Science fiction films from a dozen or even several decades ago clearly demonstrate that we cannot even imagine the pace of change taking place in technology, but also in everyday social and professional life. Screenwriters' and directors' predictions for the first half of the 21st century fail to match reality, and developments are becoming more dynamic by the day. This state of affairs has divided society more effectively than the Iron Curtain once did – some persist in creating scenarios of inevitable apocalypse, others eagerly await a tomorrow that will bring the possibility of space exploration, the advancement of medicine to new heights, and the solution of global problems thanks to artificial intelligence. But what is the truth? What will we face in the coming years in the context of education and professional work? What do the skills of the future look like? Collegium Da Vinci, celebrating its 25th anniversary this year under the slogan "We are curious about the past and the future," has invited us to a joint project, infuture.institute, to answer these questions.
The Future of Education: Scenarios 2046
Collegium da Vinci is a private university that, for 25 years, has been renowned for its programs focused on imparting specific knowledge, useful in the profession and aligned with job market expectations. Infuture.institute, founded by Natalia Halska, analyzes trends and forecasts their impact on the entire economy, even the development of specific brands. Both institutions collaborated on creating a report illustrating the direction of work and education over the next 25 years. The result is nearly 80 pages of research-supported forecasts of what awaits us in this area in the future. Here are some interesting facts from the report : The Future of Education: Scenarios 2046.
Competencies of the future and today's education
School is supposed to prepare us for adult life—primarily for professional work. Yet, today, school graduates are already working in positions that didn't exist when they began their education. Cryptocurrency analyst, drone operator, employee satisfaction specialist—these are just a few examples of positions that were unheard of 10 or 15 years ago. This leads to a terrifying conclusion: figuratively speaking, schools and universities are teaching us how to use a sword, preparing us for a battle we'll wage with nuclear missiles. Much of the hard knowledge acquired in education is already archaic by the time we enter the job market. What can we do about this? Of course, we should predict the direction our professional lives will take over the next few decades.
When making predictions, you don't have to read the tea leaves
In the report, "The Future of Education: Scenarios 2046," researchers identified 10 factors that will most likely have the greatest impact on education and the labor market in the coming years. These are:
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- Think different – the need for creative thinking and the ability to create innovations.
- Robotization – the development of technology that allows machines to take over human duties.
- Brain computer interface – the development of communication with a computer through thought.
- Nanosecond culture – the expectation of instant access to everything.
- Climatocentrism – focusing on the issue of climate catastrophe, creating a need for new specialists.
- Technological tsunami – rapid changes in technology that require constant adaptation to the new reality.
- Holistic coherence – the need to see each change as part of a larger whole and to place innovation in a broader context (e.g. an invention from a narrow field may have an impact on the development of culture and the economy).
- Algorithmization of life – automation of daily activities thanks to applications, tools, etc.
- Culture of individualism – striving to know oneself and define one’s place in relationships with others.
- Collaboration culture – the tendency to join forces to anticipate consumer needs.
What does this data say?
Academic research and conclusions provide us with very specific knowledge for practical use. Above all, they allow us to realize that, over time, so-called hard skills—colloquially speaking, knowledge hammered into thin air—will become even less important. Future employees don't need the ability to recite complex mathematical formulas or Newton's laws of motion by heart for a very simple reason: they can find them online at any time. Far more important is the ability to understand them and determine their potential use.
Let's illustrate this with the example of a programmer. Future employers will likely place less emphasis on mastering today's popular programming languages—after all, they may soon become obsolete. Logical thinking, which aids in problem-solving, and a critical approach, which allows for predicting the usefulness of individual solutions and their impact on other elements of the code, will be more important. But let's go further. The days when a managerial position requires someone with encyclopedic knowledge of product history and development are over. A specialist with strong communication skills, empathy, and the ability to work with people are more valued.
In summary, the recently derided soft skills characteristic of humanities studies will become increasingly important. This shift in expectations for employees must, in turn, entail changes in the education of future specialists.
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How to educate the specialists of tomorrow?
So how can we educate ourselves and others in a world where nothing is certain and reality is constantly changing? Everything points to the time to put aside those thick textbooks crammed with definitions. Effective education shouldn't rely on instilling knowledge that could soon become obsolete, but on providing the tools to acquire it independently. Learning should therefore involve developing the ability to use sources and approach them critically, selecting only the most valuable ones. It must also focus on honing collaboration skills, discovering our strengths and weaknesses, and fostering a curiosity about the world, thanks to which we learn not because we have to, but from the need to learn the answers. Tests requiring turnkey answers are losing their purpose. What matters is the ability to think outside the box and the creativity that allows us to seek solutions to old problems in entirely new ways.
There's no doubt that technology will be even more prevalent in the future than it is today. Therefore, a good employee will be expected (and actually already is) to utilize it skillfully, as well as to be flexible and adaptable to new conditions. It's also important to remember that positions where one can work in isolation from other specialists will become increasingly rare. Almost every job is part of a larger whole, encompassing the efforts of many departments employing a vast number of employees. Therefore, desirable competencies will include teamwork, empathy, and the ability to see one's responsibilities in a broader context.
This is also reflected in the highly dynamic Verseo environment. All technology park employees must, above all, possess the ability to adapt. Google and Facebook Ads advertising tools , like other advertising environments, are constantly changing. This requires specialists to constantly monitor and update their competencies, as well as certify them. The ability to learn and draw accurate conclusions from data is therefore a key to success in the advertising industry. Much also depends on self-discipline and the ability to clearly articulate ideas in customer interactions. From Verseo's perspective, education should first teach people how to learn, and then develop empathy, assertiveness, and logic in both numbers and words.
According to the research presented in the report The Future of Education, the TOP 5 competences of the future are:
- teamwork,
- digital and technical competences,
- analyzing data,
- solving complex problems,
- creativity.
Competencies of the future – don't panic!
Based on available knowledge about trends in the development of our civilization, we can identify many more competencies that will be important in employees. In addition to the top five, the following will also be particularly valuable:
- project management skills,
- coping with stress,
- effective communication,
- organization of own work,
- conducting negotiations,
- critical thinking,
- working in information noise,
- logical thinking,
- people management,
- abstract thinking,
- independence,
- assertiveness,
- knowledge of foreign languages,
- enterprise,
- resistance to crisis and change,
- mathematical competences,
- emotional intelligence,
- flexibility,
- experimentation,
- specialist knowledge,
- ethical action,
- intercultural competences,
- empathy.
Based on surveys conducted among students, lecturers, teachers, and managers, we were able to determine how specific competencies are perceived in each group – whether respondents consider them important and how they assess the strength of a given competency in themselves. This allows us to predict so-called competency gaps, i.e., the largest differences between current competencies and the assessment of their usefulness in future careers. The greatest disparity is visible in skills such as:
- critical thinking,
- solving complex problems,
- logical thinking,
- coping with stress,
- work organization.
What does this mean? Simply put, today's education system is weakest at teaching these very skills, and this is where the greatest changes are needed. However, there's also good news: those who excel in these areas will have a huge advantage in the job market and will be the most sought-after employees.
It's worth noting that all of these future competencies are highly universal, unrelated to any specific profession or field of study. This is the essence of the research and its most important conclusion – in an era of enormous change, what truly matters are the skills that allow us to easily change specialization. Armed with such an arsenal, when faced with change, we don't panic; we face the unknown and… adapt. Ironically, the best advice for tomorrow's employee is a slogan from posters almost a century ago: keep calm and carry on.
Summary
The above article covers the following topics:
- Personalization, AI and Virtual Reality – Development Directions After 2046
- Comparison of the competencies of the future with what schools teach today
