Western Caspian University is embracing fresh thinking and skills-based learning to prepare its students for an ever-changing workplace
The Fourth Industrial Revolution will have a transformative effect on our working lives. The wholesale roll-out of automated technologies will inevitably mean that jobs are lost. As artificial intelligence matures, the same disruptive logic witnessed in the manufacturing and logistics labour markets will come for professional occupations.
But if the idea of robots taking our jobs is an eye-catching and alarming prospect, it does not tell the whole story of the 21st-century workplace. Many jobs will still exist – however, the tasks required to fulfil them will change. Reskilling and upskilling will become crucial to career progression in a constantly evolving labour market in which a person’s professional pathway might change a handful of times in their lifetime.
The World Economic Forum estimates that in today’s employment market, skills have a half-life of five years. The implications for higher education’s role in society are huge. Universities are uniquely positioned to support the lifelong learning of a nation’s workforce.
How this might look in practice is not yet clear, says Andris Leitas, rector of Western Caspian University (WCU) in Azerbaijan, but it makes for a very exciting time for educators. “Western Caspian University will always be looking forward,” says Professor Leitas. “We are always striving to be a step ahead. This is our strategy. It is important that we find the best solutions, that we find the knowledge to improve learning as a process and the qualifications for our students. This is the future.”
Founded in 1991, WCU is a private institution that collaborates with local government administrations across Azerbaijan to provide online access to a suite of microcredentials and stackable degrees. WCU’s model offers flexible learning options that support students’ career growth and allows the university to offer top-class education from world-leading institutions via open online courses.
There are some challenges in rolling out microcredentialling programmes. The very concept of modular learning is still in its infancy, and Professor Leitas says the industry is yet to agree on a globally recognised definition. “In different systems, there are different definitions, different understandings,” he says. “There is no clear understanding of what a microcredential is. In some countries, microcredentials are recognised as a contribution to fulfil basic teaching programmes, having credit points. But not everywhere.”
Microcredentials might take the form of nanodegrees, micro-master’s, credentials, certificates, badges, licences and endorsements, but they will all have one thing in common: a strong focus on skills and knowledge that equip students to tackle workplace challenges. These skills are often transferable across a variety of disciplines.
Learning critical thinking and problem-solving skills, or acquiring insights about data science and artificial intelligence can enhance a student’s economic mobility. Professor Leitas hopes that WCU’s microcredentials will allow its students to present a portfolio of skills and an educational history that will position them favourably in “a very aggressive labour market”.
“Our students are selecting the courses appropriate to our basic teaching and learning profiles, but also looking to the future, to job opportunities,” Professor Leitas says. “The most important is that microcredentials can benefit both businesses and employees. They can improve both soft and hard skills. Subject areas include self-management, digital management, digital marketing – microcredentials cover all these areas.”
The demands of lifelong learning have asked existential questions of the university curriculum. Some educators argue that skills-based education will usurp the degree. Many large companies – including the likes of Google and IBM – have launched recruitment drives in which hiring is based on aptitude, with no degree required, offering in-house training to the next generation of their employees.
But perhaps a better way of framing the question is through the age-old tension between a purely academic experience and an education that is tailored to the needs of the workplace.
As an advocate for skills-based learning and an academic himself, Professor Leitas recognises this tension. He sees no reason why universities cannot deliver both. In developing a teaching strategy that supports lifelong learning, the traditional degree can offer students a solid academic foundation to later reinforce and build on with microcredentials, while skills-based programmes – delivered online and in-person – can help universities serve those who otherwise might not have seen university as an important resource for supporting their career.
“This is most important because we are looking at where our students are going to go in their future life,” says Professor Leitas. “Flexible, lifelong learning is essential. In today’s workplace, people are changing jobs every four to five years. This is the reality. I am from the older generation. We are not changing so fast. If you are younger, you have to be more flexible.”
The Covid-19 pandemic has taught higher education many lessons. It has demonstrated how resilient institutions can be in accelerating their digital transformations to sustain teaching while campuses are shuttered. It has proved that online modes of teaching can be hugely effective and efficient.
Offering microcredentials online does not require the same large investments as developing physical, on-campus settings. Professor Leitas is not surprised by findings that suggest 30 per cent of universities will continue to offer online and blended modes of learning once the pandemic is over. This is the future, and he sees WCU as ideally placed to embrace it.
“We had a digital library already, before this pandemic situation started,” he says. “What is needed is a methodology of teaching. This is really what we need to develop. My personal opinion is that this situation with Covid and microcredentials will change the whole system of education – in Azerbaijan, in the United States, in Western Europe, everywhere.”
Find out more about Western Caspian University.
