Skills for Growth An Introduction Nils Karlson, Associate Professor CEO The RATIO Institute
An age of fantastic opportunities Human capital more important than perhaps ever before … Global, interconnected economy … Learning opportunities increasingly available at any time in any place … to anyone … in new ways … Skills for growth decisive to create competitive advantages to individuals, businesses, regions and nations ….
A Major Research Project Funded by Swedish Innovation Agency (Vinnova), The Knowledge foundation, major private organizations etc.
Steering Committee Johan Blom, Myndigheten för yrkeshögskolan Charlotte Brogren, GD Vinnova Anna Ekström, GD Skolverket Cecilia Fahlberg, Förbundsordförande Unionen Anders Ferbe, Förbundsordförande IF Metall Lars Haikola, GD Universitetskanslersämbetet Peter Jeppsson, VD Transportgruppen Tobias Krantz, Svenskt Näringsliv Jonas Milton, VD Almega Clas Olsson, tf GD Arbetsförmedlingen Madelene Sandström, VD KK-stiftelsen Håkan Sörman, VD SKL Åke Svensson, VD Teknikföretagen Nils Karlson, VD Ratio
The Problem Major skills shortages in all private sectors, over the entire business cycle High unemployment, especially among the young, and high welfare dependency Despite massive investments in education over the last 25 years Something must be fundamentally wrong
Overeducated, but underskilled? or Miseducated and underskilled? or Both?
Swedish PISA results Source: Skolverket
Entrants into higher education percent
Average Graduation Age in Higher Education, OECD-countries Source: OECD
Overeducated Matched Undereducated Labor Market Matching , among employees Source: Le Grand, Szulkin, Tibajev & Tåhlin 2013
Correlation higher education – gross regional product Source: Eklund, Karlsson, Pettersson 2013
Conclusions Major problems with quality, efficiency and relevance in the educational systems Clear tendencies towards over-education and mis-education Inefficient learning environments and lack of practical skills Huge opportunities not used ….
Rethinking Education Culture, norms, institutions!