New report examines how higher education can meet students’ needs, better prepare them for workplace success.

higher-educationA new report identifies three strategies that could prove useful when it comes to helping higher-ed institutions produce students who have the skills and knowledge to succeed in today’s competitive workforce.

Many students today do not gain the skills they need to be successful in today’s workforce, and that is largely due to a disconnect between educators and industry leaders regarding skill sets that are essential for success, according to “Pursuit of Relevance: How higher education remains viable in today’s dynamic world.”

In compiling the report, the IBM Institute for Business Value and the Economist Intelligence Unit surveyed more than 900 academic industry leaders from private and public colleges and universities, vocational programs, community colleges, education service providers, and corporation. They also interviewed 25 academic subject matter experts.

(Next page: What industry and academic leaders say about the state of higher education)

Most industry and academic leaders identified job placement as the best way to measure higher education’s effectiveness, but, at the same time, those leaders noted that the current higher education system doesn’t give students all the skills they need to be competitive.

2012 survey data cited in the report indicates that while 94 percent of surveyed U.S. parents said they expect their child to attend college, 75 percent of surveyed Americans said college is too expensive for the average U.S. family. Nearly 60 percent of those surveyed said they think colleges do not offer a good value for the money students spend to earn degrees.

Fewer than half (43 percent) of those surveyed across industry and academia believe higher education prepares students with the necessary workforce skills.

Forty-nine percent of surveyed industry and academic leaders said they believe higher education meets students’ needs, and 41 percent of those surveyed said they believe higher education meets industry needs.

In order to prioritize actions needed to make the higher education model more effective, the report’s authors suggest three key strategies to drive transformation:

  • Prioritize creation of more practical and applied curricula
  • Embrace new technologies to improve educational access, experiences, variety, and outcomes
  • Build and expand relationships between higher education institutions, employers, and other partners within comprehensive and far-reaching educational ecosystems

Technology plays a role in this transformation, and it “needs to be used in the right ways to enhance the overall education experience.”

Technologies constantly impact the workforce as they change and evolve, but this creates challenges for higher education institutions as they react to disruptive technologies and strive to give students those technology-enabled skills.

Embracing technology will help institutions meet customer expectations. The report’s authors recommend that industry leaders embrace technology’s ability to promote access to education, deepen educational experiences, expand the variety of experiences available, and improve student outcomes.

When it comes to higher education’s ability to meet customer needs, vocational and community college leaders have the most pessimistic views. This, the authors note, could be due to the schools’ greater proximity to the intersection between academics and employment.

Thirty-one percent of surveyed vocational and community college leaders said higher education meets the needs of students, 23 percent of those surveyed said it meets the needs of industry, and 27 percent of those surveyed said it meets societal needs.

Just 51 percent of surveyed academic and industry leaders said they believer higher education offers value for the money.

To read the full report click here.

The report was authored by Dave Zaharchuk, Global Government Industry Leader, IBM Institute for Business Value; Anthony Marshall, Strategy Leader and Program Director, IBM Institute for Business Value; and Michael King; Global Education Industry Vice President, IBM Sales and Distribution.

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Laura Ascione

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