unskilled to a standard where they can slot into emerging industries with specific skills that make them employable. In particular, where jobs disappear because of new technology it is important that the work force gain new skills to move with that progression.

We are moving into an entirely new cycle of industrial progress in industry and this brings with it the need for new skills.  Along with staff trained in individual disciplines there will be a need for operatives who can operate, maintain and service the componentry of these new industries.   To do that, they will need training to far less than diploma standard.  Our universities need to revise their curriculum to meet that challenge !