The W-shaped model of professional competencies for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and its relevance to honors programs

As the world is undergoing the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), the fusing of physical, digital, and biological worlds with the new technologies, we experience a profound impact of this revolution on the labor markets and subsequent career planning of students. The new economic reality created by...

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Main Authors: Beata Jones, Albert Pilot, Pierre van Eijl, Josephine Lappia
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Hanze UAS 2020-09-01
Series:Journal of the European Honors Council
Subjects:
Online Access:https://jehc.eu/index.php/jehc/article/view/123
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author Beata Jones
Albert Pilot
Pierre van Eijl
Josephine Lappia
author_facet Beata Jones
Albert Pilot
Pierre van Eijl
Josephine Lappia
author_sort Beata Jones
collection DOAJ
description As the world is undergoing the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), the fusing of physical, digital, and biological worlds with the new technologies, we experience a profound impact of this revolution on the labor markets and subsequent career planning of students. The new economic reality created by 4IR calls for immediate action in the world of higher education. The purpose of this paper is to advocate for new key competencies that university students will need to thrive in the new economy. These competencies include human literacy, digital fluency, hyper-learning, and systems and design thinking. Together, they are presented as the ‘W- shaped 4IR Competency Model’. This model combines previously published opinions about the topic from various educational futurists who have tackled the issue. This paper includes a call to action for universities to address the skills gap challenge of college graduates and rethink their value propositions. As honors programs are the breeding ground for innovation, universities might consider starting to test the robot-proof, twenty-first-century curricula with the smaller honors cohorts and then consider the curricular transfer to the mainstream educational programs. We urge honors educators and administrators around the world to adopt curricula that will make their graduates ‘robot-proof’ and able to thrive in the new economy for decades to come.
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spelling doaj.art-405e15956b5d408fb37771a4df44b46a2022-12-22T03:08:22ZengHanze UASJournal of the European Honors Council2543-23112543-232X2020-09-014110.31378/jehc.123The W-shaped model of professional competencies for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and its relevance to honors programsBeata Jones0Albert Pilot1Pierre van Eijl 2Josephine Lappia3Texas Christian University, USAUtrecht University, the NetherlandsUtrecht University, the NetherlandsBreda University of Applied Sciences, the NetherlandsAs the world is undergoing the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), the fusing of physical, digital, and biological worlds with the new technologies, we experience a profound impact of this revolution on the labor markets and subsequent career planning of students. The new economic reality created by 4IR calls for immediate action in the world of higher education. The purpose of this paper is to advocate for new key competencies that university students will need to thrive in the new economy. These competencies include human literacy, digital fluency, hyper-learning, and systems and design thinking. Together, they are presented as the ‘W- shaped 4IR Competency Model’. This model combines previously published opinions about the topic from various educational futurists who have tackled the issue. This paper includes a call to action for universities to address the skills gap challenge of college graduates and rethink their value propositions. As honors programs are the breeding ground for innovation, universities might consider starting to test the robot-proof, twenty-first-century curricula with the smaller honors cohorts and then consider the curricular transfer to the mainstream educational programs. We urge honors educators and administrators around the world to adopt curricula that will make their graduates ‘robot-proof’ and able to thrive in the new economy for decades to come.https://jehc.eu/index.php/jehc/article/view/123Honors competenciesHonors skillsFourth Industrial Revolution4IRdigital skills
spellingShingle Beata Jones
Albert Pilot
Pierre van Eijl
Josephine Lappia
The W-shaped model of professional competencies for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and its relevance to honors programs
Journal of the European Honors Council
Honors competencies
Honors skills
Fourth Industrial Revolution
4IR
digital skills
title The W-shaped model of professional competencies for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and its relevance to honors programs
title_full The W-shaped model of professional competencies for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and its relevance to honors programs
title_fullStr The W-shaped model of professional competencies for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and its relevance to honors programs
title_full_unstemmed The W-shaped model of professional competencies for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and its relevance to honors programs
title_short The W-shaped model of professional competencies for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and its relevance to honors programs
title_sort w shaped model of professional competencies for the fourth industrial revolution and its relevance to honors programs
topic Honors competencies
Honors skills
Fourth Industrial Revolution
4IR
digital skills
url https://jehc.eu/index.php/jehc/article/view/123
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