The 21st-century has marked the evolution of the global economy from the industrial age to the knowledge age accompanied by a shift from an emphasis on physical labour, production and manufacturing to services and expertise through data and information. This change has resulted in the need for new skills for learners to function, contribute and succeed in the new economic order. The 21st-century has also seen us moving towards a more globalized world, requiring not just hard skills but also a broader range of non-cognitive or soft skills that are critical for a competitive edge in today’s day and age.
Creative thinking, abstract problem solving, analytical and critical thinking, communication and collaborative skills are vital for a learner to be active, engaged, and productive members of the 21st-century globalized knowledge age. This brings us to the left brain and right brain functions, the study of which won Roger W. Sperry the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine in 1981. It revealed the left brain to be specialized for language and logic with the right brain used for perception, emotion and nonverbal functions. One could thus say that the 21st century skills require a learner to utilize both left and right brains to ensure adeptness in both hard and soft skills.
The hard skills include fact-based knowledge based on STEM and other subjects with the ability to master processes such as programming and calculations. Many of these skills are being taken over by machines that are getting smarter by the day. To develop the intellectual capital for the 21st century and ensure progress in the digital economy, workers must refresh and expand their skill sets. There is a need to prepare for jobs and emerging technologies that are yet to develop and reach maturity. Learners need to be prepared for problems that do not yet exist.
At the same time, one cannot ignore the soft skills required for success in the future workplace. These include intangible qualities around emotional intelligence such as adaptability and empathy with conflict resolution skills, resilience, and persistence with people skills. Learners should have the ability to gauge and understand the evidence to analyse and put it in a global context. The global economy has resulted in the 21st century witnessing increased mobility and migration of talent.
Combined with the ever-present risk of geopolitical uncertainty and the impact of climate change and sustainability challenges faced by society, it requires learners to not only have future-ready hard skills but also possess socio-emotional skills such as a sense of global citizenship, environmental awareness and personal and social responsibility to be able to participate in and contribute to the future society. Of course, these are tough-to-teach but it is these skills that will add value to a learner in the future.
It is also important to understand that parallel to the increase in work taken over by machines, work that requires the human aspect will increase in value. An example is how while demand for skills in UX and UI Design is on the rise, there is a need to be prepared for the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) on UX and UI Design jobs. Today AI and ML help designers save time and effort by assisting them in completing mundane and repetitive tasks and creating personalized user experiences. As AI develops and becomes efficient, it will alter the roles of designers in the future. They will need to have the skills to interact with these ‘smart’ systems with a thorough understanding of the algorithms that allow these systems to make tactical decisions while adding value through the innovative and creative-thinking ability that only a human brain can bring to the table.
This highlights the importance for learners to focus on future skills that computers won’t be able to readily do such as complex problem solving, reasoning and communication. It is here that we must harness the power of the internet to create innovative, faster and more agile training systems not just to learn but also to practise these skills by connecting and engaging with peers across geographies. The acquisition of skills will require continuous renewal and it would not be wrong to say that the most important 21st century skill will be the skill to continue to learn!
