CBI HIGHER EDUCATION TASK FORCE REPORT

CBI Higher Education Task Force report

CBI Higher Education Task Force report

Thesis Statement

The work described here derives from three such external factors. There is increasing international recognition that the transition from the world of higher education into the world of employment is not always straightforward.

Purpose of the Essay

The purpose of this essay is to describe the nature of higher education in modern universities which is changing rapidly as institutions take account of a number of major external factors. The essay discusses that in the United Kingdom, the considerable increase in the number of students passing through the higher education system (Higher Education Statistics Agency, 1998a) now means that the competition for established positions in traditional “graduate employment” and the professions is fierce and, as a consequence, the range and variety of jobs into which graduates are moving is becoming increasingly diverse.

Identification of the key/relevant sections: CBI Higher Education Task Force report

It is only a minority of graduates who are able to gain employment which directly utilizes the academic content of their higher education curriculum (Higher Education Statistics Agency, 1998b).

It is also recognised that the academic curriculum is essentially a vehicle through which other attributes are delivered; these attributes are largely constant regardless of the subject studied. For example, the essential information retrieval and analysis skills required to prepare a review of the background literature to a topic do not essentially differ from archaeology to zoology; similarly, these skills are directly transferable into a wide range of employment.

The world of employment is also changing rapidly. Permanence is no longer a significant feature: traditional career paths have disappeared, entire industries have relocated to other areas of the world, and new technologies have made established practice and experience irrelevant. However, the story is not all gloom; new industries, often (but not always) technology driven, have emerged as major employers (illustrative technology based examples include personal computers, mobile telephones, etc.). Similarly, many of those in employment today are engaged in jobs which simply did not exist 20 or even just ten years ago. As the pace of change continues to accelerate, new jobs (not yet thought of) will emerge with increasing rapidity whilst old jobs will inevitably disappear.

Each of the above points are major considerations in the notion of a need for the population to be flexible and prepared for a lifetime of change and development. The concept of “lifelong learning” is now central to official UK Government thinking within the (still relatively recently) combined Department of Education and Employment (DfEE), and Government has announced that we now must live in a “learning age” (Secretary of State for Education and Employment, 1998) in which it will be the norm to engage in retraining and personal development throughout the working life.

Brief discussion of the key points

The European Commission (1995) has for some time recognised the need to establish a “learning society” which:

* takes account of the rapid changes which are taking place in Europe due to the internationalisation of trade, ...