Is This the End of the College Degree?
Many would argue that the value proposition of a college degree is on the decline. Some might even label it as overvalued or irrelevant in today’s society.
Popular education authors like Ryan Craig, Jeff Selingo, and many others have been generally pessimistic about the future value of higher education based on its current trajectory. It’s not difficult to understand why, considering the high cost of tuition at many institutions, general uncertainty in the overall economy (i.e., rapid inflation), and general skepticism about the value/ROI associated with many degrees. However, there may be a more pressing reason why the college degree appears to be in peril, and that is due to the skills-based hiring movement. Trade programs, worker retraining, coding boot camps, and many other “modern” solutions have been proposed to replace the traditional degree. However, is this truly the end when considering the value of a college degree?
What Exactly Is the “Skills-Based Hiring” Movement?
On the topic of current hiring trends in the U.S., many HR organizations view the skills-based hiring movement as a departure from recruiting candidates based mainly on education and work experience toward selecting applicants who have demonstrable skills in a particular area that the firm is attempting to fill, and often quickly. While it might seem that the terms “formal work experience” and “skills” refer to the same item, many organizations no longer view it that way due to the rapidly changing job requirements within industries being disrupted by technology and immense innovations such as artificial intelligence. In other words, and this is key, the pressure to find and upskill talent in a hurry is, in many cases, causing organizations to try and shortcut the traditional method of hiring based upon a formal degree and work experience.
Is This the End (of Formal Education) as We Know It?
Much of the current narrative on the subject appears to position skills-based hiring as the end of formal education, but is it? What happens when educators and institutions focus massively on skills development rather than historical practices such as rote memorization of facts? The answer lies in the reality that the higher education industry is undergoing this change already. While the national or political narrative on higher ed may not have changed quite yet, the industry is building momentum toward a skills-based approach, and many institutions have been operating successful programs in competency-based education and direct assessment for years. Furthermore, when educators and industry leaders collaborate closely on which specific skills are most important for graduates who ultimately become successful employees, the resulting synergy (yes, I said it) closes the skills gap better than traditional education and work experience alone.
This is where competency-based assessment programs, and others like it, shine. If even more colleges and universities were teaching relevant skills demanded in the workplace, then hiring managers wouldn’t view skills-based hiring as an alternative to education but rather as an enhancement. The skills-based hiring movement is gaining momentum, and I would argue that this is just the beginning.
Reflection Points
· What are you noticing within your region and industry associations in terms of overall hiring trends?
· What skills are you seeing highly advertised in job postings within your network/connections? How are colleges and universities facilitating the development and promotion of those skills among the student population?
· How do students find and select appropriate higher education programs that focus on skills and competencies required in the workplace?
Agovino, T. (2024, March 21). Skills-based hiring is gaining ground. SHRM. https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/all-things-work/skills-based-hiring-new-workplace-trend
Luke Williams is a Senior Lecturer and Competency-Based Education Program Coordinator at Central Washington University. Within the IT-Management (ITAM) Dept. at Central, he teaches business and technology classes at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. During the past 8 years, he has taught 27 different courses for 4 separate college and university programs. In addition to his many years of corporate experience in the private sector selling to organizations such as Microsoft and Amazon, Mr. Williams draws on his family history. He is the third generation of a family of real estate investors/entrepreneurs. Collectively, the family has remodeled over 150 residential and multi-family properties throughout the United States and recently sold a multimillion-dollar commercial real estate enterprise after three decades of ownership/operation. Mr. Williams’ studies included a semester abroad at the University of Oxford, UK, where he was taught by some of Britain’s top experts in computer science, foreign policy, and international business. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems and shortly thereafter completed an MBA degree from Azusa Pacific University in Southern California. Mr. Williams currently resides near the Seattle area with his wife and 3 children.
