SDG 04: Quality Education Dynamic Briefing Generated 09 October 2020 for Marco Antonio Gonzalez
SDG 04: Quality Education Last review on Tue 03 September 2019
About This dynamic briefing draws on the collective intelligence of the Forum network to explore the key trends, interconnections and interdependencies between industry, regional and global issues. In the briefing, you will find a visual representation of this topic (Transformation Map – interactive version available online via intelligence.weforum.org ), an overview and the key trends affecting it, along with summaries and links to the latest research and analysis on each of the trends. Briefings for countries also include the relevant data from the Forum’s benchmarking indices. The content is continuously updated with the latest thinking of leaders and experts from across the Forum network, and with insights from Forum meetings, projects communities and activities.
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Executive summary This Transformation Map provides a contextual briefing for one of the Sustainable Development Goals the United Nations’ framework for making real progress towards a more sustainable future by the year 2030 - by mapping related strategic issues and interdependencies. The content, including attached key issue headings and texts, is drawn from expert- and machine-curated knowledge on the World Economic Forum’s Strategic Intelligence platform; it is not a reproduction of the official text of the SDG. The UN introduces this Goal as follows: 'Obtaining a quality education is the foundation to creating sustainable development. In addition to improving quality of life, access to inclusive education can help equip locals with the tools required to develop innovative solutions to the world’s greatest problems. Over 265 million children are currently out of school and 22% of them are of primary school age. Additionally, even the children who are attending schools are lacking basic skills in reading and math. In the past decade, major progress has been made towards increasing access to education at all levels and increasing enrollment rates in schools particularly for women and girls. Basic literacy skills have improved tremendously, yet bolder efforts are needed to make even greater strides for achieving universal education goals. For example, the world has achieved equality in primary education between girls and boys, but few countries have achieved that target at all levels of education. The reasons for lack of quality education are due to lack of adequately trained teachers, poor conditions of schools and equity issues related to opportunities provided to rural children. For quality education to be provided to the children of impoverished families, investment is needed in educational scholarships, teacher training workshops, school building and improvement of water and electricity access to schools.'
1. Arts in Education
7. Relevant Specialized Education
Arts education can develop crucial skills and values, and foster creativity.
There is a disconnect between skills required in the workplace and the training being provided.
2. Gender Dynamics of Future Jobs
8. Balance of Care and Careers
Industries could benefit from a better gender balance among employees, including among senior leaders.
Innovative care-related policies are bringing more women into the workforce.
3. Education Gender Gaps Women continue to be under-represented among science, technology, engineering, and math graduates.
4. Lifelong Learning Pathways Education typically ends at an early stage of life, to the detriment of labour market productivity.
5. Quality Basic Education More than 260 million young people around the world are not attending school.
6. 21st Century Curricula Learning courses are too infrequently updated, and too often not adapted to the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
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Arts in Education Arts education can develop crucial skills and values, and foster creativity Providing a quality arts education can help students gain skills and attributes that are currently in high demand, such as problem solving, flexibility, persistence, and cooperation. The Arts Council of England published a review in 2014, The Value of Arts and Culture to People and Society, which noted that participation in the arts can reduce social exclusion and strengthen communities, as high school students who engage in the arts at school are twice as likely to volunteer in their communities as those who do not, and are 20% more likely to vote as young adults. According to a report commissioned by the Wallace Foundation, The Qualities of Quality, a quality arts education can strengthen one’s capacity to think creatively and to make connections and one’s ability to apply creative thinking can in turn positively impact society. Many benefits of arts education are not easily quantifiable through data sets, however. Funding for arts education around the world has suffered drastic cuts in recent years, and it is often only included as a supplement to other subjects. The so-called STEM to STEAM movement, founded by the Rhode Island School of Design, aims to expand traditional STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) to include “A”rt and Design, in order to enhance innovation. A digital mapping tool that illustrates “STEAM” activity around the world, in order to help advocates of the movement connect, was published in 2014.
Related insight areas: Civic Participation, Future of Economic Progress, Entrepreneurship, Workforce and Employment, Education and Skills, Innovation, Social Innovation
Adopting creative thinking in the commercial world can lead to positive results. A survey of CEOs published by the consultancy PwC in 2017 showed that 77% found it difficult to find the creativity and innovation skills they need; and, while STEM skills were seen as important, according to the survey, demand for them was outstripped by the desire for “soft” skills including creativity. The World Economic Forum’s 2016 Future of Jobs report counted creativity as one of the top three skills workers would require by 2020, and a subsequent Forum report, The Future of Jobs and Skills in the Middle East and North Africa: Preparing the Region for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, flagged a current deficiency of skills in the region including creativity and independent thinking. Creative risk-taking and experimentation can aid confidence; increasing students’ capacity for creative thinking is essential to prepare them to take on careers that do not yet exist, and to tackle problems not yet identified. This key issue was curated in partnership with Elizabeth Eder, Head of Education at the Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, and Carol Wilson, Lunder Education Chair at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
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Many of Puerto Rico's cultural resources were devastated in Hurricanes Irma and Maria. The authors discuss their importance, the damage they endured immediately after the storms, and detail recovery actions in Puerto Rico's recovery plan. The Atlantic
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22 September 2020 In this note, I discuss a new approach to how national administrative education data—records of school census, public exams, school inspection, teacher payroll, and other operational matters, collected on routine basis—are integrated, shared, and used to generate knowledge.
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A “Rosetta Stone” for Comparing Test Scores Around the World (and Across the Global Income Distribution) 15 September 2020 How much do educational outcomes around the world depend on where you were born? In a new CGD working paper, we propose a very simple strategy to overcome this problem and build a “Rosetta Stone” for test scores. We take a single sample of students and give them questions from each major exam around the world. By grading each child’s responses on the original test scales, we calculate scores on different exams for the same child on the same day.
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Gender Dynamics of Future Jobs Industries could benefit from a better gender balance among employees, including among senior leaders As the Fourth Industrial Revolution takes hold, it will affect female and male workers in distinct ways. Adequately preparing to adapt to related, disruptive changes will include tackling gender gaps - which could in turn unlock new growth opportunities for companies. Household work, for example, could be further automated, and relieve some of the current dual burden for working women. Changes to what have traditionally been men’s roles are also likely to reshape the division of labour at home, and a more holistic approach could be taken to workforce planning. Harnessed in the right way, new, more flexible work patterns and other trends could in theory result in a more gender-balanced workplace. However, there is a real risk that disruptive change impacting business models, and generating a labour market where jobs are being displaced, could actually worsen existing gender inequalities. The World Economic Forum’s 2018 edition of its report The Future of Jobs found that gender parity is one of the top trends driving growth in industries including mining and metals, and oil and gas. The oil and gas industry in particular has suffered from a serious gender imbalance in both its junior and senior ranks. According to a report published by the consultancy BCG in collaboration with the World Petroleum Council in 2017, women represent roughly one fifth of the industry’s workforce, which is a significantly smaller share than any other sector, and women have a very limited presence in both technical roles (often considered prerequisites for career advancement) and in senior management. In 2018, Bloomberg Businessweek published data showing that among 157 publicly-traded oil and gas companies in North America and western Europe, three had female CEOs, and 12 had female CFOs. Other sectors with high gender imbalances include architecture and engineering, and manufacturing and production. The technology industry, which has enjoyed tremendous growth and is often perceived as forward-looking, is also home to significant gender imbalances. According to data published by the World Economic Forum in 2017, both Microsoft and Google had total workforces that were less than one third female, while women held 24% of the leadership roles at Google, and 18% of the leadership roles at Microsoft. Facebook and Twitter, which were founded more recently, also had imbalances; 30% of the leadership roles at Twitter were held by women, and the figure was 27% for Facebook. Related insight areas: Oil and Gas, Artificial Intelligence, Corporate Governance, Fourth Industrial Revolution, Future of Computing, Workforce and Employment, Digital Economy and New Value Creation, Mining and Metals
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London School of Economics and Political Science
Do Your Employees Feel Safe Reporting Abuse and Discrimination?
For academic publishing to be transinclusive, authors must be allowed to retroactively change their names
08 October 2020 The #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements each took the working world by storm, bringing to the forefront issues of workplace sexual assault, sexual and racial harassment, and discrimination. While heightened awareness is making workplace conversations about sexism, racism, and other injustices more common, these interpersonal conversations alone will not remove the systemic challenges keeping inequity in place. One of the alarming symptoms of these challenges is the low rate at which employees report incidents of assault, harassment, and discrimination. Too many people don’t feel safe at work, and, fearing repercussions, aren’t willing or able to speak up about it.
30 September 2020 Many trans researchers change their name to match their gender identity. However, there is currently no clear, simple or standardised way for publications to be updated to reflect this. As a result, many trans authors are caught between losing their publication record and involuntarily being outed. Lilian Hunt explains the existing name change policies and outlines experiences … Continued. Big Think
3 cognitive biases perpetuating racism at work — and how to overcome them 26 September 2020
University of St. Gallen
LGBT+ & career
Books about race and anti-racism have dominated bestseller lists in the past few months, bringing to prominence authors including Ibram Kendi, Ijeoma Oluo, Reni Eddo-Lodge, and Robin DiAngelo. Sales of these books increased by up to 6,800% in the aftermath of global protests against racial injustice, according to Forbes, showing the role such work plays in raising awareness and leading to a cultural reckoning.
07 October 2020 Being able to take into our own hands our own lives and the professional decisions that go with them and to tackle challenges courageously and actively is a key competence for individually satisfied, successful and meaningful career trajectories. An article by Ines Danuser. ReliefWeb
Rocky Mountain Institute
Climate resilient and empowering livelihoods for women
Four Lessons from RBG for the Climate Fight
05 October 2020
24 September 2020
Bangladesh is known globally as one of the most vulnerable country under climate change. The government of Bangladesh, the development and climate change practitioners has been trying to make the development strides resilient. Rather than a techno-fix discourse, climate variability/ change have been evolved as a development issue since last one and half decade. The concept of “Community Based Adaptation” started to shape up into reality from early 2000, that too in Bangladesh, for the first time at global level.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a hero. The obituaries have focused on her legacy as a feminist icon, her singular determination, her deep humanity, and her profound common sense. These traits were exemplified by her famous dissents—equal parts restrained and biting— against... Read More The post Four Lessons from RBG for the Climate Fight appeared first on Rocky Mountain Institute .
VoxEU
Presenteeism at work and gender inequality 04 October 2020 The recent COVID-19 public health crisis has – at least temporarily – changed the organisation of work and the requirement for presenteeism in the workplace. Using data from Sweden, this column argues that such change could help close the gender earnings gap by lowering the wage penalties to unpredictable work absence.
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Education Gender Gaps Women continue to be under-represented among science, technology, engineering, and math graduates The development and deployment of female “human capital” (a way of describing the knowledge, creativity, and other measures of a worker’s value) is a critical element of global economic growth. As successive generations of educated women now enter the workforce, economies can only fully utilize their talent if there is a corresponding narrowing of the economic gender gap, or the nagging difference between women and men when it comes to making an economic impact. Progress made in addressing the education gender gap could set the pace for the erasing this disparity. According to the World Economic Forum’s 2017 Global Gender Gap Report, young women and men entering the labour force around the world have nearly identical educational qualifications, with some regional variation. There is near parity in terms of participating in primary and secondary education, for example, though there is a 7% gap when it comes to participation in tertiary (such as a university or technical training) education. According to the report, on a country-by-country basis, primary education gaps have been closed in 67 countries, secondary education gaps have been closed in 101, and tertiary education gaps have been closed in 93.
Related insight areas: Social Innovation, Youth Perspectives, Workforce and Employment, Human Rights, Behavioural Sciences, Fourth Industrial Revolution, Education and Skills, Values
However, girls comprise a marginally larger proportion of children (under the age of 15) not attending school, according to the report, and a much larger proportion of youth (older than 15) not attending school - 23% of girls, compared with 15% of boys. Among women and men who are over the age of 25 and already in the workforce, the educational gender gap is even bigger: 11% for primary education attainment, 17% for secondary education, and 14% for tertiary. However, gaps have narrowed significantly among those currently enrolled in education, which should be reflected in the composition of the future global workforce. An important point raised in the Forum’s report is that the core, post-secondary disciplines where women continue to remain under-represented are in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM, fields. Just 6% of women study engineering, construction and manufacturing, compared with 19% of men, for example, while 3% of women study information, communication, and technology, compared with 6.5% of men. This discrepancy is commonly attributed to negative stereotypes, a lack of role models, and hostile work environments. It is a key gender parity issue, as STEM-related careers will likely be among the most sought-after as the Fourth Industrial Revolution progresses.
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Latest knowledge LSE Business Review
LSE Business Review
Transgender people suffer discrimination in the job market
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08 October 2020
01 October 2020 Some may take the statement in the title of this post as completely obvious. It was therefore quite surprising to us that no study had previously attempted a rigorous experimental test of whether transgender applicants face discrimination in the hiring process. Previous studies have instead tended to rely on self-report measures where transgender people report experiencing relatively high rates of […].
When black women were asked where they are most likely to experience racism the top answer was work. No company or country can say that they do not have a problem with racism. Organisations must tackle discrimination in the workplace, rooting out systemic racism, and accelerate gender and racial equity. The global outpouring since the terrible murder of George Floyd […].
SpringerOpen
An explorative approach to the crosssection of international migration and sexual preference: same-sex couples in Germany
Brookings
Saudi Arabia’s current state of affairs 28 September 2020 The United States is in a fundamentally different and new relationship with Saudi Arabia today than anything it has seen in the last 75 years. Saudi Arabia as embarked on a series of foreign policies which are reckless and inimical to America's vital interests in the Middle East and the world.
06 October 2020 We study the intersection of international migration and sexual preference from a socio-demographic perspective by looking at same-sex couples among migrants in Germany. Despite increasing ethnic diversity and...
London School of Economics and Political Science
VoxEU
The education gender gap: From basic literacy to college major
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05 October 2020
25 September 2020
For most of history, women have been undereducated relative to men. While the gender gap in education has closed – and even reversed – in recent times, sharp differences still exist across levels of education and countries. Even where women have outpaced men in educational attainment, gender gaps in employment, entrepreneurship and politics persist. Women are visibly underrepresented in STEM and economics – fields typically lead to higher employability and wages. This column reviews the historical roots of the gender gap, which, despite changing conditions and incentives, continue to exert an influence through labour markets, family formation dynamics, and cultural factors.
Sparsha Saha and Ana Weeks show that while ambitious women are not penalised by voters overall, the aggregate results hide differences in taste for ambitious women across parties. Observer Research Foundation
Harnessing the Demographic Dividend | CNED Development Dialogues 23 September 2020 The sixth episode of CNED Development Dialogues explores the development challenges behind harnessing the potential of the youth. It also reviews the impact of entrepreneurship and skill-development initiatives in the BIMSTEC region, particularly with respect to Bangladesh. The conversation is between Aditi Ratho and Mr. Taufiq Zaman, Founder and CEO of Casper Foundation, Bangladesh.
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Lifelong Learning Pathways Education typically ends at an early stage of life, to the detriment of labour market productivity As career paths are altered by large-scale labour market disruptions, there is an increasing need for lifelong learning at all ages, both inside and outside of schools. Adult training is vital for ensuring that those already in the workforce, and their employers, are able to navigate the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Adaptive re-skilling, or helping employees gain new skills, will be a key way to alleviate unemployment, unequal access to resources, and inactivity. A dynamic training environment has the potential to provide deeply fulfilling careers to workers and to encourage social cohesion, as noted in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s 3rd Global Report on Adult Learning and Education. In nearly every industry, technological and socio-economic changes are limiting the adequacy of employee skill sets. To best facilitate this, education systems need mechanisms to motivate individual engagement with active learning. While nearly 84% of the world’s talent under the age of 25 is being optimized through education, that figure falls to 45% for those over 25, as calculated by the World Economic Forum’s 2017 Global Human Capital Report. Developing countries have made great progress in expanding human capital investment in education for younger generations. However, education systems around the world continue to emphasize the front-loading of learning during an early stage of life, leaving older generations with educational attainment only as a memory from their youth. Skills decline when they are not used, as noted in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Survey of Adult Skills. Understanding the typical lifecycle is key for mapping the points where people will likely have a need to refresh their skills, whether for re-entering the workforce after caring for a family member, or after having taken a career break after an illness. Fostering lifelong learning requires a focus on certification, and qualifications. Related systems should provide a range of appropriate credentials, the possibility to take short- and long-term options to re-train, and opportunities to explore adjacent, in-demand skills. A truly relevant education system cannot be delivered by the public sector or private sector alone; working together, governments, educators and the private sector should be able to develop the infrastructure required to enable learning and training opportunities for workers at all stages of their careers. Related insight areas: Workforce and Employment, Gender Parity, Social Innovation, Behavioural Sciences, Fourth Industrial Revolution, Ageing, Innovation, Future of Economic Progress
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Harvard Kennedy School - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Researchers are expected to share their research beyond academia but they need support from universities to do so
The Next Administration Must Get Science and Technology Policy Right 22 September 2020 John P. Holdren and coauthors argue that the next presidential administration must renew its commitment to investing in science and technology regardless of who wins in November. The United States is facing a great host of challenges that underscore the urgent need for renewed investment in the science and technology enterprise and the rapid application of new scientific knowledge and advanced technology to solve complex problems.
07 October 2020 Sharing research beyond academia is not only rewarding and enriching, but increasingly can help achieve funding. However, early career researchers lack the time, skills and media savvy to do so. Margaret Merga and Shannon Mason outline the experiences of early career researchers in Australia and Japan. World Economic Forum
London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
How COVID-19 deepens the digital education divide in India
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05 October 2020
21 September 2020
Lengthy school closures and a rapid transition to elearning have highlighted long-standing issues of education inequality and a digital educational divide.
The lives of children in Europe are becoming digital by default. Information and communication technologies are valued for the opportunities they afford to young generations for participation, skill development, learning and future employability. But how are children and young people engaging with digital technologies? What are the impacts of digital technologies on children’s and young people’s health, lifestyles, well-being, safety and security? #LSEMedia #COREH2020 http://www.lse.ac.uk/Events Speakers: Professor Leen d’Haenens Professor Uwe Hasebrink Professor Halla Bjørk Holmarsdottir Dr Marco Hubert June Lowery-Kingston Chair: Professor Sonia Livingstone .
LSE Business Review
There’s no such thing as mental retirement: older workers willingly engage in learning 05 October 2020 Prejudices about unproductive older workers are widespread. They are said to be slower, to be overwhelmed by modern information and communication technology (ICT), and to be sick more often. Based on these beliefs, it appears that employers discriminate against older individuals, which hurts their employment prospects.
African Center for Economic Transformation
Getting Schools and Skills Right 20 September 2020
UNRISD
Higher Education Expansion and Social Inequalities in Sub-Saharan Africa: Conceptual and Empirical Perspectives
Economic transformation depends on a workforce equipped with the right knowledge and skills to meet current—and future—labor market demands. How can African countries get their education systems on the right track?.
05 October 2020 The development of higher education (HE) in sub-Saharan Africa has presented contradictory features and outcomes over the past two decades. On the one hand, the number of public and private HE institutions has increased in the present era of massification (where HE environments have reached almost universal access). This led to a diversification of academic programmes on offer, and enrolments surged to the point that sub-Saharan Africa experienced the fastest growth of all UNESCO world regions over the period.
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Quality Basic Education More than 260 million young people around the world are not attending school Around the world, educational provision remains uneven. Most countries are able to provide adequate primary education, but many struggle with increasing its quality. In addition, many places struggle to provide appropriate secondary (high school or its equivalent) education. The quality and breadth of educational provision are particularly concerning in sub-Saharan Africa, and deeply uneven in the Middle East, North Africa, and in parts of Southeast Asia, according to the World Economic Forum’s 2017 Global Human Capital Report. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) found in a 2016 report that more than 263 million children and young people between the ages of six and 17 are not attending school worldwide. Meanwhile inequality in education is increasing, particularly among the poorest and most disadvantaged. While nearly two-thirds of all countries have attained gender parity in primary education, girls are still less likely than boys to start secondary education. Basic education should provide a broad foundation for future learning and re-skilling. Unequal access to education leads to unequal access to opportunity and can permanently hinder students’ potential to learn new skills in the future. As well as providing access to education, concerted efforts will be needed to improve the quality of basic education worldwide. This can be addressed in part by introducing clear, recognized global standards that benchmark measurable learning outcomes. The cost of providing basic education is a persistent barrier that contributes to unequal provision. According to UNESCO’s final review of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals in 2015, an additional $22 billion in funding is needed - every year - in order to meet basic education targets for 2030. This gap demonstrates that there is an acute need for new financing models, particularly in developing countries. Technological innovation could be one possible way to address the issue. Related insight areas: Private Investors, Human Rights, Sustainable Development, Public Finance and Social Protection, Systemic Racism, Workforce and Employment, Civic Participation, Social Innovation, Ageing, Gender Parity
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London School of Economics and Political Science
The Music Industry’s Best-Kept Secret? A Gender Creativity Gap
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06 October 2020 Female solo artists are more likely to put out more creative songs than their male counterparts. The key question is why. Gender inequality and representation in the industry may hold the answer.
21 September 2020 COVID-19 has led to an upheaval in almost all aspects of life, including the role of the social sciences in public health and pandemic responses. Whereas in the past, the social sciences have often played the role of cultural brokers, this upheaval offers an opportunity to explore a ‘new normal’, characterised by social scientists taking an engaged role in understanding, planning and responding to pandemic events. Dr. Myles Leslie, Dr. Raad Fadaak and Ms. Nicole Pinto discuss their role as ‘alongsiders’ in the response to the pandemic in Alberta, Canada and how the effectiveness of their response has lessons for the role of the social sciences going forward.
Bruegel
L’IA a besoin d’humains qualifiés 05 October 2020 L'adoption des technologies IA repose moins sur des scientifiques de haut niveau que sur des spécialistes des données et des programmeurs compétents qui peuvent mettre en pratique les algorithmes d'apprentissage profond existants à des fins commerciales.
SpringerOpen RAND Corporation
Trends in fertility and fertility preferences in sub-Saharan Africa: the roles of education and family planning programs
Federal Civilian Workforce Hiring, Recruitment, and Related Compensation Practices for the Twenty-First Century
21 September 2020
28 September 2020 A common explanation for the high fertility prevailing in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is a widespread desire for large families. This situation poses a challenge to population policy-makers in the continent. If t...
The federal government is working to enable simple and strategic hiring practices. Toward this end, the authors identified best practices for recruiting, hiring, and compensation in federal demonstration projects and alternative personnel systems.
London School of Economics and Political Science
Book Review: Decolonizing Ethnography: Undocumented Immigrants and New Directions in Social Science by Carolina Alonso Bejarano, Lucía López Juárez, Mirian A. Mijangos García and Daniel M. Goldstein
VoxEU
The shecession (she-recession) of 2020: Causes and consequences 22 September 2020 Unlike any other modern recession, the downturn triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic has created larger employment losses for women than for men. Based on data from all US recessions since 1949, this column shows that the 2020 recession deviates most sharply from the historical norm in its disparate gender impact. The fact that job losses are much higher for women not only matters for gender equality, but will also reduce families’ ability to offset income losses, producing a deeper and more persistent recession.
20 September 2020 In Decolonizing Ethnography: Undocumented Immigrants and New Directions in Social Science, Carolina Alonso Bejarano, Lucía López Juárez, Mirian A. Mijangos García and Daniel M. Goldstein present collaborative research on the rights of undocumented migrants in New Jersey, USA, utilising an alternative approach to ethnography that seeks to position it as a powerful tool of self-empowerment, public advocacy and personal transformation.
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21st Century Curricula Learning courses are too infrequently updated, and too often not adapted to the Fourth Industrial Revolution Educational curricula that impart the knowledge and skills that are actually relevant to the modern workplace, help build early learner identities, develop local and global citizenship values, and nourish core non-cognitive skills are essential. Education creates the base for future re-skilling and self-actualization, and for civic identity. As noted in the World Economic Forum’s 2017 white paper Realizing Human Potential in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, educational curricula cannot remain fixed, as career paths change faster, and are less linear, than ever before. There is wideranging consensus that no single skill set or area of expertise is likely to be able to sustain a long-term career in the economies of the future. Educational institutions need to provide both in-depth subject knowledge, and an ability to make inter-disciplinary connections. The Forum’s 2016 report The Future of Jobs noted that the core skills of the 21st century - such as complex problem solving, critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and digital literacy - are important for enabling people to be flexible enough to adapt to the changing needs of the job market. These skills are ideally developed early, in basic education, and then refined at colleges and universities as well as during lifelong learning. Future-ready curricula must deliver a strong base of foundational linguistic, mathematical, and technological skills. However, shifting demand for skills across industries will require that curricula be updated and adapted on a regular basis, as they are informed by the evolution of labour markets. Upgrades to curricula should be built into the system incrementally, thereby avoiding the excessive disruption and implementation time-lag associated with major, infrequent overhauls. In order to ensure that education remains job-relevant, it is critical that more emphasis is placed on collating insights from government, businesses, and civil society in the curriculum design process. Related insight areas: Fourth Industrial Revolution, Future of Computing, Behavioural Sciences, Innovation, Civic Participation, Values
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Latest knowledge London School of Economics and Political Science
London School of Economics and Political Science
Three lessons COVID-19 has taught us about Open Access publishing
Are preprints a problem? 5 ways to improve the quality and credibility of preprints
06 October 2020
23 September 2020 COVID-19 has seen an unprecedented focus on research and an acceleration in the availability of its outputs. But this open approach should n’t be an exception. Robert Kiley, Head of Open Research at Wellcome, outlines three lessons for the pandemic for open research and why we need to move to a world where all research is available to all. .
Preprints are research reports have that have not yet been peer reviewed and accepted for publication. They have increased rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, high profile discredited studies have led to concerns that speed has been prioritized over the quality and credibility of evidence. Joeri Tijdink, Mario Malicki , Lex Bouter and Gowri Gopalakrishna argue that all stakeholders of the science system have a responsibility in improving the quality and credibility of pre-prints. They outline 5 steps by which this can be achieved.
Brookings
Ten ways to make life better for the middle class 29 September 2020
World Economic Forum
Why skills - not degrees - will shape the future of work
The presidential debates are upon us: President Trump and former Vice President Biden face-off for the first time on September 29. The stakes are high. This year has been wrought with tragedy and hardship for many Americans, and the brokenness of our society is more visible than ever. Not only has COVID-19 affected the country’s health, but it has also hit the labor market hard, leaving many Americans out of work and struggling to balance their finances, child care, and mental well-being. .
21 September 2020 The world of work is changing fast, and skills are becoming more prized than qualifications. How well companies adapt could define their future success. World Economic Forum
The unexpected benefits of virtual education
London School of Economics and Political Science
21 September 2020
COVID-19 has profoundly changed the way we conduct and share research. Let’s not return to business as usual when the pandemic is over!
Collaborating online will prepare students with the organizational acumen, emotional intelligence and selfdiscipline needed for modern careers. Asian Development Bank
24 September 2020
Singapore's Long-Term Care System: Adapting to Population Aging
COVID-19 has led to rapid and open sharing of research outputs. But will this new, radically open research communications paradigm result in permanent change? .
17 September 2020 The pacific Singapore, a multiethnic country with one of the highest median incomes in the world, is undergoing a demographic shift. Twenty- five percent of the population is predicted to be aged 65 and older by 2030, SINGAPORE’S LONG-TERM CARE SYSTEM ADAPTING TO POPULATION AGING This demographic shift has profound implications on the country’s health and care needs. In response, Singapore has been moving toward a more holistic view of aging, AGING ASIA AND THE PACIFIC Social Development Thematic Group Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department Asian Development Bank 6 ADB Avenue, Mandaluyong City 1550 Metro Manila, Philippines sdtg@adb.org versus 14.4% in 2019. health, and care, along with policies and systems related to these. Follow us: @ADB_AgingAsia.
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Relevant Specialized Education There is a disconnect between skills required in the workplace and the training being provided Employers are increasingly warning of widening gaps between the skills that are in demand, and those that are available - highlighting the need to foster more technical talent if countries want to remain competitive. There is a considerable skills mismatch between university graduates and the needs of employers in most economies. Without adequate modifications to education and training systems, this gap between supply and demand is projected to grow significantly. To address this, it will be critical to re-align global talent pipelines with market needs. Closing this gap will become more complex, as skills requirements change at an accelerating pace - particularly in fields such as information technology. This will require the collaboration of the public and private sectors. In particular, more needs to be done to better balance the focus of policy-makers, investors, and politicians between academic training, and technical and vocational education and training. There is a need to better understand the linkages between the two, and ways they can be complementary for individuals, businesses and economies (as noted in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s Education Strategy 2014-2021). High quality, timely career advice, and guidance can support the successful transition of young people from their school years to employment, by ensuring that they understand their options based on real labour market data and demand. Proactive career guidance can also help circumvent the gender stereotypes and socio-economic opportunity gaps that often hold young people back from choosing certain occupations. Technical and vocational education and training is underutilized, and often treated with neglect by education systems as a second-best option. Such training and education can be a key driver of economic growth, and can provide the skills required for jobs that will have real staying power in future labour markets. Technical qualifications are best designed through collaboration between employers and industry groups, and particular attention should be paid to fostering their evolution based on sets of agreed-upon standards. Related insight areas: Fourth Industrial Revolution, Innovation, Workforce and Employment, The Great Reset, Ageing, Migration, Gender Parity, Youth Perspectives
16 SDG 04: Quality Education Briefing, October 2020
Latest knowledge Observer Research Foundation
The Conversation
Assessing the level of inclusive education at the school level in India
How universities can ensure students still have a good experience, despite coronavirus
07 October 2020
28 September 2020 Inclusive education for Children with Disabilities (CWDs) in India has been marked by policy incongruities, lack of availability of data and dearth of assessment of achievements and quality, resulting in serious gaps in implementation and untargeted interventions. Although the right to inclusive education for CWDs has been recognised by the Right to Free and Compulsory […].
As UK university students begin an academic year, they are experiencing a totally different way of life. Some have already found themselves in lockdown in their residences and are afraid they will not be getting some of the usual benefits of university education. Universities have a duty of care for students’ health and well-being, and a responsibility to ensure that the students of 2020/21 experience a high quality, engaging and innovative learning experience. It is important to universities that they provide excellent student satisfaction, and they are judged on this by students and the government. So far, it looks very possible that students will rate their experience as less satisfying than usual.
International Labour Organization
Decent work for teachers is essential to build back better after COVID-19 05 October 2020 Center for Global Development
COVID-19 and Girls' Education: What We Know So Far and What We Expect
Institut Montaigne
New Voices in Africa - Covid-19 As a Catalyst for Digital Transformation
02 October 2020
24 September 2020
The potential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on girls’ education are numerous and diverse. It’s too early for us to predict with confidence the impact of the pandemic on dropouts and longer-term outcomes. But research from previous pandemics and initial findings in this one can give us clues.
Indeed, there are still internet connectivity challenges on the continent, with millions unable to connect to the internet. Covid-19 has emphasized the "digital divide", which is the uneven access to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in societies. For example, the DRC’s nationwide measure, which was also adopted by many other countries worldwide, was the closure of schools. However, unlike some parts of the world with sufficient e-learning facilities, Congolese pupils and students have not had alternative means to study. A shift to e-learning was relatively easier to implement in the developed world, with ready access to both the necessary devices, connectivity, and the essential digital skills.
London School of Economics and Political Science
If university campuses close, can everyone learn from home? What happens when the home becomes the classroom in India 29 September 2020 The reorganisation of work lives bought about by the pandemic has also been met with a reorganisation of domestic space as the site where work now takes place. For Higher Education, this means that homes have now become classrooms.
Brookings
Education’s role in building back better for the planet 15 September 2020 The COVID-19 pandemic is a stark reminder that we live in a socio-ecological system in which our human systems are deeply interconnected with our natural systems. Yet our education systems do not educate us to recognize, respect, or nurture this interdependency.
17 SDG 04: Quality Education Briefing, October 2020
Balance of Care and Careers Innovative care-related policies are bringing more women into the workforce In many societies, even as women have entered the labour force, they have also retained primary responsibility for unpaid work such as family care-giving and household chores. In this way, gender gaps in terms of paid work are partly a reflection of gender gaps in unpaid work. In advanced economies, men do just 34% of the unpaid work that women do, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization data show that this imbalance starts early, with girls spending 30% more of their time on unpaid work than boys. On average, women work 50 minutes more per day than men, in terms of both paid and unpaid work combined, according to the data. There is growing interest in better facilitating women’s integration into the workforce. According to a report published by the OECD in 2017, a number of countries have sought to increase fathers’ care-giving workload, such as the Czech Republic and Turkey, which in recent years have introduced statutory, paid paternity leave, while ten OECD member countries have begun offering financial incentives in order to encourage fathers to take parental leave for at least two months; South Korea offers as much as 100% wage replacement for three “daddy months,” according to the report. Other care-related policies have included financial arrangements to facilitate care for elderly relatives, family benefits and other subsidies, career breaks, remote work programs, and flexible and reduced hours - in addition to services like home care for the elderly, and nursery care for small children. Such practices often represent long-term public and private investments, though they have the potential to generate strong social and economic returns. They can also produce sizeable spill-over effects. According to the International Trade Union Confederation’s 2016 report Investing in the Care Economy, if 2% of a country’s GDP were to be invested in its care industry, there would be corresponding increases in overall employment that range from 2.4% to 6.1%, depending on the location. This would equate to nearly 13 million new jobs in the US, 3.5 million new jobs in Japan, nearly 2 million in Germany, 1.5 million in the United Kingdom, and 1 million in Italy. Related insight areas: Values, Role of Religion, Global Health, Behavioural Sciences, Civic Participation, Ageing, Public Finance and Social Protection
18 SDG 04: Quality Education Briefing, October 2020
Latest knowledge London School of Economics and Political Science
LSE Business Review
Why male executives should not be praised for taking paternity leave
A Response: In defence of Kurdish diaspora feminism
25 September 2020
07 October 2020 Recently, I announced that my wife and I are expecting, and that I’ll be taking the full 12 weeks of paternity leave offered by my company, G2.com. I wasn’t prepared for the kinds of responses that would come rushing in. Through social media, emails, texts, and phone calls, I’ve been getting much more than congratulations. I’ve been praised, and even […].
Aven Aziz, Houzan Mahmoud, Rega Rauf and Shara Taher respond to the recent blog “Blaming the Feminists: Attempts to Debilitate a Movement”, in a call to highlight the importance of diaspora activism and to situate some historical and current work of diaspora feminists and the many achievements by academics and grassroots activists who have brought Kurdistan and its diaspora closer to gender equality.
London School of Economics and Political Science
Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death casts a shadow on the 2020 election—but nowhere more than on the Supreme Court itself
London School of Economics and Political Science
Book Review: Data Feminism by Catherine D’Ignazio and Lauren F. Klein 04 October 2020
23 September 2020
This review originally appeared on LSE Review of Books. If you would like to contribute to the series, please contact the managing editor of LSE Review of Books, Dr Rosemary Deller, at lsereviewofbooks@lse.ac.uk In Data Feminism, Catherine D’Ignazio and Lauren F. Klein use an intersectional feminist lens to examine unequal power structures in the realm of data, and … Continued.
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away last week, with the public narrative quickly shifting away from a remembrance of her legacy to how the political battle over her replacement would affect the presidential election. Lauren C. Bell reflects on the important legacy of an ‘unlikely icon’, and how Ginsburg’s death has placed the US Supreme Court at the […].
World Economic Forum
Why improving women's lives is the key to healthy ageing 01 October 2020 Older women are more exposed to social isolation and economic exclusion – but this can be changed earlier in their lives. Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania - Knowledge@Wharton
How the Pandemic Is Affecting Working Mothers 29 September 2020 A high number of working mothers are leaving their jobs during the pandemic, which is exacerbating gender inequality. Solving the problem starts with better policies to support them, Wharton’s Janice Bellace says. South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA)
Skills transfer and women in Africa’s green transition 27 September 2020 Women remain under-represented in energy value chains, and this is true also for the Africa region.
19 SDG 04: Quality Education Briefing, October 2020
References 1. Arts in Education
4. Lifelong Learning Pathways
Cultural and Historical Resources Recovery Planning in Puerto Rico, RAND Corporation, www.rand.org Representation, Activism, and Voting with Billy Porter, The Atlantic, www.youtube.com Why we need international cooperation now more than ever, World Economic Forum, www.weforum.org Governors' Seminar: Developing Asia beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic, Asian Development Bank (ADB), www.youtube.com A “Rosetta Stone” for Comparing Test Scores Around the World (and Across the Global Income Distribution), Center for Global Development, www.cgdev.org Wellness in worrying times, Asian Development Bank, blogs.adb.org
Researchers are expected to share their research beyond academia but they need support from universities to do so, London School of Economics and Political Science, blogs.lse.ac.uk How COVID-19 deepens the digital education divide in India, World Economic Forum, www.weforum.org There’s no such thing as mental retirement: older workers willingly engage in learning, LSE Business Review, blogs.lse.ac.uk Higher Education Expansion and Social Inequalities in Sub-Saharan Africa: Conceptual and Empirical Perspectives, UNRISD, www.unrisd.org The Next Administration Must Get Science and Technology Policy Right, Harvard Kennedy School - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, www.belfercenter.org Digital Technologies in the Lives of Children and Young people, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), www.youtube.com Getting Schools and Skills Right, African Center for Economic Transformation, acetforafrica.org
Link It, Open It, Use It: Changing How Education Data Are Used to Generate Ideas, Center for Global Development, www.cgdev.org
2. Gender Dynamics of Future Jobs
5. Quality Basic Education
Do Your Employees Feel Safe Reporting Abuse and Discrimination?, Harvard Business Review, hbr.org LGBT+ & career, University of St. Gallen, www.unisg.ch
The Music Industry’s Best-Kept Secret? A Gender Creativity Gap, INSEAD Knowledge, knowledge.insead.edu L’IA a besoin d’humains qualifiés, Bruegel, www.bruegel.org
Climate resilient and empowering livelihoods for women , ReliefWeb, reliefweb.int Presenteeism at work and gender inequality, VoxEU, voxeu.org
Federal Civilian Workforce Hiring, Recruitment, and Related Compensation Practices for the Twenty-First Century, RAND Corporation, www.rand.org The shecession (she-recession) of 2020: Causes and consequences, VoxEU, voxeu.org A ‘New Normal’ for the Social Sciences: Improving Pandemic Preparedness and Response, London School of Economics and Political Science, blogs.lse.ac.uk Trends in fertility and fertility preferences in sub-Saharan Africa: the roles of education and family planning programs, SpringerOpen, genus.springeropen.com Book Review: Decolonizing Ethnography: Undocumented Immigrants and New Directions in Social Science by Carolina Alonso Bejarano, Lucía López Juárez, Mirian A. Mijangos García and Daniel M. Goldstein, London School of Economics and Political Science, blogs.lse.ac.uk
For academic publishing to be trans-inclusive, authors must be allowed to retroactively change their names, London School of Economics and Political Science, blogs.lse.ac.uk 3 cognitive biases perpetuating racism at work — and how to overcome them, Big Think, www.weforum.org Four Lessons from RBG for the Climate Fight, Rocky Mountain Institute, rmi.org
3. Education Gender Gaps Transgender people suffer discrimination in the job market, LSE Business Review, blogs.lse.ac.uk An explorative approach to the cross-section of international migration and sexual preference: same-sex couples in Germany, SpringerOpen, genus.springeropen.com The education gender gap: From basic literacy to college major, VoxEU, voxeu.org How firms can encourage courageous conversations about racism in the workplace, LSE Business Review, blogs.lse.ac.uk Saudi Arabia’s current state of affairs, Brookings, www.brookings.edu
Acknowledgements Cover and selected images throughout supplied by Reuters. Some URLs have been shortened for readability. Please follow the URL given to visit the source of the article. A full URL can be provided on request.
Shifting norms on gender and leadership: are ambitious women punished in politics?, London School of Economics and Political Science, blogs.lse.ac.uk Harnessing the Demographic Dividend | CNED Development Dialogues, Observer Research Foundation, www.youtube.com
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21 SDG 04: Quality Education Briefing, October 2020
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