Skills mismatch: informal education can be part of the answer
The phenomenon of skills mismatch -or mismatch of skills or abilities, in Spanish- is, according to a UNESCO definition, the "situation of imbalance in which the level or type of skills available does not correspond to the needs of the labor market".
The UN agency also defines the term as "situation in the labor market where the level of skills of individuals does not match the level of skills required in the jobs."
This problem has a global reach and requires analyzing its origins in order to know its possible solutions.
On the one hand, it responds to the current situation of formal education, whose main interest is to have a business logic. This means that this sector privileges the needs of clients to achieve a degree above the demands of the labor market. This implies that formal education seeks to define a formation path and extend it to maximize their gains from the larger time of the student spent in that process.
In addition, in relation to this first problem, one must also consider the lack of flexibility in education. Currently there are really long processes of approval for educational programs, that require too long paths for change, that do not conform with the speed at which the needs of the different professions are changing.
These two points that can be considered part of the original problem of Skills Mismatch are related, because education ignores what the market demands or reacts belatedly in responding to their needs. One of the reasons for this deficiency is that, for an educational institute, making the investment to develop programs, obtain official approvals, etc., is something that demands a long bureaucratic process that is not in accordance with the speed that the market needs. In other words, the adaptation of the programs of educational institutions does not match the speed of change in the labor market.
There are certain professions, many of them related to digital skills, which are increasingly nourished by workers who learn in the informal market. Many people learn through the Internet, or attending short courses, with the aim of having a job, instead of opting for long careers where there is no certainty of getting a job once completed.
Among this group of courses, we can highlight the ones carried out by ComIT, where we constantly work based on the needs of the IT industry.
The foregoing does not imply a demerit to formal education, which is a pillar for the development of people and also for the formation of human capital.
What seems increasingly clear, especially in areas of digital skills, is that in the future - and also in the present - training for a wide variety of professions will be through the conjunction of formal and informal education.
This will give students a more complete view of their profession, with a base of formal skills that will be the basis of their resources to solve problems, but increasingly intimately linked to particular knowledge acquired outside of formal education, which will provide concrete tools for specific aspects of their daily work.
In summary, formal education is important and necessary for the training of qualified professionals, but flexible tools must also be added to allow adaptation to a constantly evolving work ecosystem.
The UN agency also defines the term as "situation in the labor market where the level of skills of individuals does not match the level of skills required in the jobs."
This problem has a global reach and requires analyzing its origins in order to know its possible solutions.
On the one hand, it responds to the current situation of formal education, whose main interest is to have a business logic. This means that this sector privileges the needs of clients to achieve a degree above the demands of the labor market. This implies that formal education seeks to define a formation path and extend it to maximize their gains from the larger time of the student spent in that process.
In addition, in relation to this first problem, one must also consider the lack of flexibility in education. Currently there are really long processes of approval for educational programs, that require too long paths for change, that do not conform with the speed at which the needs of the different professions are changing.
These two points that can be considered part of the original problem of Skills Mismatch are related, because education ignores what the market demands or reacts belatedly in responding to their needs. One of the reasons for this deficiency is that, for an educational institute, making the investment to develop programs, obtain official approvals, etc., is something that demands a long bureaucratic process that is not in accordance with the speed that the market needs. In other words, the adaptation of the programs of educational institutions does not match the speed of change in the labor market.
There are certain professions, many of them related to digital skills, which are increasingly nourished by workers who learn in the informal market. Many people learn through the Internet, or attending short courses, with the aim of having a job, instead of opting for long careers where there is no certainty of getting a job once completed.
Among this group of courses, we can highlight the ones carried out by ComIT, where we constantly work based on the needs of the IT industry.
The foregoing does not imply a demerit to formal education, which is a pillar for the development of people and also for the formation of human capital.
What seems increasingly clear, especially in areas of digital skills, is that in the future - and also in the present - training for a wide variety of professions will be through the conjunction of formal and informal education.
This will give students a more complete view of their profession, with a base of formal skills that will be the basis of their resources to solve problems, but increasingly intimately linked to particular knowledge acquired outside of formal education, which will provide concrete tools for specific aspects of their daily work.
In summary, formal education is important and necessary for the training of qualified professionals, but flexible tools must also be added to allow adaptation to a constantly evolving work ecosystem.
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