Beyond Future Skills in Higher Education: A New Theory of Change

Abstract

AbstractThe role of higher education in equipping students for future paths that are being shaped by major global challenges and yet which remain unpredictable is an area of ongoing concern. This chapter proposes a new theory of change that supports efforts to identify the skills needed by future generations that higher education can provide. It extends the conceptualization to focus on how, through higher education, these skills could shape and refine people and societies. The theory of change is based on the findings of a survey conducted by the UNESCO International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNESCO IESALC) during 2021, which was completed by almost 1,200 respondents in nearly 100 countries. This theory of change identifies the main skills that will be needed in the future, the accelerators that will facilitate the adoption of these skills, and the ways in which these skills and accelerators might lead to transformation at individual, institutional, and societal levels.