Graduate employability benefits the graduates themselves, the workforce, the community and the economy of a country. Therefore, it has become a critical issue and a key driver for higher education institutions (HEI)’s especially for the universities, all over the world. In response to increasing pressure from all corners, universities are also adopting a range of generic skill-based learning outcomes which, are expected to increase graduate employability such as internships, work placements and international study in their programs with the aim of enhancing graduate employment prospects.
Employability factors are found to be contextually different. The increased demand for high-growth professions has further driven the value of a range of distinctive skill sets such as business skills, specialized industry skills, general and soft skills, tech baseline skills and tech disruptive skills. General skills are typically non-cognitive capabilities which are needed across all professions. These include leadership, communication, negotiation, creativity and problem-solving skills (Source: World Economic Forum Report, 2020). Researchers also suggested that employers are generally satisfied with some basic skills (basic literacy, numeracy and IT), but are rather dissatisfied with regard to more complex skills that are associated with personality traits such as business awareness, career self-management and problem-solving skills.
In this context, Fourth Industrial Revolution is also creating demand for millions of new jobs and in order to turn these opportunities into reality, coordinated action is urgently needed where both “digital” and “human” factors will be in the driving growth in future professions.
Bangladesh is in the transformation process to becoming a middle income nation. Moreover, the Government of Bangladesh (GOB) has set its goals for Vision 2041, with the planning to transform Bangladesh into a developed country by 2041. On the other hand, the United Nations has set the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) globally to be achieved by 2030. With half of the population in Bangladesh below the age of 25 years, the number of students graduating from universities has also increased over the decades.
In a recently concluded International Conference on 4th Industrial Revolution and Beyond (IC4IR) held on 10-11 December 2021 in Dhaka, Prof. Saifur Rahman, Joseph R. Loring Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Institute at Virginia Tech, USA, mentioned, in order for Bangladesh to move forward and become a developed country in the next 20 years, the economic engine needs high tech manpower which can be jointly developed by academia and industry. He also mentioned, academia provides the manpower for development, but industry establishes the qualifications needed in the workforce to enhance its productivity.
The 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) is understood to be the automation of traditional manufacturing and industrial processes, using modern smart technology, large-scale machine-to-machine communication (M2M) and the internet of things (IoT) which will help increased automation, improved communication and self-monitoring. 4IR can provide immense opportunities for industry-academia collaboration for meeting targeted national needs in Bangladesh. All developed countries in the east and west have strong higher education programs, which are well-designed to match industry requirements. At the same time they have programs that support global collaboration which helps with skills sharing as needed. In this regard, Prof. Rahman mentioned that the US National Science Foundation has the GOALI (Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry) program which supports industry participation in academic research.
At this backdrop we need to take extensive preparations to face the complex challenges that the 4IR is entailed with. Our main goal must be to create skilled human resources suitable for handling the potentials and perils of the 4IR. This will require considerable changes in the education system.
In this regard, the Innovative Education Ecosystem (IEE) may be the key to realize the dream of 4IR. Quantum Computing, Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology are at the heart of this 4IR. In the other parts of the world, especially in the Scandinavian countries, they are preparing their manpower to take advantage of 4IR. This is the reason; these countries have integrated Artificial Intelligence and Robotics in their education, starting from primary level to higher education with an objective to prepare the cognitive mind of their human resources to lead the 4IR. The charm of this 4IR is that it is expanding faster than from the other three industrial revolutions and empowering human beings equally.
The present computer science education in Bangladesh requires a major overhaul because it lives in the third industrial revolution. The same is true for the Electronics and Electrical Engineering education, where the concept of smart grid is emerging, which requires the integration of AI thoughts and nanotechnology. The education of medical science should be equipped with the core subjects of 4IR. This is true in other disciplines such as biological sciences, business sciences, social sciences and arts. In addition, all over the world the optimal utilisation of the university resources remains unutilised, because of the absence of an Innovative Educational Ecosystem (IEE), allowing the linking between industry and academia. As mentioned the core of 4IR is the convergence, which in this case consists of taking advantage of industry and academia linkage.
Such convergent is really absent, especially in the higher education system of Bangladesh since our universities are yet to set their mind to change the course curriculum to realise the potential of such an innovative educational ecosystem. Hence, it can be argued that our current education system is not equipped with appropriate research, teaching and learning methods and tools, enabling the realization of the huge potential of 4IR. Certainly, university graduates do not possess the skills to live in the era of 4IR. The hierarchical organization management structure, which is very much centralized, is replaced by decentralized architecture in the era of 4IR.
The country will require huge workforce with appropriate skills to deal with these emerging technologies. The higher education institutions will have to play a pivotal role in this regard to produce skilled graduates. The existing collaborative relations among the higher education institutes and the industries have to be strengthened in coming days. This will help the tertiary level education institutes know the needs of industries and redesign their academic curricula in line with their demands. At this backdrop we need to take extensive preparations to face the complex challenges that the 4IR is entailed with. Our main goal must be to create skilled human resources suitable for handling the potentials and perils of the 4IR. This will require a considerable change in the education system.
Md. Hasan Shimum Wahab is a PhD Student, Putra Business School University Putra Malaysia (UPM)