tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/jobs-of-the-future-21068/articlesJobs of the future – The Conversation2021-04-16T12:36:59Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1578662021-04-16T12:36:59Z2021-04-16T12:36:59Z6 ways recent college graduates can enhance their online job search<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394588/original/file-20210412-21-1mb0kco.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C0%2C5682%2C3797&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Very few job applications get a positive response.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/smiling-young-female-student-using-laptop-while-royalty-free-image/1055843766?adppopup=true">Maskot/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When recent or soon-to-be college graduates begin to seek employment, many inevitably turn to job-search and networking platforms on the internet.</p>
<p>The platforms include some that are college-based – such as <a href="https://www.joinhandshake.com/">Handshake</a>, <a href="https://www.symplicity.com/">Symplicity</a> <a href="https://www.gradleaders.com/">GradLeaders</a> and <a href="https://www.12twenty.com/">12twenty</a> – as well as networking platforms like <a href="https://www.linkedin.com">LinkedIn</a> and <a href="https://www.peoplegrove.com/">PeopleGrove</a>. With COVID-19 having moved job searches <a href="https://www.kfyrtv.com/2021/04/01/gen-z-goes-virtual-for-job-search-during-covid-19/">more and more into the virtual realm</a>, these platforms are playing an increasingly crucial role in the quest for employment.</p>
<p>From my vantage point as a veteran <a href="https://udayton.edu/directory/careerservices/eckert_jason.php">college-based career services counselor</a>, I have also observed that many students and recent graduates don’t make the most of what these platforms have to offer.</p>
<p>With that in mind – and in light of reports of <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-crisis-of-unemployed-college-graduates-11612454124">bleak employment prospects</a> for <a href="https://ceri.msu.edu/_assets/pdfs/Recruiting-Trends-2020-21-report.pdf">new college graduates</a> – here are six tips for recent or soon-to-be college graduates who hope to make the most of their virtual job searches.</p>
<h2>1. Use multiple platforms</h2>
<p>Start with the platform that has a partnership with your college. The reason is because campus-based platforms, such as <a href="https://www.symplicity.com/">Symplicity</a> or <a href="https://joinhandshake.com/">Handshake</a>, often list jobs that are not available on other sites. </p>
<p>At the same time, I recommend that college students set up profiles with one or more of the “big board” employment job posting sites, such as <a href="https://www.indeed.com/">Indeed</a>, <a href="https://www.careerbuilder.com/">CareerBuilder</a>, <a href="https://www.simplyhired.com/">SimplyHired</a>, <a href="https://www.ziprecruiter.com/">ZipRecruiter</a> or <a href="https://www.glassdoor.com/index.htm">Glassdoor</a>. Among other things, these sites allow job seekers to create <a href="https://work.chron.com/create-job-search-agent-email-12868.html">job search agents</a> that push email notifications whenever new jobs that match search criteria are posted.</p>
<h2>2. Apply frequently</h2>
<p>Students who are new to the job search may not be applying for enough positions. I’ve recently worked with several students who have become discouraged when they applied to a few jobs and didn’t get the response they wanted.</p>
<p>While the number of positions a college job seeker should apply to will vary by industry, I suggest that an applicant should apply to at least two or three positions a day.</p>
<p>The reason I say this is because employment experts, such as <a href="https://www.entrepreneur.com/author/biron-clark">Biron Clark</a>, founder of CareerSidekick.com, estimate that only <a href="https://careersidekick.com/interviews-per-job/">2%-3% of employment applications</a> result in an interview. For that reason alone, job seekers have to step up their search and networking efforts in order to increase their odds.</p>
<h2>3. Set small daily goals</h2>
<p>Real and perceived economic challenges created by the pandemic have led to a great deal of anxiety for job seekers. Studies have shown that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-021-01130-w">extended periods of unemployment</a> – and the risk of unemployment and underemployment – can be <a href="https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2500&context=scholarsweek">distressing</a>.</p>
<p>Many college students with whom I have worked have expressed feelings of anxiety and being overwhelmed about their employment prospects. Some have even stopped searching for a job altogether. </p>
<p>To guard against giving up, I recommend that college students and recent graduates focus on small steps and daily goals. In addition to applying to a few positions a day, these goals can include conducting research regarding possible careers or networking with at least one person daily.</p>
<h2>4. Track your progress</h2>
<p>Create a spreadsheet to keep track of your job applications.</p>
<p>I believe a spreadsheet can be a motivational tool to ensure daily job hunt activity. I’ve even created a sample spreadsheet that I share with the students and alumni with whom I work. The columns on my sample spreadsheet include categories such as “Date of Application,” “Date of Screening Interview,” “Thank You Note Sent?” and “Salary Offer.” </p>
<p>A more sophisticated spreadsheet might include columns for when the time comes to choose between offers, such as length of commute or average rent in the city where the job is located.</p>
<h2>5. Tap into alumni networks</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/new-survey-reveals-85-all-jobs-filled-via-networking-lou-adler/">Surveys indicate</a> that <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/27/how-to-get-a-job-often-comes-down-to-one-elite-personal-asset.html">up to 80% of people</a> secure employment opportunities through <a href="https://www.payscale.com/career-news/2017/04/many-jobs-found-networking">networking</a> and <a href="https://civicscience.com/job-searching-its-who-you-know/">personal connections</a>. For that reason, connections with alumni and others with ties to a particular school can be the key to a successful job search.</p>
<p>Many colleges and universities have programs to help students and alumni make connections. Some of these are closed networks exclusively for current students and verified alumni, often through service providers such as <a href="https://www.peoplegrove.com/">PeopleGrove</a> and <a href="https://graduway.com/">Graduway</a>. Others are through LinkedIn, including specific university-affiliated LinkedIn groups and the popular <a href="https://www.themuse.com/advice/the-free-linkedin-tool-thatll-make-it-so-much-easier-to-connect-with-awesome-people">LinkedIn Alumni Tool</a>. This tool allows job seekers to research and connect with alumni from their alma mater based on search criteria that include geographic location, current employer, job function and industry, academic major and skills.</p>
<p>While networking strategies can feel like a lot of work, <a href="https://civicscience.com/job-searching-its-who-you-know/">they are proven</a>. Sometimes the progress is incremental. For instance, networking can lead to <a href="https://www.livecareer.com/resources/interviews/prep/informational-interviewing">informational interviews</a>, which are <a href="https://www.careeronestop.org/JobSearch/Network/informational-interviews.aspx">opportunities</a> for job seekers to get insights from someone already working in a field or at a company of interest.</p>
<p>I have seen the power of networking and these informational interviews firsthand. A 2020 graduate from the school where I work landed a position as an area manager with a major logistics company in Orlando after we connected him with an alum who works for the same organization. The alum offered him an informational interview and made an internal <a href="https://www.thebalancecareers.com/what-are-employee-referral-programs-2062990">employee referral</a>. A formal job interview and, ultimately, a job offer soon followed.</p>
<h2>6. Take advantage of career services</h2>
<p>As a career services professional, I would be remiss if I failed to point out that almost every college and university has some sort of career center to help students find jobs. The vast majority offer services to alumni for life for free or for a small fee.</p>
<p>Evidence shows that visits to these centers are worthwhile. According to a 2016 <a href="https://www.luminafoundation.org/files/resources/great-jobs-great-livees-3-2016.pdf">Gallup poll</a>, college graduates who use their college career center are more likely to obtain full-time employment – 67%, compared with 59% for graduates who did not visit career services.</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/157866/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jason Eckert does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Despite bleak employment outlooks, college graduates can take some simple steps to boost their chances of finding a job, a veteran career services counselor says.Jason Eckert, Executive Director of Career Services, University of DaytonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1259352019-10-30T18:51:17Z2019-10-30T18:51:17ZBehind those headlines. Why not to rely on claims robots threaten half our jobs<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299416/original/file-20191030-17901-1xjut9t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=156%2C300%2C696%2C459&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Most of the headlines derive from a single study. Over the past six years its predictions have been anything but accurate.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Collage</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Should we believe headlines claiming nearly half of all jobs will be lost to robots and artificial intelligence? </p>
<p>We think not, and in a <a href="https://melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/publications/working-papers/search/result?paper=3197111">newly released study</a> we explain why. </p>
<p>Headlines trumpeting massive job losses have been in abundance for five or so years. </p>
<p>Even <a href="https://theconversation.com/machines-on-the-march-threaten-almost-half-of-modern-jobs-18485">The Conversation</a> has had its <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-must-prepare-for-massive-job-losses-due-to-automation-43321">had its share</a>. </p>
<p>Most come from a common source. </p>
<p>It is <a href="https://talentorganizationblog.accenture.com/financialservices/the-misunderstood-impact-of-automation-on-work">a single study</a>, conducted in 2013 by Oxford University’s <a href="https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/downloads/academic/future-of-employment.pdf">Carl Benedict Frey and Michael Osborne</a>.</p>
<p>This study lies behind the claim that 47% of jobs in the United States were at “high risk” of automation over the next ten or so years. </p>
<h2>Many claims, one source</h2>
<p>Google Scholar says it has been cited <a href="https://tinyurl.com/yyqtumbu">more than 4,300 times</a>, a figure that doesn’t count newspaper headlines.</p>
<p>The major predictions of <a href="https://www.ceda.com.au/CEDA/media/ResearchCatalogueDocuments/Research%20and%20Policy/PDF/26792-Futureworkforce_June2015.pdf">job losses</a> <a href="http://www.regionalaustralia.org.au/home/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/180830_JobVulnerabilityMethod_Final.pdf">due to automation</a> <a href="https://www.industry.gov.au/sites/g/files/net3906/f/June%202018/document/pdf/mechanical-boon_-_will_automation_advance_australia.pdf">in Australia</a> are based directly on its findings. Commentaries about <a href="https://www.fya.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/fya-future-of-work-report-final-lr.pdf">the future of work</a> in Australia have also drawn extensively on the study. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299370/original/file-20191030-138194-1uiyitv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299370/original/file-20191030-138194-1uiyitv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299370/original/file-20191030-138194-1uiyitv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=881&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299370/original/file-20191030-138194-1uiyitv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=881&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299370/original/file-20191030-138194-1uiyitv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=881&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299370/original/file-20191030-138194-1uiyitv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1107&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299370/original/file-20191030-138194-1uiyitv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1107&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299370/original/file-20191030-138194-1uiyitv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1107&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">What if robots can do less than we think?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>In Australia and elsewhere the study’s predictions have led to calls for a <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/dvi19mo1032cdz0/Fitzroy%2C%20F.%20Journal%20of%20Poverty%20and%20Social%20Justice%202018%20Basic%20Income%20and%20a%20Public%20Job%20Offer.pdf?dl=0">Universal Basic Income</a> and for a “<a href="https://johnquiggin.com/2018/04/23/gmi-jg-paid-work-as-a-choice-for-all/">work guarantee</a>” that would allocate the smaller number of jobs fairly. </p>
<p>Our new <a href="https://melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/publications/working-papers/search/result?paper=3197111">research paper</a> concludes the former study’s predictions are not well-founded. </p>
<p>It has two weaknesses. </p>
<p>First, the method used to make predictions has major flaws.</p>
<p>Second, the predictions have not fared well when compared to actual changes in employment in the United States in the time since they were made.</p>
<h2>Flawed method</h2>
<p>The study authors asked a group of machine learning experts to identify jobs from a long list that could be automated. </p>
<p>The experts concluded that half of the jobs on the list could be done by robotics and artificial intelligence in the near future. </p>
<p>What’s wrong with that?</p>
<p>While those interviewed were experts in machine learning, they were not experts in the many jobs they considered. They were simply asked to look at a short text description of each job along with a list of tasks associated with it. </p>
<p>Some of their predictions might make sense, such as most driving-related jobs being at risk. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/driverless-cars-once-theyre-on-the-road-human-drivers-should-be-banned-118293">Driverless cars: once they're on the road, human drivers should be banned</a>
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<p>Those jobs seem unlikely to vanish entirely in the next decade; but given recent developments in driverless cars, their demise might not be far away. </p>
<p>But other predictions are harder to understand, such as the claim the jobs of accountants, marketing specialists and claims investigators are at risk over the next decade or so. </p>
<p>Standard descriptions of the tasks undertaken by accountants include interpretation of information about accounting records and organisational performance. Interpretation is usually regarded as <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3177467">outside the scope</a> of work that can be done by artificial intelligence. </p>
<p>The work of accountants may well change with advances in artificial intelligence, but it is unlikely to be lost.</p>
<h2>Exaggerated retelling</h2>
<p>Equally troubling, we show the study’s predictions are inconsistent with the study authors’ views about how robots and artificial intelligence will affect jobs. </p>
<p>The authors write that recent advances in robotics are still struggling with the challenge of manipulating small objects. Yet their study ends up predicting many jobs that require this sort of manipulation are at high risk of being lost in ten to 15 years.</p>
<p>Keep in mind the authors did not themselves claim all the jobs they identified would be lost. Instead, they claimed it would become technologically feasible to replace them.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, that was a distinction almost entirely lost in the headlines – which portrayed the study’s predictions as forecasts of what would happen. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/machines-on-the-march-threaten-almost-half-of-modern-jobs-18485">Machines on the march threaten almost half of modern jobs</a>
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<p>But replacing workers with machines requires more than having the machines available. </p>
<p>It requires investment in new (and likely very expensive) technologies. It requires governments to permit their use (as with driverless cars). And it requires workers be trained in their installation and maintenance.</p>
<h2>Little predictive power</h2>
<p>The study was initially published in 2013, six years ago, so it is possible to evaluate the predictions that were made by comparing them against actual changes in employment.</p>
<p>When we do this, we find the predictions don’t add anything to our understanding of actual employment changes in the United States.</p>
<p>Economists already had developed a well-grounded and empirically supported <a href="https://melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/publications/working-papers/search/result?paper=3197111">framework</a> for understanding the effect of technological change on employment. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-we-are-still-convinced-robots-will-take-our-jobs-despite-the-evidence-87188">Why we are still convinced robots will take our jobs despite the evidence</a>
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<p>That framework is built on the concept robots and computers are very good at undertaking tasks that are routine, not so good at less routine tasks.</p>
<p>It has performed well in explaining employment <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1475-4932.12225">in Australia</a> and <a href="http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/59698/1/Manning_Explaining%20job_2016.pd">internationally</a> and did so in the US <a href="https://melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/publications/working-papers/search/result?paper=3197111">between 2013 to 2018</a>.</p>
<p>Our calcuations show this framework better explains what happened to the number of people in jobs by occupation in the US from 2013 to 2018 than the study’s predictions. </p>
<p>Note that we did not examine whether the study correctly forecast what would happen (that would have been a big ask), merely whether its framework produced better forecasts than or added value to the existing framework. It did neither.</p>
<h2>Some jobs will grow, others will die</h2>
<p>Routine jobs will indeed dwindle as machines replace workers, but other jobs are likely to flourish. One occupation that stands out is personal care. Classified by the study as at high risk of automation, employment in it in the US has nearly doubled since the study was published.</p>
<p>Reality is often more complex (and interesting) than headlines.</p>
<p>For a more believable account of what is likely to happen we suggest a paper from the leading labour economist in the field, David Autor.</p>
<p>Its title: <a href="https://economics.mit.edu/files/10865">Why Are There Still So Many Jobs? The History and Future of Workplace Automation</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/125935/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Coelli receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jeff Borland receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>Automation does threaten jobs, but the most widely cited study exaggerates the effect and pointed to job losses in places where they didn’t happen.Michael Coelli, Senior Lecturer, The University of MelbourneJeff Borland, Professor of Economics, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1018692018-09-02T07:48:22Z2018-09-02T07:48:22ZHow the humanities can deliver for the fourth industrial revolution<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/234318/original/file-20180830-195319-o6es3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Problem-solvers who've studied a variety of subjects and tried different ways of thinking are in demand.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">VLADGRIN/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>What do you teach university students in a post-Google world? In a few minutes, anyone with a smartphone can get basic knowledge about the <a href="https://www.rxlist.com/sudafed-side-effects-drug-center.htm">side-effects of pseudoephedrine</a>, the <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/eiffel-tower">history of the Eiffel Tower</a>, or <a href="https://www.explainthatstuff.com/jetengine.html">the workings of a jet engine</a>. The information they get may not be correct or complete, but they won’t know that. They will think they’re suitably informed.</p>
<p>Isn’t that enough to put universities – along with doctors, engineers, lawyers, and everyone else whose trade is based on knowledge – out of business?</p>
<p>Obviously not. This is because the humanities and social science disciplines, in particular, deal with big, abstract ideas – not just facts. This makes them more relevant than ever in what’s being called the <a href="https://www.weforum.org/about/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-by-klaus-schwab">fourth industrial revolution</a>: that is, the supposed fourth technology-driven upheaval in the nature of economic activity since the 18th century.</p>
<p>Humanities and social science disciplines are needed to steer this epoch away from the pitfall of widening social inequality by informing policies on gender, race and other social issues. They also play a central role in critical thinking and creativity. </p>
<p>Part of the problem is that the way humanities disciplines are taught at many universities does not lend itself to ready engagement with a changed and changing world.</p>
<p>Part of the solution, then, is to overhaul what is taught, and how. That is why <a href="https://universitas21.com/">Universitas 21</a>, a network of major research-intensive universities, is holding <a href="https://universitas21.com/news-and-events/events/u21-educational-innovation-leadership-symposium">a summit on curriculum innovation</a> in November this year, and why pedagogical innovations such as <a href="http://mooc.org/">Massive Open Online Courses</a> and <a href="https://www.mindflash.com/elearning/what-is-blended-learning">blended learning</a> have received so much <a href="https://ujcontent.uj.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/uj:25353">attention</a> in the world of higher education.</p>
<h2>A shifting job market</h2>
<p>In South Africa, where I conduct my research and teaching, students pick their vocation in their teens by choosing which broad area to take a degree in: Humanities, or Science, or Commerce, for instance. Then they specialise even further, picking a degree programme that has the name of a job on it.</p>
<p>This process sometimes involves some extremely fine-grained choices - for instance, between a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in “Strategic Communication in Corporate Communication” and “Strategic Communication in Marketing Communication”. It’s a common approach to carving up the Humanities offering among South African universities.</p>
<p>Three years later these students emerge into a job market that’s quite different from what they expected. A lot happens in three years: the job may no longer exist in the same form, or the skills required may have changed. </p>
<p>But by far the most important difference between student expectation and job market reality concerns employers’ needs. Employers don’t primarily want to hire university graduates for specific skills. They want to hire university graduates to solve problems. Even software design is primarily about problem-solving and creative thinking, the product of which is subsequently implemented in code.</p>
<p>But how can problem-solvers be created through a monolithic degree programme, on a single disciplinary track, picked at the onset of adulthood? Quite simply, they can’t.</p>
<h2>Towards “combinatorial” degrees</h2>
<p>At the University of Johannesburg we’ve responded to the shifting landscape by reconfiguring undergraduate degrees in the humanities and social science disciplines. The 14 available degree programmes, which specialise in various vocationally oriented areas, will mostly be replaced by a single BA. Students will major in two subjects, and only one need be from the Humanities Faculty. Likewise, the remaining 10 “elective” modules may be from any discipline at all.</p>
<p>Our only constraint is that two thirds of all modules (whether part of a major or not) be from the Faculty of Humanities. Others - including a major, if desired - may be in anything that timetable and the entrance requirements for that programme permit - from artificial intelligence to zoology, or from investment management to fine art.</p>
<p>The two-major structure for the BA is not necessarily new. But this <em>combinatorial</em> approach to the degree is part of a significant international move towards increasing the range and combinations of subjects that can be taken, permitting and even encouraging students to take subjects that are outside the “Arts”.</p>
<p>Innovations like blended learning are integral to combinatorial approaches such as ours. As large-group teaching gives way to small-group contact supported by online dissemination of information, the demand for large rooms falls. </p>
<p>In university teaching, the most immediate impact of the fourth industrial revolution is the shattering of traditional timetable constraints.</p>
<h2>Beyond specialists</h2>
<p>So how does all this help prepare students for the fourth industrial revolution? Let me answer that with a different question. Suppose you’re designing the app that will make you billions. What use is a philosopher on your team? None at all – but not because they’re a philosopher: because they’re a <em>specialist</em>.</p>
<p>You don’t want a specialist coder either, nor a specialist graphic designer. Imagine how many people you will need if you hire one person per skill – and how many you will be sharing your billions with.</p>
<p>More importantly, with a team of specialists, you’re less likely to make billions, because none of them will be able to help you with problems that don’t yet fall into one of their domains. Is the design of iOS a graphic designer’s job or a coder’s? Neither: it’s both.</p>
<p>Of course, you do need people with skills. But skills can always be bought in, or trained. What you really want are people who are conversant in multiple cognitive and knowledge attitudes. A graphic designer who has studied some psychology will be more likely to get an interface right than one who hasn’t.</p>
<p>In the world that is becoming, there are no trades. There are just problems to be solved, opportunities to be taken advantage of and to disrupt: to be critically evaluated, and then to be ignited by an idea that strikes the status quo like a bolt from the blue. A university education that equips graduates for this reality is crucial.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/101869/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alex Broadbent works for the University of Johannesburg.</span></em></p>The way humanities disciplines are taught at many universities does not lend itself to ready engagement with a changed and changing world.Alex Broadbent, Executive Dean, Faculty of Humanities and Director, African Centre for Epistemology and Philosophy of Science, University of JohannesburgLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1007282018-07-30T19:58:55Z2018-07-30T19:58:55ZAustralians worry more about losing jobs overseas than to robots<p>Not a week goes by without a news story (or a few) about people losing their jobs to robots, or the potential effects of a rapidly changing labour market. We are told repeatedly about how many jobs are going to be lost. Both unskilled and skilled jobs are predicted to disappear.</p>
<p>These risks are no doubt real, if uncertain in their magnitude. But these prognoses are largely the work of academics and economic forecasters. How do Australians feel about their job prospects in an age of automation? Rather than robots, the <a href="http://csrm.cass.anu.edu.au/research/surveys/anupoll">25th ANUPoll</a> finds our greatest concerns are the risks posed by poor management and jobs going overseas.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-we-dont-need-to-prepare-young-people-for-the-future-of-work-98385">Why we don't need to prepare young people for the 'future of work'</a>
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</em>
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<p>The <a href="http://csrm.cass.anu.edu.au/">ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods</a> with the <a href="https://www.srcentre.com.au/services/life-in-australia-panel">Social Research Centre</a> recently asked a representative sample of more than 2,500 Australians about their anxieties related to the future of work. The <a href="http://csrm.cass.anu.edu.au/research/surveys/anupoll">ANUPoll</a> finds that Australians are reasonably sanguine about their current jobs. However, we are concerned about finding employment in the future if we lose our job.</p>
<p>Pointedly, Australians are more concerned about the threats posed by poor business management and international workers willing to work for lower wages than about the prospect of our jobs disappearing through automation. To put this another way, we are more worried about the globalisation of employment and trade than about competition from robots.</p>
<h2>What did we ask and what did we find?</h2>
<p>A core question in this ANUpoll is: “Thinking about the next 12 months, how likely do you think it is that you will lose your job or be laid off/have to lay off employees or close the business?” </p>
<p>The overwhelming majority surveyed believe it is “not at all likely” (44.9%) or “not too likely” (42.8%). </p>
<p>Australian workers are quite comfortable with their current job security. But the level of comfort varies by sector of employment. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229681/original/file-20180728-106524-57rt3d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229681/original/file-20180728-106524-57rt3d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229681/original/file-20180728-106524-57rt3d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=639&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229681/original/file-20180728-106524-57rt3d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=639&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229681/original/file-20180728-106524-57rt3d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=639&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229681/original/file-20180728-106524-57rt3d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=803&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229681/original/file-20180728-106524-57rt3d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=803&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229681/original/file-20180728-106524-57rt3d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=803&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<p>Workers in the arts and recreation sector feel the most secure: 62.5% believe it’s “not at all likely” they will be laid off or need to lay off employees. At the other end of the spectrum, only 25.8% of workers in the electricity, gas, water and waste industries think it’s not at all likely.</p>
<p>We also asked workers: “If you were laid off how easy would it be for you to find a job with another employer with approximately the same income you now have?” </p>
<p>More than half – 54.6% – say finding an equivalent new job would be “not easy at all”. Only 10% believe it would be “very easy”.</p>
<p>Responses to this ANUPoll suggest Australian workers feel largely comfortable about their current employment but are less optimistic about their prospects should they become unemployed.</p>
<h2>Sources of job insecurity</h2>
<p>Workers may feel insecure about their employment for many reasons. We asked Australian workers about their level of concern about six different potential threats to their job.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229682/original/file-20180728-106524-16s9nxv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229682/original/file-20180728-106524-16s9nxv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229682/original/file-20180728-106524-16s9nxv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229682/original/file-20180728-106524-16s9nxv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229682/original/file-20180728-106524-16s9nxv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229682/original/file-20180728-106524-16s9nxv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229682/original/file-20180728-106524-16s9nxv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229682/original/file-20180728-106524-16s9nxv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<p>The most common concern is that poor management of the company that employs them will lead to losing their job, with 14.7% “very concerned” by this threat and 27.6% “somewhat concerned”. This is followed by: their overall industry is shrinking; their employer might find someone else in Australia who is willing to do the job for less money; and their employer might finding someone overseas who is willing to do their job for less money.</p>
<p>People are least concerned that employers may use machines or computers to replace human workers. Only 8% are “very concerned” and 9.8% “somewhat concerned”. </p>
<p>This is followed by an inability to keep up with the technical skills needed to do their job, with 6% “very concerned” and 15.2% “somewhat concerned” about this. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/will-technology-take-your-job-new-analysis-says-more-of-us-are-safer-than-we-thought-but-not-all-86219">Will technology take your job? New analysis says more of us are safer than we thought, but not all</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Why should we be concerned about the future of work?</h2>
<p>The labour market is no doubt changing. New occupations are being created as others become more precarious. </p>
<p>Occupations that rely on creativity or human-to-human interaction are both being developed and expanding their share of the labour market. Those based on routine tasks, even complicated ones, are set to employ fewer and fewer workers.</p>
<p>Labour markets have always adjusted to new circumstances. However, we can reasonably argue that the current transformation of work will be more comprehensive and more rapid than before. This is at least partially due to a confluence of significant trends: increased computing speed, decreased computing costs, greater network speed and capacity, increased availability of data, the lessening of some barriers to international trade, and political and economic change in countries with large skilled and semi-skilled workforces.</p>
<p>These changes are having political ramifications. Voters’ anxiety about the labour market and their job prospects was significant in the election of Donald Trump in the US, Brexit in the UK and the increased success of populist parties and platforms in many countries.</p>
<h2>What to do about job security</h2>
<p>Attention is increasingly shifting from merely describing trends in job security and the future of work to understanding the attitudes and anxieties of the current and future workforce. These attitudes will help determine the effect of labour market change (perceived and actual) on the subjective well-being of the population. Attitudes to job security and the future of work also may affect people’s receptiveness to related policy proposals.</p>
<p>How to respond to the public’s views on job security depends on how accurate you think those perceptions are. There are many suggested policy responses. Examples include a universal basic income and re-regulation of the labour market. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/could-the-idea-of-a-universal-basic-income-work-in-australia-59811">Could the idea of a universal basic income work in Australia?</a>
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</p>
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<p>If you think the perceptions identified in the recent ANUPoll are a reasonable assessment of the risks to people’s jobs, then the focus should be at least as much on outsourcing and management practices as on skills mismatch and automation. If you think the public is underestimating these latter potential threats and under-investing in the retraining and skills development that would reduce their negative consequences, then greater public attention might be justified.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/100728/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Gray receives funding from many Commonwealth, state and territory Australian government departments to undertake independent economic and social policy research. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jill Sheppard and Nicholas Biddle do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Most Australian workers are fairly relaxed about their own job security, but they do worry about the risks of poor management and outsourcing to cheaper labour.Nicholas Biddle, Associate Professor, ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences, Australian National UniversityJill Sheppard, Lecturer, School of Politics and International Relations, Australian National UniversityMatthew Gray, Director, ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/986982018-07-24T20:08:27Z2018-07-24T20:08:27ZWomen are dominating employment growth, but what sort of jobs are we talking about?<p>One of the biggest transformations we have seen in advanced economies is the <a href="https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=LFS_SEXAGE_I_R">increased participation of women in the paid workforce</a>. In recent Australian labour force trends, female participation is growing at <a href="http://bcec.edu.au/publications/bcec-monthly-labour-market-update-may-2018/">nine times the rate of men’s</a>. Women are dominating both full and part-time employment growth in Australia.</p>
<p>Why do changes in participation matter? Participation in the paid workforce – either being in employment or looking for work – is a key indicator of the overall health of any economy. It measures how much labour is being supplied relative to the population that we think should be engaged in the labour force – typically those aged 15-64 years.</p>
<p>Over the past three decades female participation rates in Australia have increased dramatically – from around 40% to <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/6202.0Main%20Features2Jun%202018?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=6202.0&issue=Jun%202018&num=&view=">60%</a> – while male participation rates have fallen from 80% to <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/6202.0Main%20Features2Jun%202018?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=6202.0&issue=Jun%202018&num=&view=">70%</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228725/original/file-20180722-142428-4dtqh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228725/original/file-20180722-142428-4dtqh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228725/original/file-20180722-142428-4dtqh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228725/original/file-20180722-142428-4dtqh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228725/original/file-20180722-142428-4dtqh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228725/original/file-20180722-142428-4dtqh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228725/original/file-20180722-142428-4dtqh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228725/original/file-20180722-142428-4dtqh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Labour force participation rate – men and women.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">ABS Cat No.6202.0, Labour Force, Australia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>What is driving the increase for women? Gains in educational attainment, increased support through child care for women to engage in the paid workforce, and growth in female-dominated service sectors, such as health and education, are all strong contributors to these patterns. </p>
<p>On the other hand, several factors are likely to be contributing to the overall decline in male participation. These include a greater propensity to engage in post-school qualifications rather than go straight into the workforce, slower growth in traditional male-dominated sectors, such as manufacturing and wholesale trade, together with increased retirement support through the aged pension and superannuation.</p>
<p>These patterns are likely to continue. That means male and female labour force participation rates are likely to converge in the next 10-15 years. </p>
<h2>Women have dominated job market growth</h2>
<p>Job creation in the female-dominated health and education service sectors is driving both full-time and part-time employment growth in Australia. </p>
<p><a href="http://bcec.edu.au/assets/BCEC-Future-of-Work-in-Australia-Report.pdf">Analysis of the latest Census data</a> reveal an increase of around 400,000 jobs in each sector. Most of these have gone to women. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228724/original/file-20180722-142435-wdsrvc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228724/original/file-20180722-142435-wdsrvc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228724/original/file-20180722-142435-wdsrvc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228724/original/file-20180722-142435-wdsrvc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228724/original/file-20180722-142435-wdsrvc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228724/original/file-20180722-142435-wdsrvc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=654&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228724/original/file-20180722-142435-wdsrvc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=654&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228724/original/file-20180722-142435-wdsrvc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=654&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Job losses and gains by sector, men and women, 2006 to 2016.</span>
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</figure>
<p>Reflecting the large growth in the health care and social assistance sector, around 170,000 more carers and aides are employed than there were ten years ago. And 150,000 of these workers are women.</p>
<p>Australia’s ageing and ailing population is no doubt playing a key role in this trend, with aged care and disability workers falling within this occupation category. This category also includes childcare workers.</p>
<p>The number of health professionals has also increased substantially – by around 150,000 workers in the ten years to 2016. Again, the majority of these extra workers are women.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228726/original/file-20180723-142414-ztaj60.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228726/original/file-20180723-142414-ztaj60.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228726/original/file-20180723-142414-ztaj60.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228726/original/file-20180723-142414-ztaj60.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228726/original/file-20180723-142414-ztaj60.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228726/original/file-20180723-142414-ztaj60.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228726/original/file-20180723-142414-ztaj60.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228726/original/file-20180723-142414-ztaj60.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Top ten growth occupations (volume), 2006 to 2016.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author's calculations from Census Tablebuilder</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>However, the way in which men and women engage in the paid labour force is very different. Women continue to dominate caring responsibilities and hence the part-time workforce. They typically use this employment arrangement as a means to balance work and family. </p>
<p>But we are seeing some changes on this front too. The rate of part-time employment is growing faster for men than for women. Male part-time work <a href="http://bcec.edu.au/assets/BCEC-Future-of-Work-in-Australia-Report.pdf">increased almost fourfold from 5% to 18%</a> in the last four decades. </p>
<p>And both men and women are more likely to <a href="http://bcec.edu.au/assets/BCEC-Future-of-Work-in-Australia-Report.pdf">cite a preference for part-time work</a> as the main reason for working part-time than they were ten years ago. </p>
<h2>Where is the labour market headed?</h2>
<p>The strength of the Australian labour market is currently founded in service sectors that are generally dominated by women. </p>
<p>This pattern will continue for the foreseeable future and beyond. Demand for “caring” occupations is unlikely to subside and automation is unlikely to produce any substantive substitute. Mining and construction booms may come and go, but these caring jobs are here to stay. </p>
<p>Many of these jobs are low-paying, however. This means that while we’re creating the jobs that are needed, we may not be assigning the appropriate value. </p>
<p>And while the future of work for the most part appears to be more “female” than “male”, this doesn’t necessarily mean men are unable to access these jobs, nor does it mean women are faring better overall in the labour market than men.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/98698/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca Cassells is Principal Research Fellow at the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre. The Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre is an independent economic and social research organisation located within Curtin Business School at Curtin University. The Centre was established in 2012 with support from Bankwest (a division of Commonwealth Bank of Australia) and Curtin University. The views in this article are those of the authors and do not represent the views of Curtin University and/or Bankwest or any of their affiliates.
</span></em></p>With most new jobs going to women, their workforce participation rate is growing at nine times the rate for men. But, while participation is on track for parity in a decade, pay is another matter.Rebecca Cassells, Associate Professor, Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre, Curtin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/973212018-06-04T04:57:21Z2018-06-04T04:57:21ZRemember Turnbull’s 2015 ‘ideas boom’? We’re still only part way there<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/221119/original/file-20180531-69517-i1g2ba.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Freelancing and hot-desking are already common in work places – and will continue to rise. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In 2015, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull <a href="https://www.innovation.gov.au/page/national-innovation-and-science-agenda-report">welcomed us to the “ideas boom”</a>, launching a National Innovation and Science Agenda to </p>
<blockquote>
<p>drive smart ideas that create business growth, local jobs and global success. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>In January 2018 the specially-created independent statutory board Innovation and Science Australia (<a href="https://industry.gov.au/Innovation-and-Science-Australia/about-us/Pages/default.aspx">ISA</a>) released its report <a href="https://industry.gov.au/innovation/InnovationPolicy/Pages/Government-Response-to-2030.aspx">Australia 2030: Prosperity through Innovation</a>. It’s a document that <a href="https://theconversation.com/no-clear-target-in-australias-2030-national-innovation-report-90938">has been described</a> not as a roadmap for action, but “more of a sketch with detours, dead ends, and red lights which should be green.”</p>
<p>The federal government’s <a href="https://industry.gov.au/innovation/InnovationPolicy/Documents/Government-Response-ISA-2030-Plan.pdf">May 2018 response</a> to this report adds further disappointment. The response fails to seize the opportunity to deliver a properly funded and connected education, research and innovation system.</p>
<p>Australia is left with a series of well-meaning but disparate programs that only get us part way to ensuing that Australia thrives in the global innovation race.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/no-clear-target-in-australias-2030-national-innovation-report-90938">No clear target in Australia's 2030 national innovation report</a>
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</em>
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<hr>
<h2>Action is required</h2>
<p>Today, we sit at the <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-what-it-means-and-how-to-respond/">dawn of the fourth industrial revolution</a> where virtual, physical and biological worlds are merging. <a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/insights/us/en/focus/cognitive-technologies.html">Sophisticated cognitive and automation technologies</a> will transform our world in ways difficult to imagine. These technologies are increasingly able to perform human tasks better, faster, and more cheaply. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/221481/original/file-20180604-177137-1qps7ym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/221481/original/file-20180604-177137-1qps7ym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/221481/original/file-20180604-177137-1qps7ym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=848&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/221481/original/file-20180604-177137-1qps7ym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=848&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/221481/original/file-20180604-177137-1qps7ym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=848&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/221481/original/file-20180604-177137-1qps7ym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1066&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/221481/original/file-20180604-177137-1qps7ym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1066&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/221481/original/file-20180604-177137-1qps7ym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1066&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A snapshot of Australia’s STEM workforce <strong>CLICK ON IMAGE TO ZOOM</strong></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.chiefscientist.gov.au/2016/03/report-australias-stem-workforce/">Office of the Chief Scientist</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But it is the emergence of vast, <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=3WhMtAEACAAJ">expanding digital platforms</a> and the ecosystems they support that will have a more profound impact on the future of work. Their <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=r-U2DwAAQBAJ">ever-increasing complexity and accelerating change</a> means constant disruption is the new business as usual. </p>
<p>If we are to respond to the changing nature of future work, we need to build a world-beating national innovation ecosystem, especially by equipping Australians with skills and experience relevant to 2030. As we transition into the digital economy, that means technical, digital and STEM skills are vital. (STEM refers to science, technology, engineering and maths.) </p>
<p><a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/4250.0.55.005%7E2010%E2%80%9311%7EMedia%20Release%7EQualifications%20paying%20off%20in%20science,%20technology,%20engineering%20and%20maths%20(Media%20Release)%7E1">Growth in STEM jobs</a> is 1.5 times that of non-STEM since 2005, yet we continue to produce non-STEM graduates at <a href="http://www.chiefscientist.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/Infographic.pdf">higher rates than those in STEM</a>. The performance of our kids at school – particularly in maths and science – <a href="https://theconversation.com/pisa-results-dont-look-good-but-before-we-panic-lets-look-at-what-we-can-learn-from-the-latest-test-69470">has declined against international benchmarks</a>. </p>
<p>Clearly, strategic intervention is needed: this is where ISA should come in. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/pisa-results-dont-look-good-but-before-we-panic-lets-look-at-what-we-can-learn-from-the-latest-test-69470">PISA results don’t look good, but before we panic let’s look at what we can learn from the latest test</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Nothing new on education</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://industry.gov.au/innovation/InnovationPolicy/Pages/Government-Response-to-2030.aspx">ISA report</a> recommendations on education cover: </p>
<ul>
<li>better training for teachers, particularly STEM teachers </li>
<li>preparing students for STEM degrees and jobs </li>
<li>improving student achievement in literacy and numeracy </li>
<li>interventions to reduce educational inequality</li>
<li>improving our vocational education and training (VET) system.</li>
</ul>
<p>Yet none of these education recommendations were directly supported by the government: only “in principle” or “noted” support was offered in the <a href="https://industry.gov.au/innovation/InnovationPolicy/Documents/Government-Response-ISA-2030-Plan.pdf">response document</a>. </p>
<p>While school education in Australia is the constitutional responsibility of the states and territories, the Australian government never shies away from using the funding carrot to leverage school policy outcomes for the betterment of the country.</p>
<p>For instance, full marks go to the federal government supporting STEM education through the Education Council’s <a href="http://www.educationcouncil.edu.au/site/DefaultSite/filesystem/documents/National%20STEM%20School%20Education%20Strategy.pdf">National STEM School Education Strategy 2016-2026</a>, and for funding several excellent STEM education projects and initiatives. So why not fund increased numbers and quality of STEM teachers?</p>
<p>Likewise, the urgent need to support the Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector to help it drive innovation, automation and new technologies, and provide businesses with requisite skills training is absent. The <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/skilling-australians-fund">Skilling Australians Fund</a> – the government’s main VET policy instrument and a welcome apprenticeship initiative – does little to transition the existing workforce through VET.</p>
<h2>Funding for R&D is unclear</h2>
<p>Turning to research and development (R&D), the <a href="https://industry.gov.au/innovation/InnovationPolicy/Documents/Government-Response-ISA-2030-Plan.pdf">government supports</a> the <a href="https://industry.gov.au/Innovation-and-Science-Australia/Australia-2030/Pages/default.aspx">ISA recommendation</a> to enhance AI and machine learning capabilities – absolutely essential in the digital economy. However, there was no additional funding in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/infographic-budget-2018-at-a-glance-95649">2018 federal budget</a> beyond existing digital technologies program.</p>
<p>At face value, <a href="https://theconversation.com/infographic-budget-2018-at-a-glance-95649">the raft of funding commitments</a> in the budget for R&D looks promising. But are the funds in addition to existing commitments, or a re-labelling of existing funds?</p>
<p>A persistent <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1759-3441.12001">criticism from industry of government support</a> is the continual chopping and changing of policies and programs, both in name and content. </p>
<p>ISA recommended extending export support programs, which is sensible <a href="http://www.swinburne.edu.au/media/swinburneeduau/research/research-centres/cti/reports/Impact-of-the-Victorian-Trade-Missions-Program-2010-12-on-Export-Revenue-2017.pdf">given the solid evidence that they work</a>. However, in its response the government merely said they are supported in principle, with no further funds forthcoming. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-was-missing-in-australias-1-9-billion-infrastructure-announcement-96723">What was missing in Australia's $1.9 billion infrastructure announcement</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What about the future of work?</h2>
<p>Agile approaches, <a href="https://exponentialorgs.com/">exponential organisations</a>, freelance economy, and <a href="https://www.engineering.com/AdvancedManufacturing/ArticleID/16521/What-Is-Industry-40-Anyway.aspx">Industry 4.0</a> are rewriting the rules of how economic value is created. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://industry.gov.au/Innovation-and-Science-Australia/Australia-2030/Pages/default.aspx">ISA report</a> aims to provide comfort about how to create employment opportunities towards 2030, but it speaks more to the past than to the future. Knowledge work – a main focus of the report – will increasingly be performed <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/digital-mckinsey/our-insights/where-machines-could-replace-humans-and-where-they-cant-yet">less by people and more by machines</a>, creating vast workforce transformation challenges for industry.</p>
<p>The closer we get to 2030, the less the ISA view of the future will be true. Emerging evidence already contraindicates this view. </p>
<p>For work done by people, data from the United States and Australia already show enormous growth of <a href="https://www.upwork.com/press/2017/10/17/freelancing-in-america-2017/">freelancers</a>, including operating from <a href="http://sbi.sydney.edu.au/wp-content/themes/sbi/Coworking-Spaces-Australia-2017.pdf">co-working spaces</a>. Modelling suggests this trend will continue.</p>
<p>In parallel, business are becoming more agile. ANZ <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/anz-bank-restructure-to-create-150-startups-20170906-gybxr8.html">is completely restructuring itself to look more like 150 start-ups</a>, and downsizing in the process. NAB <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/nab-reveals-6000-jobs-to-go-as-it-announces-66b-profit-20171102-gzd3tc.html">is sacking 6,000 staff</a> – including many knowledge workers – and replacing them with 2,000 technology specialists and digital workers. All large companies are expected to follow.</p>
<h2>Dissociating ‘work’ from ‘jobs’</h2>
<p>In the emerging freelance economy, work is increasingly being dissociated from jobs on digital platforms like <a href="http://www.upwork.com">Upwork</a>. And as more companies go agile, they will have fewer employees but have a larger workforce, leveraging the freelance economy through these platforms.</p>
<p>The upshot? People will increasingly need to create their own work opportunities rather than expect to get a traditional job.</p>
<p>Developing digital skills is essential, and the ISA report rightly focuses on them. But in the highly disruptive and dynamic environment of digital platforms, the core worker skill set will be competent risk taking. Diversity of experience combined with continuous learning are essential ingredients. </p>
<p>Alongside investments in teaching, we should be investing in opportunities where students – from secondary to tertiary education – can “learn-by-doing” in emerging futures of work.</p>
<p>It is for others to discuss the merits of whether these disruptive changes to the economy and employment should be allowed happen or not. But New York Times columnist Tom Friedman sums up <a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/insights/us/en/deloitte-review/issue-21/tom-friedman-interview-jobs-learning-future-of-work.html">the certainty of the approaching tech disruption perfectly</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Whatever can be done, will be done. The only question is, “Will it be done by you or to you?” but it will be done.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The inexorable and exponential rise of sophisticated technologies in the digital economy – the Australian economy – will impact all work and change all jobs. We need to be investing in this future for our children. </p>
<p>And we need the government to support and fund a well-integrated innovation ecosystem to incorporates education, research, industry and government.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/97321/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Beth Webster receives funding from the ARC and the Victorian Government. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah Maddison is a member of the ARC College of Experts.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sean Gallagher does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>There are many disappointments in the government’s response to Innovation and Science Australia’s report ‘Australia 2030: Prosperity through Innovation’.Sean Gallagher, Director, Centre for the New Workforce, Swinburne University of TechnologyBeth Webster, Director, Centre for Transformative Innovation, Swinburne University of TechnologySarah Maddison, Pro-Vice Chancellor (Academic Innovation & Change), Professor of Astrophysics, Swinburne University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/871792017-11-14T01:31:50Z2017-11-14T01:31:50ZTeaching kids 21st century skills early will help prepare them for their future<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/194260/original/file-20171113-31792-ebzhrk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Future learners will need an excellent start in early learning if they are to cope with mid to late 21st century challenges.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><hr>
<p><em>This is an edited extract written by Iram Siraj, from <a href="http://educationchangingworld.com.au/">Future Frontiers: Education for an AI World</a>, a New South Wales Department of Education publication.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>It may be a truism that the future will be different, but human expectations have rarely been so high about the degree of imminent change. This century’s rapid development of <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-07/explainer-what-is-artificial-intelligence/8771632">artificial intelligence</a> and digital systems has convinced us that almost every aspect of our children’s and grandchildren’s lives will be different to ours. </p>
<p>As these emerging technologies evolve, and are then quickly replaced by as yet unimaginable new ones, human society will need to become increasingly nimble and adaptable with lifelong learning as its modus operandi. In this digital age, the need for children to learn and memorise facts is diminishing. It is being replaced by the need to learn how to sieve and assess information critically for any kernel of “truth”. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/194131/original/file-20171110-29389-kvwfa6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/194131/original/file-20171110-29389-kvwfa6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194131/original/file-20171110-29389-kvwfa6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194131/original/file-20171110-29389-kvwfa6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194131/original/file-20171110-29389-kvwfa6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194131/original/file-20171110-29389-kvwfa6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194131/original/file-20171110-29389-kvwfa6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We don’t know exactly what kind of workforce today’s preschoolers will enter into in 18 years, but there is increasing demand for people skills.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Today’s pre-schoolers will enter the workforce around 2035. Although we cannot contemplate exactly what their world will be then, we do know that children and adults will continue to need the basics of the 3Rs (reading, writing and arithmetic). They will also need a greater ability to learn how to learn, and to possess problem solving, critical thinking skills, and to be resilient in the face of fast-moving change. </p>
<p>Most discussions about “21st century skills” emphasise the need for schools to focus more on so-called “soft” skills and character traits (such as creative thinking and curiosity) in addition to cognitive skills such as problem-solving, critical analysis, the attainment of core subject knowledge, and strong early literacy and numeracy. Interestingly, early childhood education already includes a strong focus on these so-called “soft” skills. Early years learning has a stronger focus on whole-of-child development than school education.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/demand-for-people-skills-is-growing-faster-than-demand-for-stem-skills-86754">Demand for people skills is growing faster than demand for STEM skills</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>There is a growing emphasis on integrated learning in early childhood education and care that creates a connection between the academic and the social. Developing children’s competencies in creativity, collaboration, self-regulation and problem solving can be undertaken through projects that harbour real-world knowledge. It can also be undertaken through problems that require young children (especially those age 3 to 5) to communicate and create knowing together. Here, the important task of the educator is to emphasise, and give attention to, the learning process rather than the learning outcomes. </p>
<p>Connected to this is the importance of educators emphasising interactions that support <a href="http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/nqsplp/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/NQS_PLP_E-Newsletter_No43.pdf">sustained shared thinking</a> (SST). SST occurs when two or more individuals work together in an intellectual way to solve a problem, clarify a concept, evaluate an activity, extend a narrative, etc. It is still rare to see SST in early education settings, but <a href="http://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/13064/">research</a> shows children are more successful learners and better motivated to learn where it is practised. </p>
<p>Future learners will need an excellent start in early learning if they are to cope with mid to late 21st century challenges. It is vital that early education curricula emphasise the process and the outcomes of both soft and hard skills to create the most competent learners and citizens. The family’s role is also essential in nurturing and enriching young children’s development. Any early childhood education and care system that ignores this reality will not be able to optimise children’s potential.</p>
<p>Most early childhood education and care systems make less provision and funding for children under three because their care and education is very expensive. However, it is precisely these years when the family’s influence is the greatest. Future early childhood education and care systems should provide stronger support for local families with younger children. There is no reason some of this support cannot be offered through digital technologies, streamed directly into the home, which help parents learn about the power of early child rearing, and sensitive, responsive care and appropriate interactions. In such a system, early childhood education and care staff can offer more support to families living in challenging circumstances. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.grahamallenmp.co.uk/static/pdf/early-intervention-7th.pdf">Evidence</a> suggests intergenerational support, delivered through early childhood education and care centre-based provision, has more impact. Indeed, developing and nurturing intergenerational support allows staff to stimulate history learning-and-understanding skills through a creative use of simple oral histories. A clearer understanding of how others have handled and adapted to change in the recent past will help prepare children to deal with the challenges and changes they will inevitably face. </p>
<p>There is now growing <a href="https://education.nsw.gov.au/media/ecec/pdf-documents/FEEL-Study-Literature-Review-Final.pdf">evidence</a> that high-quality training impacts children’s social and cognitive learning outcomes. Despite this, in terms of the wider education system, the early years generally contains <a href="http://www.gov.scot/Topics/People/Young-People/early-years/WorkforceReview">the least qualified and worst paid</a>. When early education provision is genuinely high quality, there can be lasting population change for good. But the government investment in knowledge, capital and labour must be commensurate. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/194135/original/file-20171110-29332-s6202l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/194135/original/file-20171110-29332-s6202l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194135/original/file-20171110-29332-s6202l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194135/original/file-20171110-29332-s6202l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194135/original/file-20171110-29332-s6202l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194135/original/file-20171110-29332-s6202l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194135/original/file-20171110-29332-s6202l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Too much screen time too young can be a barrier to learning essential people skills.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We are heading for an age that requires adaptable “knowledge workers” who can work collaboratively, independently and creatively. The solution does not lie in our youngest children spending long periods in screen time. Too much screen time at an early age deflects children from developing the essential human skills they need to function in complex social and economic work. Plus, we already know increased use of digital devices at an early age <a href="https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au/bitstream/handle/10072/48245/79838_1.pdf%3Bsequence=1">is associated with poorer outcomes</a>. </p>
<p>Good ECEC teachers, and likewise parents, resist the temptation to use screen time for child entertainment and control. Rather, they show children how technology can serve our needs as tools that we turn to within our play and work. </p>
<p>Perhaps it is time to construct a new curriculum and to create a re-envisioned early childhood education and care system that includes a workforce of high quality, which is fit for purpose, well-rewarded and well-educated. Such a re-envisioned system may truly provide the foundational learning our children and grandchildren deserve. They, and all their fellow citizens, will need to sustain them and to face the challenges thrown at them by the brave new world we have entered.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/87179/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Iram Siraj does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In this book extract, Iram Siraj explains how to help kids get a leg up in a digital world by teaching them communication and other essential 21st century skills young.Iram Siraj, Visiting Professor of Education, University of WollongongLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/725092017-02-15T13:45:09Z2017-02-15T13:45:09Z“Design thinking” can prepare graduates for the real working world<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/156325/original/image-20170210-8637-1b0q0gp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">It may look like a game of Lego, but it's a serious exercise in innovation.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Supplied/d-school UCT</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>At first glance, it looks as though the group of young adults is building Lego. But these are actually students at the University of Cape Town’s <a href="http://www.dschool.uct.ac.za/">Hasso Plattner Institute of Design Thinking</a>, and they’re using the colourful blocks to design a prototype. It represents policy reform ideas around transitioning from informal to formal economies. It’s a complex system represented with very basic materials.</p>
<p>This is design thinking in action: human-centred, problem solving activities that ground design thinking in practice. It helps students to understand and innovatively solve challenges. </p>
<p>Design thinking can be used very successfully as an academic programme that goes beyond traditional university practices. It allows universities to prepare a more resilient, adaptive student cohort. These graduates are more competent to enter economies that are constantly changing. This is particularly important when higher education institutions are training students for jobs that might not yet exist or that might have changed or become redundant by the time they graduate. </p>
<p>We’re living in a time of rapid transformation in terms of what’s required for a country’s workforce.</p>
<p>As the World Economic Form has <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-10-skills-you-need-to-thrive-in-the-fourth-industrial-revolution">put it</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>…five years from now, over one third of skills (35%) that are considered important in today’s workforce will have changed.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Design thinking programmes that nurture both creativity and critical thinking around complex challenges offer students an opportunity to develop core skills for the workplace of the <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-10-skills-you-need-to-thrive-in-the-fourth-industrial-revolution">fourth industrial revolution</a>.</p>
<h2>Useful tools</h2>
<p>There’s a major <a href="https://www.econrsa.org/system/files/publications/working_papers/working_paper_575.pdf">skills mismatch</a> between graduates and the workplace in South Africa. A 2016 report <a href="http://www.hsrc.ac.za/uploads/pageContent/7429/LMIP_SkillsSupplyandDemand_Sept2016.pdf">identified three areas</a> in which these mismatches exist: demand mismatch (skills gap between existing education and emergent job needs); education supply (producing fewer graduates than a field requires), and qualification-job (people moving into fields different from what they have studied for). </p>
<p>Higher education institutions need to improve their academic responsiveness to increasingly complex labour market needs and industry requirements. They must also develop graduates with more entrepreneurial mindsets. <a href="https://hbr.org/2008/06/design-thinking">Design thinking</a> is a very new addition to the country’s higher education landscape. But early indications suggest that it might provide some of the tools to help universities in these tasks.</p>
<p>I lecture and manage the academic programmes at the Hasso Plattner Institute, which we call “the d-school”. It is only the third Institute of Design Thinking in the world and, having opened its doors in 2016, is the newest. The others are at Stanford University in the US and Germany’s Potsdam University. Both are more than a decade old and have brought academic rigour to design-led innovation practice. They also make training programmes in design thinking available to academic scholars and leaders in the private and public sectors. Our aim at UCT’s d-school is to better prepare students for a changing workplace by nurturing design thinking mindsets.</p>
<h2>Different approaches to education</h2>
<p>Design thinking embodies three core approaches to education for a changing workplace:</p>
<ul>
<li>a shift toward interdisciplinary and and collaborative learning;</li>
<li>an alignment to student-centred and adaptive learning pathways; and</li>
<li>experiential learning </li>
</ul>
<p>These approaches facilitate students’ readiness for the working world. This is done by exposing them to a variety of mindsets and world views through interdisciplinary, peer-to-peer learning. Students are also given a better understanding of contextual issues through exposure to various lived realities.</p>
<p>For example, if a project focuses on exploring informal economies, students will actually get out of the classroom and into the spaces these economies occupy. They talk to informal traders and spend time observing their day to day activities.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/156324/original/image-20170210-8640-5ufgjc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/156324/original/image-20170210-8640-5ufgjc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/156324/original/image-20170210-8640-5ufgjc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156324/original/image-20170210-8640-5ufgjc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156324/original/image-20170210-8640-5ufgjc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156324/original/image-20170210-8640-5ufgjc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156324/original/image-20170210-8640-5ufgjc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156324/original/image-20170210-8640-5ufgjc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">That’s not just Lego: it’s a complex system taking simple shape.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Importantly, they’re also immersed in the labour market’s emerging realities through embedded applications of knowledge in real world projects. </p>
<p>Students are introduced to a rich blend of governmental, industry, academic and social challenges. They navigate these, building internal and external understanding of business practice and human relationships.</p>
<p>These partnerships with business, government and academia are centred on real challenges. And they have a dual purpose. Students get workplace experience, which can ease their transition from university to the job market. Employers can also foster working relationships with possible future employees.</p>
<h2>Graduates for the future</h2>
<p>Design thinking aims to improve students’ empathy, their comfort with ambiguity and their ability to resolve conflicting ideas through solutions that are stronger than individual ideas. Students are also equipped with the ability to produce new knowledge through creative mental leaps. </p>
<p>One student project involved reimagining banking services that embrace informal economic requirements. The project also looked at how social capital can lead to financial capital. Another project was for a small business called Rent-my-Ride, which offers an online peer-to-peer car rental platform. The students designed a secondary platform that would support small business development among car owners. Yet another project, for <a href="http://www.tct.gov.za/en/home/">Transport Cape Town</a>, saw students developing a social network platform that would support community input in the redesign of transport nodes.</p>
<p>The field of design thinking does not lay claim to inventing these new educational approaches. But it does present a cohesive methodology through which to explore them, and to prepare graduates for a world that’s changing all the time.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/72509/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rael Futerman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>We’re living in a time of rapid transformation in terms of what’s required for a country’s workforce. Design thinking is one way to prepare graduates for these changing times.Rael Futerman, Design Thinking Programme Manager, University of Cape TownLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/725132017-02-12T10:03:29Z2017-02-12T10:03:29ZUniversities around the world should share notes as they face the same challenges<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/155624/original/image-20170206-23530-drhqhq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Harvard University is grappling with the same problems as less wealthy institutions in very different parts of the world.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Yu-Jen Shih/Flickr </span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In 2016 I had the privilege of visiting four leading universities abroad. At KU Leuven in Belgium, Oxford in the UK and two US institutions – Harvard and the University of California, Berkeley – I was exposed to new ideas and learned about novel approaches to higher education.</p>
<p>It was both interesting and reassuring to observe that these high ranking, well-funded institutions are not immune to some of the higher education challenges my own country, South Africa, is grappling with. </p>
<p>It’s clear that if universities work together they are more likely to find creative solutions to problems. Collaboration will allow universities to benefit from the global academic community’s collective wisdom. </p>
<p>These are the main lessons I took away from my travels.</p>
<h2>Graduates for the future</h2>
<p>Universities everywhere are struggling to produce enough graduates for the workforce while staying true to their fundamental purpose: educating for critical thinking and intellectual curiosity. The world is changing rapidly. Higher education institutions are struggling to keep up and stay relevant.</p>
<p>At the 2016 World Academic Summit in Berkeley, delegates were reminded that many current university students will find themselves in jobs that haven’t yet been created. Universities must think differently about what skills their students need to prepare for the future. </p>
<p>There’s strong consensus that a “fact-based, cookie-cutter” approach to education, typical of the industrial era, is <a href="http://www.onlineuniversities.com/blog/2011/10/the-end-of-industrial-education/">no longer appropriate</a>. The future will require a skills set that’s more suited to a fast-moving knowledge economy where the ability to find and use information will be critical. Connectivity, collaboration and the capacity to integrate knowledge are essential components of higher education in the 21st century. These skills are regarded as vital for promoting creativity and innovation. </p>
<p>An interdisciplinary ethos is also seen as important. This is being advanced at many leading institutions. They are creating interdepartmental laboratories, shared facilities and initiatives centred on addressing global problems. Integration between training in the science, engineering and technology fields and training in the humanities or social sciences is being encouraged at undergraduate level.</p>
<p>Notably, design and technology are being enthusiastically embraced in efforts to address some of the 21st century’s most urgent challenges. Adaptive learning technology and artificial intelligence are already being employed widely to enhance learning and teaching. But there’s also an awareness that technology alone will not provide all the solutions. Universities are recognising the need for 21st century citizens to reconnect with their humanity and reach beyond self interest.</p>
<p>Universities have a responsibility to promote this shift. They can do so by developing students’ capacity to show compassion and solidarity and be socially accountable change makers.</p>
<h2>Access matters</h2>
<p>Higher education is no longer the preserve of a few. <a href="http://ahero.uwc.ac.za/index.php?module=cshe&action=downloadfile&fileid=18409092513202791624126">Massification</a> – the opening up of universities to many more students than ever before – is here to stay. </p>
<p>It’s, unfortunately, also true that poor outcomes have become a reality for many institutions. In the US, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-us-falls-behind-in-college-competition-oecd-2014-9link">less than 50%</a> of college students complete their degrees. And there are substantial differences in competency between graduates with similar tertiary qualifications.</p>
<p>Tackling the global problem of inequality in access to higher education is necessary. But it’s not sufficient. It’s equally important for universities to address inequalities in outcomes by giving attention to student retention, progression, success and destinations – careers. </p>
<p>A “lifecycle approach” involves supporting and tracking students through schooling and higher education to employment. This is regarded as essential for tackling outcome inequality. Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, the outgoing vice-chancellor of Cambridge University, mentioned in his presentation at the 2016 World Academic Summit that “equality of education starts at the age of 3”. This is why Cambridge decided to become the first university to establish <a href="http://universityprimaryschool.org.uk/">a primary school</a>.</p>
<p>Broadened access has consequences. One of these is increased diversity, which is unquestionably beneficial and desirable. This has been <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/world-university-rankings-2016-2017-higher-educations-diverse-mission">eloquently underscored</a> by Dr Drew Faust, president of Harvard University: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Diversity, inclusion and belonging are fundamental to Harvard’s mission and to higher education’s broader promise … Bringing people together and creating a community of belonging is an extraordinary aspiration, and we must not lose sight of its potential to change a complex world too often fractured by difference. This, too, is education.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>However, diversity can also be disruptive to the status quo. In a number of countries more diverse student bodies have drawn attention to the neglect of non-European values, traditions and concepts in their curricula. For example black students in the US and <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/education/uk-university-students-want-to-decolonise-syllabus-4468557/">UK</a>, like their counterparts <a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20160527145138375">in South Africa</a>, have in recent years reported feeling alienated by the predominantly white image of the past, as reflected in university courses. </p>
<p>This has given rise to various “decolonise education” movements. Students and academics at various institutions around the world are now beginning to respond to these by pursuing change in university curricula.</p>
<h2>Funding, equity and excellence</h2>
<p>Some have expressed concern that widening access will negatively impact on institutional performance. But this is not necessarily the case. The University of California is widely regarded as one of the world’s most successful public higher education systems. It also has a strong track record of improving access to higher education for low-income families.</p>
<p>The university’s campuses, such as those in Berkeley, Los Angeles and San Diego, consistently rank in the top 50 universities in the world. Equity and excellence are indeed not mutually exclusive.</p>
<p>Higher education has been identified as a public good. Yet government funding of the sector is decreasing in many countries. This has resulted in higher tuition fees, barriers to higher education for the poor, students dropping out for financial reasons and spiralling student debt. </p>
<p>The issue of higher education funding has become a hot topic for debate around the world. No widely accepted solutions seem to have emerged so far.</p>
<p>One option that’s receiving considerable attention because of its potential to address inequality is “income-contingent loans”. In this approach governments pay tuition fees on behalf of students. These loans are then repaid through the tax system, on a percentage-of-income basis. Not all graduates are expected to repay their loans. For example, those who work for low pay and those who spend long periods outside the workforce may be exempted.</p>
<p>A strong theme surfacing in many discussions on university campuses is the critical importance of philanthropy as an adjunct to government funding. This is needed to ensure sustainability, promote equity and advance excellence.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/72513/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jimmy Volmink does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>If universities work together they are more likely to find creative solutions to problems. Collaboration will allow them to benefit from the global academic community’s collective wisdom.Jimmy Volmink, Professor of Epidemiology and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/590622016-06-07T20:23:07Z2016-06-07T20:23:07ZElection 2016: the issues in non-metropolitan Australia<p>Rural and regional Australia is a big place. That’s obvious enough. Still, it’s easy to forget that the communities and industries of non-metropolitan Australia are diverse. They face a variety of challenges and often have different, if not competing, stakes in government policy. </p>
<p>But what are the issues that deserve attention leading up to the 2016 federal election? While not everyone living in rural and regional Australia will see eye-to-eye on how these issues should be resolved, I will return to this list closer to election day to see just how many have made their way onto the national political agenda.</p>
<h2>Infrastructure</h2>
<p>Government investments in transport, energy, telecommunications and water infrastructure are fundamental to the productivity of rural and regional industries. </p>
<p>Made well, these investments can enhance economic and social participation, minimise negative environmental impacts, and support adaptation to climate variability and change.</p>
<p>It follows that, when it comes to evaluating the case for public investment, one eye needs to be on the business case while the other needs to be on the potential for social and environmental co-benefits. This is where most of the issues listed below come into play. </p>
<h2>Unemployment</h2>
<p>Nationally, unemployment rates in non-metropolitan Australia are similar to those in the capital cities. However, rural and regional labour markets are volatile, with extremely high unemployment in particular locales. Place-specific strategies to assist these locales deserve consideration.</p>
<p>The loss of over <a href="https://docs.employment.gov.au/documents/australian-jobs-2015-publication">55,000 mining jobs</a> nationally since late 2012 hit a number of regional cities hard. In <a href="https://www.employment.gov.au/small-area-labour-markets-publication">Mackay</a>, unemployment rose from 11.7% to 18.9% in 2015. In <a href="https://www.employment.gov.au/small-area-labour-markets-publication">Muswellbrook</a>, it went from 9.8% to 14.9%. The sector is expected to shed another 31,900 jobs by late 2020.</p>
<p>Other non-metropolitan regions experience particularly high youth unemployment. In March 2016, <a href="http://lmip.gov.au/default.aspx?LMIP/LFR_SAFOUR">young people aged 15-24 were unemployed</a> at rates of 31.3% in western Queensland, 22.3% in Cairns, 19.7% on the NSW mid-north coast and 19.5% in the Hunter Valley. The national average for this age group was 12.2%. For all workers the <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/6202.0Main%20Features2Apr%202016?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=6202.0&issue=Apr%202016&num=&view=">unemployment rate was 5.7%</a>.</p>
<p>Nowhere in the country, though, are unemployment levels higher than in predominantly Indigenous townships like <a href="https://www.employment.gov.au/small-area-labour-markets-publication">Aurukun, Palm Island and Yarrabah</a>. Unemployment today in these former forced relocation sites hovers above 50%. That’s nearly three times the already <a href="https://theconversation.com/eight-ways-we-can-improve-indigenous-employment-60377">high national unemployment rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people</a>.</p>
<h2>Diversification and new economy jobs</h2>
<p>Changing workforce profiles mean that growth in the value of traditional rural and regional industries won’t necessarily solve the problem of unemployment.</p>
<p>Agricultural produce <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/0/58529ACD49B5ECE0CA2577A000154456?Opendocument">recorded an increase in value</a> between 2010-11 and 2014-15 of about 13%, or A$6 billion. Over roughly the same period, though, <a href="https://docs.employment.gov.au/documents/australian-jobs-2015-publication">agriculture, forestry and fisheries shed nearly 40,000 jobs</a>. Another 9,400 jobs are expected to go by late 2020. Innovation is driving improvements across many aspects of primary production, including labour productivity.</p>
<p>The same pattern is likely to be replicated in mining. Even if we assume a recovery in mineral and energy markets, we must equally assume that investment in labour-saving technology will continue to rise. </p>
<p>Innovations in remote sensing, ITC and robotics will enable the <a href="https://theconversation.com/robots-red-dust-and-the-future-of-mining-towns-5814">automation of more and more jobs</a> on site, favouring a concentration of operational jobs in metropolitan control centres. </p>
<p>By contrast, jobs in health care and social assistance and professional, scientific and technical services <a href="https://docs.employment.gov.au/documents/australian-jobs-2015-publication">grew 20.3%</a> nationally in the five years to November 2015. More than one-third of healthcare and social assistance employees (more than half-a-million people) are located in non-metropolitan regions. Of these, 45% work part-time and 79% are women. </p>
<p>Other human service industries, such as education and training, are also significant and growing regional employers.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, only 18% of professional, scientific and technical services employees (184,200 people) work regionally. Of these, 22% are part-time and 40% are women. </p>
<p>The national shift to professional, scientific and technical services is helping compensate for declining employment in traditionally male, blue-collar industries like manufacturing. However, the benefits of a rapidly growing professional and scientific workforce are concentrated in the major cities. This needs to change. </p>
<p>Both existing industries and industries of the future require access to high-level scientific and technical expertise. The more such expertise can be nurtured within non-metropolitan areas the better placed they will be to sustain their competitiveness, participate in the knowledge economy and diversify employment opportunities.</p>
<h2>Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/3238.0.55.001June%202011?OpenDocument">Two-thirds of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians</a> live in rural and regional areas. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.dpmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/publications/Closing_the_Gap_2015_Report.pdf">Closing the Gap</a> reports demonstrate little progress against commitments to do so something about the disadvantage many experience. I will focus here on two issues with particularly direct implications for economic and social participation: incarceration and native title.</p>
<p>The rate at which Aboriginal and Torres Strait people <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/research/ongoing/overcoming-indigenous-disadvantage">were imprisoned</a> rose 57.4% between 2000 and 2013, while the rate for non-Indigenous Australians remained steady. This suggests multiple policy failures related both directly and indirectly to the criminal justice system. </p>
<p>By contrast, the last decade has also seen multiple native title determinations. More than one-third of the Australian land mass is either <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/may/26/indigenous-australia-is-open-for-business-but-we-need-investment-to-realise-our-potential">owned by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander</a> peoples or has those peoples’ interests formally recognised. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/is-the-white-paper-a-game-changer-for-northern-australia-43458">Indigenous Ranger programs</a> have proven extremely promising as means to care for these lands and create meaningful employment opportunities. The opportunity to utilise native title assets to build businesses and yet more jobs is immense. Realising that opportunity will require genuine partnerships with native title rights holders and creative approaches to investment. </p>
<h2>Health, education and social services</h2>
<p>Coupled with unemployment, inadequate access to services is a key dimension of <a href="http://ruralhealth.org.au/documents/publicseminars/2013_Sep/Joint-report.pdf">rural disadvantage</a>. </p>
<p>It is no secret that access to services such as health and education diminishes the further you get from capital cities. The cost of delivery goes up and the task of recruiting high-quality staff gets harder. </p>
<p>The situation may not be so bad in large regional centres, but in rural and remote locales it is estimated that <a href="http://ruralhealth.org.au/sites/default/files/publications/fact-sheet-27-election2016-13-may-2016.pdf">lack of access</a> to GPs, dentists, pharmacies and other primary health facilities results in about 60,000 preventable hospitalisations every year. The National Rural Health Alliance identifies access to mental health, dental health, Medicare Locals, aged care and Indigenous health as urgent priorities. </p>
<h2>Climate change</h2>
<p>Almost certainly, climate change will prove a <a href="http://www.acola.org.au/PDF/SAF07/social%20and%20political%20context.pdf">major disruptive force for agriculture</a> and other rural industries. Existing strategies for dealing with climatic variability will help land managers adapt to low levels of temperature rise. As climate change intensifies, though, they will need to consider more fundamental shifts in land use. </p>
<p>Just as importantly, global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions could increase the cost of fossil-fuel-based inputs or create barriers to the sale of produce seen as emissions-intensive. </p>
<p>Rural industries will need to work with government and research institutions to reduce their emissions, adapt to changing environments and develop new income streams.</p>
<h2>Natural resource management</h2>
<p>The environmental impacts of rural land use attract consistent media and political interest. Land clearing, habitat loss, damage to iconic ecosystems, water allocations etc make regular front-page news. </p>
<p>Natural resource management policy has been most successful when it has been less about penalising land users and more about long-term collaboration in support of environmentally and economically sustainable use. </p>
<p>For several electoral cycles, however, natural resource management programs have been <a href="https://theconversation.com/another-broken-promise-budget-switches-landcare-for-green-army-26818">renamed, reprioritised and/or replaced</a>. Regardless of the merits or limitations of individual programs, rural and regional Australia needs a return to coherent and stable resource management policy.</p>
<h2>Agriculture</h2>
<p>Agriculture utilises <a href="http://www.acola.org.au/PDF/SAF07/social%20and%20political%20context.pdf">more than half the land mass</a> and contributes more to the economic vitality of Australia than most people appreciate. Despite decades of declining terms of trade and periods of intense drought, the productivity and value of agriculture have continued to outperform many other parts of the economy. </p>
<p>At the same time, however, thousands of farmers have been forced out of the industry. Fewer people than ever are taking on farming as an occupation.</p>
<p>It is no longer reasonable to expect agriculture alone to support vibrant rural and regional communities. It is reasonable, though, to position Australian agriculture to capitalise on population and income growth in the Asia-Pacific region. </p>
<p>Policy needs both an eye to this potential and a sensitivity to the very real challenges those in the sector face.</p>
<h2>To the election</h2>
<p>Already in this campaign, a handful of non-metropolitan electorates and issues have attracted attention. It will be interesting to see if former independent MP Tony Windsor can pick off Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-top-dog-to-underdog-tony-windsors-fight-in-new-england-59447">in New England</a>, but the dynamics here tell us little about what is going on in rural and regional electorates more generally.</p>
<p>The Great Barrier Reef has emerged as one of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/this-election-is-our-last-chance-to-save-the-great-barrier-reef-59381">more prominent election issues</a> so far. Politicians of all hues have been visiting North Queensland to announce or defend natural resource and climate policies relevant to its health. </p>
<p>The audience for these announcements is probably more national than local. Electorates within the Great Barrier Reef catchment have lost numerous mining jobs and voters there will be just as keen to know the plan for employment growth. Can <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-will-the-barrier-reef-recover-from-the-death-of-one-third-of-its-northern-corals-60186">reef health</a> and employment growth be reconciled?</p>
<p>I’ll comment more on how these issues are playing out closer to election day on July 2. A month is a long long time in politics.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/59062/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stewart Lockie receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Australian Council of Learned Academies.</span></em></p>What are the issues facing rural and regional Australia? The challenges are many and varied – and only some have made the national political agenda – but these areas deserve better than neglect.Stewart Lockie, Director, The Cairns Institute, James Cook UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/480992015-10-29T19:29:55Z2015-10-29T19:29:55ZHR – who even needs it?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/99933/original/image-20151028-21081-p3nh2e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The other H word.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">duncan c/Flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/3c7f1e40-a03e-11e2-88b6-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3ogt1C4Kd">Management fads</a> are fun, and one that keeps resurfacing is <a href="https://hbr.org/2015/07/why-we-love-to-hate-hr-and-what-hr-can-do-about-it">hating on HR</a> — aka Human Resources. </p>
<p>We can all think of times when HR has caused us a special kind of pain and suffering — payroll screw-ups, pointless performance reviews, unintelligible procedures, anyone? It makes sense that you can’t spell “hurt” without “H” and “R”, and when we see the anti-HR mobs baying for blood, it’s easy to pick up a placard and/or blunt object and join in the fun. </p>
<p>There’s a swag of anecdotal “evidence” claiming that HR is no good, despite <a href="http://amj.aom.org/content/55/6/1264.short">legitimate research that says otherwise</a>, so let’s <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304819004579489603299910562">get rid of HR</a>!</p>
<p>The problem with all this passionate HR-hating is that “HR” is not just a department or group of numbskulls sitting on the ninth floor of the building with the fancy offices.</p>
<p>HR involves a <a href="http://highered.mheducation.com/sites/0072934255/information_center_view0/index.html">wide range of activities</a>, including hiring, pay, performance management, and employee relations - all of which are essential to running organisations that rely on people to do work. </p>
<p>So, we might say that we should get rid of the HR <em>people</em>, but somebody will still have to fill the HR <em>function</em>. Who’s going to do this?</p>
<h2>HR by line managers</h2>
<p>The first obvious candidate to replace HR is the line managers. They know the people (they are the people), so who’d be better at doing “people” stuff? HR is, after all, the easy job — something anyone can pick up, right? Developing policy and practice around industrial relations, occupational health and safety, and diversity management, among other things, will easily fit into their newly expanded job description.</p>
<p>But hang on: that actually sounds a little complicated. What’s more, <a href="http://newsroom.melbourne.edu/cwl-survey-results">a poll conducted in early 2014</a> by the <a href="http://www.workplaceleadership.com.au/">Centre for Workplace Leadership</a> found 75% of employees surveyed felt they <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-australian-workplaces-need-much-better-leaders-23354">needed better leaders</a>. So, maybe our line managers aren’t the ones we’d choose to do HR. In fact, maybe we should just get rid of them, too. They can go play the pokies with the HR people we just fired.</p>
<h2>HR by senior managers</h2>
<p>Second possible candidate: Conventional wisdom has it that <a href="https://hbr.org/2012/07/why-hr-still-isnt-a-strategic-partner">HR is supposed to be a “strategic partner”</a>, so let’s just get senior managers to do it!</p>
<p>Of course, we know that senior managers aren’t usually representative of “the people”, in terms of <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/sites/default/files/Stats_at_a_Glance.pdf">gender</a>, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/12/talking-about-a-bamboo-ceiling-to-tackle-discrimination-is-wrong">race/ethnicity</a>, or even <a href="https://hbr.org/2011/03/the-new-path-to-the-c-suite">job experience</a>. So, maybe we shouldn’t trust the “old boys” in the C-suite to represent our interests when they do HR. </p>
<h2>Do-It-Yourself HR</h2>
<p>Candidate three: If you want something done right, you’ve got to do it yourself…er…in self-managed teams! </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/99936/original/image-20151028-21106-1t9p26o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/99936/original/image-20151028-21106-1t9p26o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99936/original/image-20151028-21106-1t9p26o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99936/original/image-20151028-21106-1t9p26o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99936/original/image-20151028-21106-1t9p26o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99936/original/image-20151028-21106-1t9p26o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99936/original/image-20151028-21106-1t9p26o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Image sourced from Shutterstock.com</span></span>
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<p>So, with the surplus of time in your workday, go ahead and log in to your favourite HR information system (SAP? Oracle? Wait, don’t tell us…Workday? You’re such a hipster), and get cracking on your new HR responsibilities. Conduct your peer evaluations, consult with the team about promotions and pay raises, and resolve interpersonal grievances. </p>
<p>Of course, if you already have a full workload and can’t invest a decent chunk of time into getting your head around this stuff, HR might quickly deteriorate and fall apart. And you have to be careful about letting HR deteriorate, because when that happens, people start calling for your resignation (see above). </p>
<h2>Outsourcing HR</h2>
<p>Option four: Does it feel dirty to say outsourcing? Pay someone else to do your HR and you’re good to go. Of course, if we’re paying someone else to do it <em>all</em>, <a href="http://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/making-the-hr-outsourcing-decision/">it could get expensive</a>. </p>
<p>And remember that question we asked earlier about the representativeness of the people making “people” decisions? If outsourcing’s your pick, you can throw that “representation” idea out the ninth floor window. </p>
<h2>HR by a group of competent specialists</h2>
<p>Okay, so what’s left? </p>
<p>Perhaps it would be worthwhile to have competent staff <em>within</em> the organisation working on the HR stuff. They might have their own department, but they’d be accessible to everybody throughout the organisation, from top to bottom. This would ensure that they were in touch with “the people”, as well as the strategy of the organisation. What’s more, because there’s a variety of HR stuff that needs to be done, we’d even need <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053482215000054">different types of professionals with different skill sets to work in this group</a>.</p>
<h2>Wait…what?</h2>
<p>Did we just end up with a HR department? Yep. The problem with HR does not just belong to HR; it belongs to all of us. Get rid of your HR department (or even <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/business/comment-and-analysis/dont-throw-out-the-baby-with-the-bathwater-on-performance-reviews-20150730-giniod.html">some part of HR</a>), and you’ll still be left with some very real HR challenges. </p>
<p>The future business environment is uncertain, technology is ever-changing, jobs are exceedingly complex, and the workforce is increasingly diverse. People leading and working in organisations need to be more thoughtful in building and supporting <a href="http://apj.sagepub.com/content/42/2/132.abstract">good HR systems</a>, and we must realise it takes a highly skilled group of <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1748-8583.12015/abstract">HR professionals to deal with all of the complexity and tensions</a> of our world.</p>
<p>We need to define HR the way we define finance, marketing, or operations —- as an integral function of any medium to large organisation, not as some group of blockheads that, by the way, you have hired and failed to develop (you nitwit). HR people need to be competent in HR. It’d also be nice if they <a href="http://aum.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/01/19/0312896214546055.abstract">could navigate organisational politics</a>. The HR department is not a dumping ground for leftover talent. It must be filled with the best and brightest, and you must invest in their development -— just like everywhere else in the organisation.</p>
<p>The role of HR is just as dynamic as are the business environment and workplace, and the study of HR is not a “settled” science. But there’s a lot that we do already know, and it’s not likely to be found in faddish anti-HR rants. If you want to weigh the true value of HR, start reading about legitimate HR research in journals like the <a href="http://aom.org/journals/">Academy of Management’s publications</a>, the <a href="http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/apl/">Journal of Applied Psychology</a>, the <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/%28ISSN%291467-8543">British Journal of Industrial Relations</a>, or <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/%28ISSN%291099-050X">Human Resource Management</a>. Get involved in legitimate studies by qualified researchers, not anecdotal moaning by fad-pushers.</p>
<p>HR is not beyond reproach, with its reality sometimes <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-005X.2012.00285.x/abstract">falling short of its rhetoric</a>. Our <a href="http://jom.sagepub.com/content/39/6/1637.abstract">perceptions of HR do matter</a>, and HR professionals should explore <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1748-8583.12028/abstract">ways to improve the credibility of their own work</a>.</p>
<p>But, that said, we all need to think about HR as we think about everything else. Have you ever seriously said, “Let’s get rid of finance,” or “operations”, or “marketing”? Saying “Let’s get rid of HR” is just as absurd, so stop being such a hater and show HR some love and commitment. After all, you can’t spell “heart” without “H” and “R”.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/48099/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jesse E. Olsen is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Workplace Leadership, which has been co-funded by the Commonwealth Government and The University of Melbourne.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andreas Pekarek does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Before you go hating HR, ask yourself: what are the alternatives?Jesse E. Olsen, Research Fellow at the Centre for Workplace Leadership, Faculty of Business and Economics, The University of MelbourneAndreas Pekarek, Lecturer in Management, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.