The Good Jobs of Tomorrow and the Students of Today

What do students need for their futures? This question is often at the core of strategic planning. Everyone in the education sector is in the business of preparing students for something that comes next. Preschool prepares students for kindergarten which prepares them for the elementary years which prepares them for secondary school which sets the stage for university and post-graduate work. Graduate and professional schools are in the business of preparing students to enter a profession.  

In this light, no institution can ignore the reality that all of its students go on to something else. Preparation for that "something else" must be part of your school's value proposition. 

Two recent pieces seem especially relevant to the topic of students' futures. To start, a new Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy report on the jobs of the future is out with a clear message: the long-term trends we are seeing will continue, especially in terms of job displacement and workers needing more and more education to remain viable. 

https://cew.georgetown.edu/cew-reports/goodjobsprojections2031/ 

Relatedly, this piece in Business Insider describes a looming jobs extinction portended by artificial intelligence. https://cew.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/cew-the_future_of_good_jobs-fr.pdf 

Both pieces are must-reads for leaders strategizing for the future of their schools and universities.  

This is an opportunity for those marketing the school to shift away from a classic emphasis on how we educate to one that finds the intersection between the future of good jobs and how your school prepares students to thrive. Frame your messaging around this outcome.