A paradigm shift to prepare professionals for the demands of the industry is urgent
Higher education institutions in Mexico must promote a paradigm shift in order to prepare new generations, face the new talent demands of all industries, adapt to new technological advances, and take advantage of phenomena such as nearshoring.
Digital skills are becoming relevant for all jobs in all industry sectors. What are the skills required for various career fields? This is a very important question in designing educational offerings,” opined Michael JL Fung, Executive Director of the Institute of Education at Tecnológico de Monterrey.
Within the framework of the IFE Conference 2024 Education in the Era of Artificial Intelligence, he pointed out that Mexico has a wide range of challenges in the field of higher education that must be overcome to empower people with a better quality of life.
Juan Pablo Murra, Rector of Professional and Postgraduate Studies at Tecnológico de Monterrey, explained that the sector has historical challenges related to access, equity, quality and continuous learning.
For example, higher education coverage in Mexico is about 44%, the lowest among OECD countries and compared to other countries in the region.
There are targets to achieve 50%, but due to the epidemic we have not made any progress and in some states we have gone backwards,” highlights Murra.
Although more women are entering universities on average, there are still some places in the country where barriers remain for them and other vulnerable populations such as indigenous communities or people with disabilities.
There is also a challenge in the quality of higher education, as there are young people without quality jobs, while companies are not finding the talent they need.
What is required?
Both experts felt that a systematic intervention is needed, namely, working with private sector universities to design educational pathways that truly prepare students for the jobs of the future.
For example, the Institute for the Future of Education has a program called Skills Engine, which is responsible for analyzing the labor needs of industrial sectors, identifying what skills workers need and communicating them to the 10 universities they partner with. Thus new educational curricula will be developed.
Another program is Shaping Skills, which does the same as the previous one, but focuses on the education, automotive and health sectors.
Fung also felt that because of Mexico's proximity to the United States, mastery of the English language would be important.
“If this competition develops among more people, it will be very helpful to consolidate businesses here and do business across the border,” he added.
On the other hand, Murra opined that there are regulatory opportunities and financial allocations from the central and state governments, not forgetting that people need to invest in their education.
Who is responsible for funding learning? Undoubtedly, it is a public good and it is the responsibility of the government, but the individual who will benefit must find ways and means to finance that investment,” he emphasized.
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