In the context of a rapidly changing global economy and frequent charges of a “skills gap,” our education system faces more pressure than ever to prepare students for the future of work. Competency-based education is gaining traction internationally as a model for graduating students with the knowledge, skills and characteristics needed to succeed in a given career. This paper explores the development of competency-based education in North America and its applicability in Ontario, summarizing expert interviews as well as an extensive literature review. It outlines what competency-based education is, provides practical examples and offers considerations for decision makers in Ontario. As the name implies, competency-based education, or CBE, is structured around competencies, and is primarily concerned with what students know and can do. Students in CBE programs work through material and assessments, usually online and at their own pace with support from faculty advisers and assessors. While traditional programs often aim for a pre-specified distribution of achievement among students (i.e., by grading on a curve), CBE embraces a philosophy that, with appropriate resources, all students can eventually master required competencies. The time it takes to complete a CBE program depends on an individual’s prior learning, ability and motivation, but the outcomes are consistent: Anyone holding the credential has demonstrated mastery of all defined learning outcomes or competencies. CBE programs offer the potential to graduate students with prior learning relatively quickly, cost-effectively and with the skills needed to meet employer demands. This potential has garnered a great deal of interest in the United States where the number of CBE programs has grown exponentially over the past decade, particularly in fields with specific labour shortages such as business, nursing, teaching and information technology. CBE has been slower to take off in Canada and to date has been concentrated in professions where mastery is seen as essential for public health and safety (e.g., medicine). That said, we see particular utility and promise for CBE programs to meet the needs of Ontario students with family and work responsibilities, or Ontarians with previous education and work experience who require retraining to pivot or advance in the labour market — a group of students that is currently underserved in Canada. In addition to considering the potential for the CBE model to better serve lifelong learners, Ontario policy makers and institutions should consider embracing elements of the CBE model in the context of traditional programs. In our view, the most transferable elements of CBE that Ontario students would benefit from are: (a) a stronger focus on competency development, (b) a belief that teaching and assessment can be structured to support all students to master essential knowledge and skills, and (c) a transparent credential that gives graduates a clear picture of what they know and can do, and gives employers evidence that a prospective hire has mastered the entire set of competencies reflected in a degree.

The Government of Ontario purchased a blanket, three-year licence to Lynda.com to provide postsecondary students with free access to the skills-focused, online learning platform. The Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO) and eCampusOntario partnered to evaluate the utility of this investment, with a particular focus on whether and how Lynda.com can help address perceived skills gaps among Ontario college and university students. As a first step in this multi-year evaluation, we sought to understand student perceptions of the state of their skills and their appetite for online skills development. We surveyed 6,360 Ontario postsecondary students and conducted three in-person focus groups. Students participating in both the survey and focus groups believe they are developing strength in transferable skills like critical thinking, work ethic, communications and organization/time management, along with industry-specific skills through their postsecondary experience, and they anticipate these skills will be needed in their chosen careers. Survey results suggest students are less certain that professional skills like data analysis, financial literacy and IT skills will be necessary in the workplace, though both focus group participants and survey respondents anticipate business etiquette (i.e., e-mailing and networking skills) will be in demand upon graduation. Survey responses suggest that students perceive a gap between the skills they will need for their future careers and the skills they are developing while in university or college. The largest gaps identified are in business etiquette, leadership, teamwork and creative/innovative thinking skills. Focus group participants affirmed the perception that there is a gap between skill levels resulting from postsecondary education and skill levels required for successful employment. Survey respondents and focus group participants demonstrated an openness to strengthening their skills using online educational videos, including those on Lynda.com; however, they are most likely to use Lynda.com to develop those skills which they already perceive to be developing during postsecondary. There is less interest in using Lynda.com to address perceived skills deficits in areas like leadership, teamwork and business etiquette.

The skills gap is widening as the battle for talent intensifies It is becoming harder and harder to find talent with key skills, while redundancies and severance expenses are mounting. Investment in internal training can help tackle these issues, but companies often do not prioritise such initiatives owing to cost, time, the unclear return on investment, and the risk that employees will leave. Accounting frameworks are a barrier United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) do not allow businesses to estimate the value that human capital investments have on the company or recoup any expected returns. If training can only be listed as a cost, businesses wishing to appease shareholders lack incentives to invest in the long term.Making intangible value real Alternative reporting frameworks, which show the connection between intangible value investments – such as human capital – and profit, are gaining ground with companies and stakeholders. Yet these do not yet sway corporate decisions. Accounting and related taxation changes are a key part of the solution Alternative accounting and investment models can help change how expenses for human capital investments are capitalised over time. Three models are discussed in this report to inform and inspire change, including considerations around implementation, with the recommendation that the Employability Account represents the greatest potential benefit. However, making a change to official accounting standards – which extends to rethinking related tax incentives – is a laborious affair, and is best driven by political and business action.

For more than two centuries, the manufacturing industry has adopted new technologies and provided new jobs for workers. Today, the industry is experiencing exciting and exponential change, as technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and Internet of Things (IoT) are rapidly changing the workplace. While some predicted that these new technologies would eliminate jobs, we have found the reverse—more jobs are actually being created. In fact, job openings have been growing at double-digit rates since mid-2017, and are nearing the historical peak recorded in 2001.1 In this dynamic manufacturing environment, Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute launched their fourth skills gap study to reevaluate their prior projections and move the conversation forward on today’s hiring environment and the future of manufacturing work. The results appear to highlight a widening gap between the jobs that need to be filled and the skilled talent pool capable of filling them. The study reveals that the skills gap may leave an estimated 2.4 million positions unfilled between 2018 and 2028, with a potential economic impact of 2.5 trillion. Further, the study shows that the positions relating to digital talent, skilled production, and operational managers may be three times as difficult to fill in the next three years. How can the manufacturing industry get ready for the future of work and prepare workers to work with robots and advanced technologies? What are the skills that will become must-haves in the workplace? What are the pathways for training and education to enable these skills? Finding potential solutions to close the manufacturing skills gap begins by exploring what’s possible for future jobs.

This new report from the Commission on Sustainable Learning for Life, Work and a Changing Economy evaluates the potential economic value of having a UK workforce that has benefitted from a well-designed technical and vocational education. After an analysis of existing literature on skill shortages in OECD countries and an impact assessment on UK skill demands, the authors determine that the UK is “lagging behind” because of skill underutilisation and infrequent workplace training. Amongst the 30 OECD countries, the UK is ranked 11th in terms of productivity and 12th in competitiveness. In addition, 51% of UK employees report that their skills are being under-utilised. To tackle this issue, a widespread realisation is needed that competitiveness in the economy will be determined more by how we develop human skills than the ownership of dwindling natural resources. Employers, training providers and exam bodies need to work together to create an adaptive working environment that provides employees with continuous learning opportunities. The commission estimates that the UK could see an improvement of £108bn in GDP over the next ten years if the country can achieve a top quartile position in low-level skills (below upper secondary education), intermediate (upper secondary) and high skills (tertiary). In the OECD’s 2016 ranking of countries by adult education level, the UK ranked below average for low skills and 29th out of 36 for intermediate skills.

Coordination is a wide-ranging term which this publication interprets as covering interaction between different ministries and government agencies at a national level; interaction between national, subnational and local structures and agencies; and interaction with social partners such as employers, trade unions and civil society organizations. The publication focuses primarily on the interaction between government ministries and agencies at national and subnational levels, examining how governments can work to coordinate technical and vocational education and development (TVET) and skills development across relevant policy domains. The overarching research question which is being asked is, Does the adoption of interministerial coordination mechanisms assist in the achievement of TVET and skills development policy objectives?’ This publication attempts to answer that question through synthesizing evidence on interministerial TVET coordination mechanisms from a range of countries, using a combination of desk research and country case studies. In doing so, it sets out six broad models. Two country case studies are developed for each. They examine instances where responsibility for TVET and skills development is: Type 1: led by the ministry of education (MoE) or equivalent body, as in the Russian Federation and Turkey. Type 2: led by the ministry of labour (MoL) or equivalent body, as in Malawi and Tunisia. Type 3: led by a dedicated TVET ministry, as in India and Burkina Faso. Type 4: led by a TVET focused government agency or non-departmental public body, as in Jamaica and the Philippines. Type 5: overseen by a coordinating council or similar body placed higher than the relevant departments, as in France and Bangladesh. Type 6: disaggregated across line ministries without a permanent centralized coordination mechanism, as in the Republic of Korea and Canada. The purpose of the case studies was first, to identify the specific trigger points that lead to changes in the use or effectiveness of inter-ministerial coordination mechanisms, and second, to assess the extent to which these inter-ministerial coordination mechanisms have played a role in strengthening the foundational requirements of an effective TVET and skills development system in each country.

There have been numerous studies asking employers ‘what they really want’ in terms of workforce skills. These often show that employers express concerns about students’ skills level in certain areas, for instance, communications. But there are two challenges – the number of overlapping studies and the broad definition of these skills. This report takes a summative approach, aiming to come up with a more collective view of the skills gaps. It also takes this to a greater level of detail, looking at specific tasks and functions (for example, in the case of communication this could be about participating in meetings, making presentations, writing emails or drafting reports). Second, we wanted to understand specifically where young people are being supported to develop these skills. In some cases, this will be in the classroom (e.g. preparing a presentation as a team in a geography class) and in others it will be in ‘extra-curricular’ settings from after school clubs to work experience to scouts. The study draws upon existing literature assessing the skills and behaviours young people need to find work, and then thrive once there. The objective of this literature search was to create a collective view of the skills employers most commonly felt are needed in the workforce. The findings gathered from the literature formed the main discussion with professionals with first-hand experience of recruitment in large and small enterprises across private, public and third sectors. The report also sets out the findings from a survey of 626 secondary school teaching staff based in England. The survey, completed by staff at independent, maintained and academy institutions, investigated how the skills and competencies are being developed in different school-based environments. It went on to explore how changes to the curriculum, at both Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4, had impacted on the ability of schools to develop the skills needed in the 21st century labour market.

This report explores a range of factors that underpin the digital gender divide, bolsters the evidence base for policy making and provides policy directions for consideration by all G20 governments. It has been prepared by the OECD at the request of the Australian Government to support advancement of the 2017 G20 Roadmap for Digitalisation: Policies for a Digital Future, in particular its aim to support the equitable participation of women in the digital economy. It complements the initiative of the 2018 Argentinian G20 Presidency to share policies, actions and national practices that have had a significant and measurable impact in bridging the digital gender divide, while supporting Argentina’s mainstreaming of gender across the G20 agenda. The report finds that hurdles to access, affordability, lack of education as well as inherent biases and sociocultural norms curtail women and girls’ ability to benefit from the opportunities offered by the digital transformation. In addition, girls’ relatively lower educational enrolment in disciplines that would allow them to perform well in a digital world – such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics, as well as information and communication technologies – coupled with women’s and girls’ more limited use of digital tools could lead to widening gaps and greater inequality. Acting now to reverse these trends can pay off: the reports finds that greater inclusion of women in the digital economy and increased diversity bring value, both social and economic. For instance, inventions arising out of mixed teams are more economically valuable and have higher impact than those in which only men are involved. Co-ordinated policy action can help narrow the digital gender gap. This requires raising awareness and tackling gender stereotypes; enabling enhanced, safer and more affordable access to digital tools; and stronger cooperation across stakeholders to remove barriers to girls and women’s full participation in the digital world. Digital technologies provide new opportunities to make progress, but technological fixes cannot address the underlying structural problems that drive the digital gender divide. Concrete policy actions are needed to foster women’s and girls’ full participation and inclusion in the digital economy, while at the same time addressing stereotypes and social norms that lead to discrimination against women. The digital gender divide needs to be resolved. There is no reason for women to trail behind in the digital transformation. The cost of inaction is high and in the face of sluggish growth, ageing societies and increasing educational attainment of young women, the economic case for digital gender equality is clear. Bridging the gender divide, also in the digital world, can provide new sources of global economic growth, support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and help achieve the G20 goal of strong, sustainable and inclusive growth.

In today's dynamic world of work, the path to opportunity - for both individuals, and organizations - is changing. The short shelf life of skills and a tightening labor market are giving rise to a multitude of skill gaps. Businesses are fighting to stay ahead of the curve, trying to hold onto their best talent and struggling to fill key positions. Individuals are conscious of staying relevant in the age of automation. Enter the talent development function - the organizational leaders creating learning opportunities to enable employee growth and achievement. They have the ability to guide their organizations to success in tomorrow's labor market, but they can't do it alone. That's why we surveyed approximately 4,000 professionals globally on LinkedIn with the goal of providing a holistic view of modern workplace learning. Our research shows that today's talent developer is being asked to balance competing demands from executives, managers, and employees alike: They must play a critical role in shaping future workforce strategy, while delivering hyper-relevant content to support employee needs of today, and cater these vast efforts to a multi-generational workforce with varied learning preferences. To balance these competing demands, talent development leaders today are embracing the role of 'relationship builder' - cultivating the relationships that are the backbone of a learning culture that thrives in a workforce of constant change. Our research answers the talent developer's most pressing questions: (1) How are savvy talent development leaders adapting to the pace of change in today's dynamic world of work? (2) Why do employees demand learning and development resources, but don't make the time to learn? (3) How do executives think about learning and development? (4) Are managers the missing link to successful learning programs?