Skills Over Degree! Importance of Building a Portfolio! ❤️

Skills Over Degree!

Importance of Building a Portfolio!

#newspaperinlearning

Felt so happy to read this insightful feature article in today’s The Times of India, by our Principal & Secretary (Madras Christian College, Chennai) Dr. Paul Wilson.

Giving out statistics to back his views, Dr. Wilson points out that, the higher education sector has shrunk by 2%, and data from the National Centre for Education Statistics (NCES) shows that nearly 100 institutions closed between 2022-23 and 2023-24 in the USA.

He follows it up by asking two pertinent questions –

Will other degree programmes, which apparently do not appeal to the job market or employability, cease to exist soon?

Do these programmes not have scope for employability in the present dispensation?

Dr. Wilson then highlights the reasons for the decline in enrolment in traditional arts and science colleges & universities. He attributes this decline to the fact that, students and employers increasingly prioritise practical skills, professional degrees, and tech certifications over conventional academic programmes, driven by several key factors as follows -

Firstly, driven by the need for immediate employability, parents and students are defaulting to professional courses like AI, Data Science, BCA, and BCom rather than traditional arts and sciences.

Secondly, declining birth rates globally have shrunk the student pool. And hence, in order to survive, Western universities are aggressively recruiting Indian students. Simultaneously, policies like India’s NEP 2020 allow foreign universities to open local campuses, creating intense competition for domestic institutions.

Thirdly, Gen Z and Millennials are heavily focused on practical skill development and career growth. High costs are leading many to skip traditional higher education altogether in favour of direct workforce entry, on-the-job training, or tech certifications.

Fourthly, the corporate world is shifting its hiring focus from holding a degree to actually possessing relevant skills, thus preferring skills over degree!

In this context, even while higher education is undergoing a massive shift, Dr. Wilson ends the article on a reassuring note for the students. Since employers are increasingly hunting for skills rather than specific degrees, students who miss out on their preferred university programmes can still succeed by strategically building a strong portfolio of skills alongside whatever degree they pursue.

And that has the ability to make the difference!