Admittedly, we have no way of knowing for certain what the future holds. Technologies like artificial intelligence and robotics are maturing before our eyes and could take over some of the industries that have been around forever. One thing we do know, however, is that students in school today will need to be taught in new ways to ensure they have the skills necessary for future jobs. We talked about a lot of these skills in last week’s Eduporium Weekly and now we are going to be discussing some of the ways they might be put to use. Jobs of the future could range anywhere from drone pilot to virtual reality creator. We simply don’t know what exactly lies ahead, but can do some things to help prepare students for anything.
5 Skills Students Will Likely Need for Future Jobs
Chances are that the job descriptions of most people have changed over the last five or 10 years. This certainly includes teachers and extends into the STEM industries as well. With advances in technology, people are being asked to do more things than ever before, including new things that had previously not been a part of their responsibilities. Even in schools, new jobs, roles, and positions are being created all the time. There were no Tech Integration Specialists or STEM Coaches eight or nine years ago. Educational leaders are just going by what the world dictates and our world is dictating that students learn a whole lot of previously unneeded skills.
As the workforce evolves and continues to be driven by STEM, there is a real skills divide developing. The sets of jobs that require fewer high-level skills will likely become obsolete sooner rather than later, meaning that those jobs that are highly technical will remain available and attainable for those employees who have the right skills. One of the skills students should be learning (we’re revealing these in no particular order) is establishing a personal brand. Being successful means setting yourself apart and students entering the STEM workforce can do so by building a reputation, trust, and a following. Another key skill is digital fluency. The digitalization of the workforce is not going anywhere and those who are able to slot right into a heavily digital role are going to be more valuable to employers.
One of the other skills that is valuable to have is networking. The ability to build relationships is crucial for students or graduates to help get their name out there. The fourth skill on our list is making sense of complexity. With 21st century challenges, like coding, for example, there can be a lot of complex information and having the ability to quickly and efficiently connect the dots while creating new pathways to success is something very valuable. Finally, having a strong sense of resilience is going to be key. Resiliency helps employees in a business setting transform obstacles into solutions and opportunities, which helps them to always be moving forward.
The Places STEM Jobs Could Take Us
If there is one thing we know about the future workforce, it’s that we know nothing about it for certain. One of the biggest clues, however, appears to be that there will just about always be plenty of jobs available in the STEM fields, meaning it’s as important as ever for graduates to know where to find these jobs and learn the skills to do them well. Data suggests that most of the STEM jobs currently available are in the information and computer technology fields (computer science) and the engineering fields, including chemical, mechanical, and industrial engineering. Recent research has also shown that there is a greater gap developing between the number of STEM jobs available and the number of people pursuing them, meaning that, with the right set of skills, it could be even easier to land a job in STEM. Despite the benefits of a STEM career (comfortable pay and increased need, for starters), it is still difficult for employers to find the right people to fill their open roles.
People who gain experience through STEM education inherently begin developing some of today’s (and tomorrow’s) most relevant skills. Research shows that exposure to STEM practices helps students develop abilities like assessing evidence, conducting research, and weighing possible outcomes, which are all valuable tools to possess in the 21st century. It’s people with these sets of skills who typically progress more quickly and wind up making more money throughout their careers. For students, it’s about realizing these possibilities and overcoming any internal reservations about the difficulty or amount of work it will take to earn a STEM degree. Students also tend to think of STEM professionals as scientists stuck in a lab, but the reality is that STEM workers are doing more than ever in all different industries.
STEM careers can take people anywhere, including to lives as architects, computer systems analysts, biomedical professionals, nuclear engineers, physicists, chemists, graphic designers, and even teachers. Yes, there need to be professionals in place to teach all future generations the same skills that are being taught today. The truth, however, is that, in all likelihood, today’s students will wind up in a career that has not yet been created. Though we do not yet know what some of the jobs of the future will be, training students in the fundamentals of science throughout their lives will help them to succeed in whatever role they do end up having. If students are taught some broad STEM skills, like problem solving and critical thinking, they should, in theory, be able to use them in any field and excel in any careers they choose.
Design Thinking’s Place in the Future
Design thinking is one of the most important skills today’s students can possess. It helps them to see the bigger picture and assess information more quickly and efficiently when solving problems. Naturally, this makes design thinking a very beneficial skill to have in today’s economy. There are a bunch of unfilled jobs that require workers to utilize design thinking and creativity on a regular basis and those graduates who possess these kinds of skills tend to be rewarded. In fact, there are jobs in which a superior set of design skills can specifically help people get ahead and stay ahead. Even as jobs evolve by the time today’s students are ready to enter the workforce, having strong design skills will still be able to help them solve problems while adapting to changing conditions. Design thinkers should be better able to embrace this fact and get ready for a career revolution.
As technology continues to improve, the world is going to need people to design it. Not only are the designers needed, they will be called upon to design technology that will remain relevant for years (possibly even decades) rather than just months. The problem with much of the technology that’s emerging today is that it’s obsolete after a year or two or, in some cases, just a few months. Some of the jobs that are predicted to emerge and center on design thinking include digital product designers, UX designers, and strategic design managers. Digital product designers might be expected to design smart gadgets, apps, and systems for other technological advancements. UX designers might be expected to completely redesign the user experience of digital customers. And, strategic design managers will likely have to find creative ways to drive growth and solve problems within the government or private businesses—just to name a few potential examples of design thinking in the real world.
Another big part of our lives is wearable technology, so we’re going to need people to design that. Wearables have the ability to help transform people’s lives and the jobs that will be available for their designers will offer brand new career paths for plenty of people. The last job possibility on our list is what’s (for now) referred to as complex 3D designers. This can be thought of as something similar to digital engineering, which will almost certainly become more frequently used in the construction, architecture, and even medical industries. Relying a lot on 3D printers, design professionals are expected to use their skills to create the most efficient solutions to everyday problems. Obviously, design thinking will play a role in the employment of the next generation, but it remains to be seen just how great of an impact it will have on their success and how design thinking skills will help people rise or fall.
AI Should Create Jobs Rather than Take Them
When we talk about emerging technologies, there’s one at the top of the list that always seems to get mentioned. Well, some of the time it does. And, some of the time, we’re too scared to talk about it. This technology is known as artificial intelligence or AI for short. AI is defined as a branch of computer science that deals with the simulation of intelligent behavior in computers. It’s basically technology that can do some of the intellectual things humans can do. Think about Siri, for example. Siri is an AI that can answer a whole bunch of questions. Compared to the potential of artificial intelligence, however, Siri is a pretty basic form of it. The truth is that scientists have barely scratched the surface when it comes to artificial intelligence and its capabilities and some of them are actually a bit scared when they talk about just how smart it could become over the next few decades.
One sure thing is that AI will soon start to play a more prominent role in everyday life. We’re already fairly dependent on it as evidenced by the Siri example, but it’s expected to develop more of a role in areas like education, transportation, and even shopping. While we’ve spent much of the last decade or so worrying about technology taking jobs from us, the more accurate way to look at things is that tech will also create a whole bunch of new jobs. It will replace some jobs and some workers, but open up new opportunities for them in the process. They will just need to learn the right skills in order to thrive in new roles—easier said than done, we know. A shift in thinking has led to experts no longer predicting that technology will take jobs, which they had been believing for almost a century, but rather to them forecasting that things like AI will create new opportunities for those skilled enough to undertake them, which isn’t that far off from the original prediction if you ask us.
There are two main reasons that automation creates new opportunities for employment. New technologies are constantly being used to transform things we once thought of as luxuries into things that are necessities. Computers are a fine example of this. The second reason has to do with the nature of the jobs themselves. These days, people who hold a single job perform a number of different tasks and, while some are susceptible to automation, others are definitely not. AI could take over doing some of the more mundane tasks in modern jobs, but it will not be able to replace the human traits of creativity and problem solving, which is why they are so important for the future. So, artificial intelligence could end up being a good thing for employees as the only tasks it is likely to take over are the repetitive, mundane ones that require no thinking. We still need human brain power to tackle the problems that require critical thinking and an innovative eye.
Transforming Learning to Prepare Students for Tomorrow’s Jobs
There’s no doubt that teaching and learning have to evolve in order to prepare students for what their futures might be like. It’s changed a ton in the last few years alone with the emergence of STEM programs, like robotics, coding, engineering, 3D printing, and computer science. Computer science is one of the leading job opportunities for today’s students and the possibilities for those with CS degrees and skills are large. One of those opportunities is, of course, video game design. We’ve known for a while that a lot of computer science and animation goes into creating the games that so many people play. Now, however, kids are getting the opportunity to experience what it’s like to create them at a young age. Using different tech tools, teachers can begin introducing their students to basic video game design and also expose them to key future skills, like coding, in the process. This is a great way to engage them, get them thinking critically, and, most importantly, get them thinking about mastering new skills.
It keeps getting more difficult to predict what tomorrow’s workplace will look like, so there are always new ideas being floated around for how to best teach students. One of those ideas has to do with using video games. Though it seems questionable to think that something traditionally seen as a distraction and even a waste of time could be an educational asset, the truth is that they can be. Video games tend to capture all of our attention while we’re playing them. If a game has an educational component or could help children learn a specific skill, then the fact that it has their undivided attention is working to their educators’ advantage. This doesn’t mean that children should always be playing a video game in school or even always looking at a screen. By borrowing the principle of gamification and applying it to learning, teachers can bolster social dynamics for their students.
Contrary to the common belief that video games make kids more isolated, they actually tend to make children more social. With all of the collaboration going on in today’s economy, this could end up being a benefit to them in the future. Some games even improve academic experiences for children and can hold their attention while they learn some simple skills. This may be more relevant to apps rather than full-scale video games at the moment, but the concept remains the same. Through playing video games, children start to learn that it’s okay to fail. Today’s society rewards risk takers and doesn’t necessarily penalize those who fail, but, rather, gives them insight into how to fix their failures through creative processes. So, the next time you’re thinking about shaking things up in the classroom, don’t be afraid to try some games and remember that there’s no way of knowing what the future holds. Preparing students for everything might just be the best approach.
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