Transforming education for the future of work: An African perspective on navigating our ever-digitised world

By Dr Sean Kruger, Senior Lecturer at the Centre for the Future of Work in the University of Pretoria’s Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences

The world we live in is rapidly changing, with digitisation, automation, migration and societal polarisation occurring across the globe, characterised by Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity (VUCA). The prevailing challenges of this VUCA world – exacerbated by the global disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic – include widening inequality, environmental degradation, and political unrest. Consequently, we need a robust set of technical, social, emotional, and cognitive competencies to navigate and influence these complex dynamics towards a just and sustainable future for our youth.

In an era marked by an accelerating rate of technological innovation, millennials and Generation Z exhibit a robust readiness and capacity to grapple with the technological complexities heralded by the fourth industrial revolution (4IR). These digital citizens recognise the utility of technology as a catalyst for both traditional employment and entrepreneurial self-employment.

They understand that judicious utilisation of emerging technologies could potentially unleash a plethora of job opportunities within the realm of virtual reality.

New industries and professions have already emerged from the fertile ground of digital technology and content development, such as the gig economy. However, barriers remain, particularly on the African continent.

South Africa has also been impacted by the global 4IR revolution, with several patents and innovations originating within the country and driving economic growth. However, despite this and a slight decline in the unemployment rate among early-stage graduates (aged 15-24 years), that rate remains well above 30%. The situation for the slightly older demographic (aged 25-34 years) has worsened, with unemployment rates rising by a worrisome 6.9 percentage points to 22.4% in the first quarter of 2022.

In the face of such complexities, education, through the development of competencies that will empower young people’s critical thinking and foster meaningful and ethical participation in society is imperative.

In South Africa, where the labour market is vulnerable, how can we unlock opportunities for young people in the future world of work?

Our research at the University of Pretoria’s (UP) Centre for the Future of Work (CFoW) has illuminated numerous transformations in the skill sets required for the workplaces of the future. As a university in Africa, we find it imperative to augment the global research in this domain, thereby providing an African perspective and contributing to a more balanced and comprehensive understanding of the evolving demands of the future job market.

Early-stage results of our research reveal that, to prepare graduates for the evolving job market, a set of cross-disciplinary skills is essential for addressing the complexities of the future of work.

Such skills include:

• Complex problem-solving, a skill that equips individuals to tackle novel, undefined real-world problems, especially as they become more intricate in our rapidly changing environment.

• Critical thinking, to empower individuals to make well-informed decisions, with a clear understanding of the information’s limitations, meaning, and relevance.

• Creativity, as it is central in generating unique or innovative ideas to solve relevant problems.

• People management, to effectively manage human and material resources to meet organisational goals. Moreover, collaboration is important, to efficiently work within team-based environments, both as a participant and a leader.

• Emotional intelligence, an often-underestimated skill, to enable our graduates to perceive, comprehend, and manage one’s own and others’ emotions constructively.

• Sound judgement and decision-making, a complementary pair of skills to allow understanding of costs and benefits of potential actions.

• Negotiation, to reconcile differences and reach agreements acceptable to all parties involved.

• Finally, cognitive flexibility, as this provides the mental dexterity to move between thinking about diverse concepts and the ability to contemplate multiple ideas concurrently.

By inculcating these skills across various academic disciplines, we aim to produce well-rounded graduates, ready to navigate the challenges and opportunities in the future of work.

While it’s important to acknowledge the ever-evolving nature of work skills, our research notes that emphasis must also be placed on the increasing need to upskill those at the early stages of their career or who are in transitional roles.

Within the 4IR, these skills include:

• Digital literacy and computational thinking, vital for navigating and creating digital content.

• Data analysis and interpretation skills, indispensable in a big data-dominated environment, for informed decision-making, and

• Understanding of artificial intelligence and machine learning, and their applications in the workplace.

It is critical to remember that each of these areas demands not only technical expertise but also a comprehensive understanding of the ethical, social, and practical implications of these technologies.

To develop comprehensive skill sets for students, the university aligns with global trends to stimulate not only class-based skills, but innovation across disciplines through several initiatives in which emerging technologies such as robots, artificial intelligence, virtual, and augmented reality have been made available to students to nurture their capacity for innovation.

The CFoW remains committed to identifying actions needed today for the future, including strengthening our curricula and developing innovation mechanisms. However, this is a societal-level engagement, in which we need to work together to ensure our youth have a bright and prosperous future on the continent.

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