Bridging the Skills Gap: How Higher Education Institutions Can Prepare Students for Success

Despite higher learning institutions’ best efforts to prepare students for the workforce, organizations are still hurting for skills. In a recent study from Mercer, 98% of HR leaders reported notable skills gaps within their organizations, and 91% of employees were looking for more opportunities to learn.

The widening gap between the competencies workers already have and what they need to learn is partially the result of rapid technological changes impacting organizational workflows. For example, the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022 created a new market for generative AI solutions, and organizations are implementing the technologies to take advantage of benefits like streamlined processes and increased efficiency. When a useful new tool arrives, organizations need people in their workforce who have the necessary skills to adequately leverage it.

Of course, it’s difficult for a higher education institution to anticipate sweeping changes across the labor force due to technological advances such as AI. Still, your institution can play a pivotal role in bridging the skills divide that exists between employers and their workforce. Through strategic data analysis and organizational partnerships, you can ensure your learning programs help students acquire the skills they need to be an integral part of their organizations. When you dedicate time and resources to enhancing your degree and certification programs, you’ll also position your institution as a leader in developing in-demand workforce skills.

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Assess Your Own Gaps

You can’t do your part to bridge essential skills gaps without first understanding your own limitations. Being an educational leader means taking the time to assess your programs to ensure they’re current and relevant. You’re training learners to be successful in the workforce, but the skills employers need constantly evolve. You have to update your certification and degree programs accordingly.

Survey your graduates to learn where they find work after earning their degrees or certifications. Ask former students how long it took them to accept a role after completing their studies. You’ll also want to ask graduates if they feel as though their degree or certification adequately prepared them for their current role. A crucial question to ask your former students is: what skills did you lack that you needed to have to be a successful employee at your organization?

With that data in hand, you can analyze your programs for gaps. Look for opportunities to improve your courses and help learners build and strengthen their skills. Of course, this is just one piece of the puzzle. You’ll need more than your graduates’ feedback to ensure your programs are effectively meeting employers’ needs.

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Partner With Employers

Feedback from your former students will help you understand the employee side of the skills divide, but you’ll need to proactively engage with organizations to understand their immediate and long-term needs. Organizations can give you insights into their current workforce and the skills incoming workers will need to keep up with market trends and emerging technologies. You can use these insights to ensure your programs teach learners essential skills that better prepare them to enter the workforce.

Partnering with local employers can help you tailor your degree and certification programs to those organizations’ needs, which in turn can entice more students to pursue higher education at your institution. Students might feel more confident enrolling in your courses when they know that there are specific employers that are actively promoting or endorsing your institution. This is especially true when you consider that the average cost of college in the United States is $38,270 per year.

Partnering with employers can also mean creating professional learning programs that develop their existing workforces. It’s almost always more cost effective for organizations to upskill and reskill their current employees instead of hiring external candidates. Working with employers to provide professional development courses helps these organizations grow their workforce skills while saving money that would have been spent recruiting expensive hires.

Of course, there will still be times when employers need to hire externally. A professional partnership with your learning institution can help organizations be more competitive in the talent market. Jobseekers want to work for employers that prioritize skills development and professional growth. According to LinkedIn’s 2024 Workforce Learning Report, eight in ten people feel that learning adds purpose to their work, and seven in ten people feel a greater sense of connection to their organization when they have access to learning opportunities. Your skills development coursework can help attract new employees and keep them motivated to grow as professionals.

Whether you’re educating recent high school graduates or professionals who’ve been in the workforce for years, a strategic partnership with local organizations will help you better understand today’s workforce needs so that you can update your learning programs accordingly. When you have a pulse on employers’ immediate and long-term skills needs, you can create better resources for your learners that help them gain the skills they need to be successful.