Gates warns of looming skills gap
Universities and employers must do more to ensure the number of Americans with a degree meets future demand, according to Bill Gates.
In a blog post, Gates writes that by 2025, two-thirds of US jobs will require post-secondary education. If the proportion of graduates does not increase, this could potentially mean a shortfall of 11 million qualified workers.
Gates, who himself dropped out of Harvard to found Microsoft, argues that while university enrolment is increasing, too few students complete their degrees. Currently over 36 million Americans have left college without a degree, around a fifth of the working-age population.
The dropout rate is especially bad among students from low-income backgrounds, suggesting that financial pressures may be a factor. Gates writes that part of the solution may be found in the growth in online courses, although warns that these should not be seen as a “magic bullet”.
Douglas Webber of Temple University has written for IZA World of Labor about the potential for higher earnings offered by higher education. He argues that, while going to college is the most reliable route to financial stability for most people, “the benefits of a four-year degree may not outweigh the costs for everyone”. He recommends that students be given clearer information about the likely returns of their chosen degree.
Read Bill Gates’s blog post here.
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