A traditional four-year degree has long been the gold standard indicator of an individual’s ability to perform well in a career of their choice. But the world we live in at the height of the Information Age is much different (i.e., faster-paced) than it was decades ago. The need for agility is only increasing in the workplace and elsewhere.
There are valid questions about how well traditional educational pathways serve this need for speed in our advancing world. Today, the majority of Americans question the value of a four-year degree. Alternative solutions, like microcredentials and badges, which provide bite-size, just-in-time education and training, are becoming more appealing to students. Companies can leverage this trend to help their teams quickly obtain the right information, skills and competencies to excel in the workplace.
A critical inflection point for microcredentials and badges
Microcredentials, defined as “short, competency-based recognition,” offer agile and efficient pathways for corporations that want to train new employees or upskill current ones. “Stacked” microcredentials can be grouped to award badges, which imply a level of competency in a specific area. In some cases, microcredentials could eventually lead to certificates or even more traditional degrees.
I can’t emphasize enough how different this paradigm shift is for both corporations and higher education. A few years ago, I attended a panel on self-driving vehicles. The panelists described what we might expect from self-driving cars in the years ahead. They predicted a time of significant transition. When the world moves fully to self-driving vehicles, fewer accidents will occur. However, the in-between phase, when self-driving vehicles share the road with regular vehicles, will be a messy and complicated time.
Fortunately, the stakes are lower in higher education, but a similar logic applies. Any significant transformation brings a bumpy transition period, and the shift from four-year degrees to microcredentials and badges is no different.
The challenge: Demonstrating meaning, transparency and value
The biggest challenge suppliers of learning and development programs face is demonstrating the meaning, transparency, and value behind a microcredential or badge. And who better to lead the way in defining those key factors link to How Corporations Can Drive Innovation in Higher Education—and Why They Should than the entities driving demand for these programs? Yes, I’m talking about the HR leaders and supervising managers and professional associations who make decisions about hiring and corporate training.
A four-year degree can be opaque. We assign meaning to it, but the reality is that having a bachelor’s degree — and especially having a bachelor’s degree from a specific institution — isn’t a reliable indicator of job performance. There’s a lack of transparency around the true heights or limits of a person’s skills and competencies. Microcredentials and badges have the potential to convey precise information about a person and their potential competency to an employer or manager. Now is the time for the companies on the demand side of learning programs to stand up and say, “This credential or badge means something, and here’s exactly what it means.”
How higher ed will adapt
The faster corporations embrace microcredentials and badges, the sooner colleges and universities can adapt accordingly. Higher education is becoming increasingly sensitive to the broader market factors that affect their programming. I don’t believe higher education solely exists to help a student prepare for their career; on the other hand, I do believe that higher education will benefit from developing programs in dialogue with the companies that hire their graduates.
But I’ll stress again that corporations will get more out of this transition if they lead the charge. This is an exciting time full of possibilities. The more effectively companies express their current and future needs concerning microcredentials and badges, the faster suppliers will develop programs that meet them.
