Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ There is no skills-gap: it is employers who have not kept up with the improved skills of graduates

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

According to Steven C. Ward, the skills gap argument "does not do justice to the complex structural conditions that makes certain skills in demand or not." Rather, it is the employment market that is misrepresented. "It is employers who have not kept up with the improved skills and knowledge of university graduates over the decades." This could be a deep point if it were substantiated with data. It suggests that industry and commerce are misdirected, that they would generate more value if they were doing different things, where these things match the existing skills base in society. This may be true. But it doesn't help people with these skills, who find no market for them, and it doesn't help companies, who have demonstrated needs, and no people to fill their positions. The facts, at the moment, trump Ward's argument. Via Patrick Dunleavy.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
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Last Updated: Nov 15, 2024 08:22 a.m.

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