Bank tellers, cashiers, postal workers, and the jobs of administrative assistants are among those forecast to decline by 2030, according to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report, which was released ahead of the group’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, later this month. In all, the World Economic Forum (WEF) estimates “new job creation and job displacement” will amount to 22% of today’s total jobs, and specifically, 170 million jobs will be created, equivalent to 14% of current employment. This growth is expected to be offset by the loss of 92 million jobs, resulting in a net growth of 78 million jobs by 2030.
Friday, January 17, 2025
6 predictions for education and workforce in 2025 - Michael B. Horn, Christensen Institute
Nonetheless, ’tis the season for predictions in the new year. I’ve got a few for 2025 that cross the K–12, higher education, and workforce silos. So, without further adieu, here are six predictions for you. 1. Might 2025 finally be the year of apprenticeships in America? After all, there is bipartisan support for them. But for America to go back to the future and party like it’s the 18th century, more legislation that offers funding for each apprentice hired will likely have to move—Pell grants for apprenticeships, anyone?—so that intermediaries can meaningfully enter the market and derisk things for companies wary of hiring unproven employees. Either way, though, expect apprenticeships to gain steam in the new Trump administration.
https://www.christenseninstitute.org/blog/six-predictions-for-education-and-workforce-in-2025/
Gender balance in computr science and engineering is improving at elite universities but getting worse elsewhere - Joseph Cimpian, the Conversation
The share of computer science and engineering degrees going to women has increased at the most selective American universities over the past 20 years and is approaching gender parity, while the proportion has declined at less selective schools. Those are the main findings of a study my colleague and I recently published in the journal Science. Jo R. King and I analyzed over 34 million bachelor’s degrees awarded by nearly 1,600 American universities from 2002 to 2022 – data covering almost all bachelors-degree-granting institutions in the U.S. We wanted to identify which factors best predict parity among men and women in physics, engineering and computer science majors.
Thursday, January 16, 2025
Academic Freedom and Civil Discourse in Higher Education: A National Study of Faculty Attitudes and Perceptions - AAC&U
The American Association of Colleges and Universities, in partnership with the American Association of University Professors and NORC at the University of Chicago, conducted a national survey of faculty in higher education to understand their perspectives and experiences related to academic freedom. Selected Findings
+More than one in three faculty members perceive a recent decline in their academic freedom.
+Faculty are concerned about restrictions on academic freedom and worry that expressing their views freely may lead to online harassment or professional repercussions.
+Faculty value diverse student perspectives, encourage civil discourse among students, and support free speech in the classroom.
+Faculty see educational value in classroom discussions of controversial topics or issues and do not support censoring course materials.
+In the current climate, faculty themselves are less willing to address controversial topics and more likely to self-censor when it comes to expressing controversial or political views.
+The spread of divisive concepts legislation has produced a chilling effect on academic freedom.
Understanding And Preparing For The 7 Levels Of AI Agents - Douglas B. Laney, Forbes
The following framework I offer for defining, understanding, and preparing for agentic AI blends foundational work in computer science with insights from cognitive psychology and speculative philosophy. Each of the seven levels represents a step-change in technology, capability, and autonomy. The framework expresses increasing opportunities to innovate, thrive, and transform in a data-fueled and AI-driven digital economy.
Online Degrees Out of Reach - Liam Knox, Inside Higher Ed
Fewer than half of students at the largest nonprofit online institutions earn a degree after eight years. Is it an unfortunate reality or a cry for accountability? Demand for remote degree programs has surged in the past decade, and especially since the COVID-19 pandemic normalized the online classroom. But for students in many exclusively online programs, eight-year completion rates often fall below 50 percent, according to data on outcome measures from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System. At Southern New Hampshire University, one of the largest and oldest online institutions in the country, only 36 percent of students who enrolled in 2015 graduated in eight years. At Grand Canyon University, four times as many students attend online as in person—100,000 compared to 25,000 at the Phoenix campus this fall. But only 46 percent of the nearly 26,000 online and in-person students who enrolled in 2015 had earned a degree by 2023, according to IPEDS data.
Wednesday, January 15, 2025
Bridging the Gap: How Higher Education and Employers Can Collaborate to Prepare Futures-Empowered Graduates - Chris Mayer, Futures Empowered
A survey from Intelligent.com found that 6 of 10 companies surveyed fired a recent college graduate they hired this year. Why? The top reasons given for recent college graduates’ lack of success are (in order) a lack of motivation or initiative, lack of professionalism, poor organizational skills, poor communication skills, challenges with feedback, lack of relevant work experience, poor problem-solving skills, insufficient technical skills, bad culture fit, and difficulty working in a team. Other surveys have similar findings. A General Assembly survey found that executives view entry-level employees as not meeting expectations in terms of communicating, collaborating, and adapting. Most of the skills and qualities mentioned above can be described as human skills (or durable skills) and habits or qualities related to professionalism, but it is important to recognize that technical skills are also important.
OpenAI is turning its attention to ‘superintelligence’ - Kyle Wiggers, TechCrunch
AGI, or artificial general intelligence, is a nebulous term, but OpenAI has its own definition: “highly autonomous systems that outperform humans at most economically valuable work.” OpenAI and Microsoft, the startup’s close collaborator and investor, also have a definition of AGI: AI systems that can generate at least $100 billion in profits. When OpenAI achieves this, Microsoft will lose access to its technology, per an agreement between the two companies. So which definition might Altman be referring to? He didn’t specify, but the former seems likeliest. Altman wrote that he thinks AI agents — AI systems that can perform certain tasks autonomously — may “join the workforce,” in a manner of speaking, and “materially change the output of companies” this year.
Sam Altman's STUNNING Statement, "We're Working on Superintelligence" - Mattthew Berman, YouTube
The OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently posted a cryptic tweet and a blog post discussing the company's progress in artificial intelligence (AI). He believes that they have a clear path to achieving Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), which is the point where AI can perform any intellectual task that a human can. They are now shifting their focus towards achieving Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI), which is a hypothetical AI that surpasses human intelligence in all aspects. Altman believes that the transition to a world with superintelligence is the most important project in human history, but also the most hopeful and scary. He predicts that the first AI agents will join the workforce in 2025 and materially change the output of companies. OpenAI believes that ASI could massively accelerate scientific discovery and innovation, leading to increased abundance and prosperity. (summary provided in part by GenAI)
Tuesday, January 14, 2025
Indispensable Instructional Designers at Professional Schools - Patricia Baia, Faculty Focus
IDs can bring transformative benefits to professional schools (programs offering terminal degrees for a specific profession) and support faculty in their endeavors to innovate and engage students. Professional schools, such as pharmacy, medical, dental, law, etc., should consider incorporating instructional designers into their academic teams to boost the quality of education and to help reshape what faculty are doing. Professional schools cater to a diverse student body with varying learning preferences, needs, and accrediting bodies to answer to (Coble, 2015). These adult learners thrive in multimodal contexts which can look like traditional lecture-based settings, hands-on experiential learning, or online coursework. Most importantly, adults need consistency, organization, transparency, and a community (Sockalingam, 2012 & Binder, 2023). Instructional designers are experts who use their flexibility, knowledge, and skills in theory and practice to help faculty adapt to new ways of educating students (Pollard & Kumar, 2022).
December Brings Late Round of Job, Program Cuts - Josh Moody, Inside Higher Ed
As 2024 drew to a close, some institutions announced job and academic program cuts, structural deficits, and other changes, with one even declaring financial exigency last month. Many of the colleges listed below cited the usual factors such as rising costs and declining enrollment. While many institutions facing budget issues have modest or minimal assets, Brown University is an outlier among colleges on this list with an endowment valued at $7.2 billion as of fiscal year 2024. (While Brown did not announce job cuts, it is making changes to deal with a budget deficit.) Here’s a look at the cutbacks across the sector announced in December.
Watch "Sam Altman's STUNNING New Statement "EVERYTHING is About to Change" - Wes Roth, YouTube
Sam Altman shared a six-word story on Twitter: "Near the singularity, unclear which side." This statement encapsulates the uncertainty and excitement surrounding the rapid advancement of AI. It also alludes to the simulation hypothesis, suggesting that we may be approaching a point where we can determine if our reality is simulated. In a blog post titled "Reflections," Altman shared his thoughts on the progress of OpenAI and the future of AI. He highlighted the rapid growth of AI, particularly the success of ChatGPT, and the challenges OpenAI has faced in building a company around this new technology. He emphasized the importance of safety and alignment research and expressed confidence in their approach of gradually releasing AI systems into the world. Altman also discussed the future of AI, predicting the emergence of AI agents in the workforce by 2025 and the potential for superintelligence to accelerate scientific discovery and innovation. He acknowledged the concerns and uncertainties surrounding AI but expressed optimism about its potential benefits. (summary provided by GenAI Gemini 1.5)
Monday, January 13, 2025
How to be a better leader in 2025 - Arne Gast, McKinsey
If you want to step into 2025 as the leader you aspire to be, start by taking an honest look at your current approach. Are you prioritizing strategically? Are you maximizing your time and energy? Are you cultivating a resilient team? As McKinsey's Arne Gast writes, "Leaders who continually upgrade their personal operating model report being more productive, working more consciously, and driving change more effectively." Check out these insights to learn how to proactively adapt and refine your personal approach to work and life to make 2025 your most successful year yet.
The AI skills you’ll need for 2025: IBM SkillsBuild education forecast - IBM
This trend is common across industries. A new report from IBM reveals that 87% of executives expect jobs to be augmented rather than replaced by generative AI. As for the human element, the challenge today is that about half (47%) of executives say their people lack the knowledge and skills to effectively implement and scale AI across the enterprise. The answer is that we need to invest in education and upskilling to fully reap the benefits of AI. People are crucial to this effort. With that in mind, here are IBM’s three predictions for education in 2025, and the skills we need to build now to prepare.
Biden drops plan to ban flexible online learning for trade programs - Matt Lamb, the College Fix
President Joe Biden’s administration will no longer try to ban asynchronous learning for trade programs and career certificates. The Biden administration is wrapping up remaining regulations in the final several weeks before President Donald Trump returns to the White House. It recently announced that while the Department of Education will collect more information on distance education, it will allow schools to use asynchronous learning, in contradiction to a proposed rule.
Sunday, January 12, 2025
UTSA Gives Details on College of AI, Cyber and Computing - Scott Huddleston, San Antonio Express-News
Set to launch this fall, a new college at the University of Texas at San Antonio is expected to enroll more than 5,000 undergraduate and graduate students in programs driving workforce and economic development. The university recently released details of its new College of AI, Cyber and Computing. The new college is part of its efforts to develop and integrate emerging technologies. UTSA will begin a national search in January for a founding dean of the new college, scheduled to launch in fall 2025.
"This innovative college will build on UTSA's leadership in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, data science and related disciplines to address the demands of an increasingly digital and interconnected world," UTSA said.
25 experts predict how AI will change business and life in 2025 - Mark Sullivan, Fast Company
Expect to see the rise of AI agents and multimodal models, along with an end to “AI theater.” Expectations are high that AI will move beyond just generating text and images and morph into agents that can complete complex tasks on behalf of users. Here’s what 25 of them said. (The quotes have been edited for clarity and length.) Charles Lamanna, Corporate Vice President, Business and Industry Copilot at Microsoft: “By this time next year, you’ll have a team of agents working for you. This could look like anything from an IT agent fixing tech glitches before you even notice them, a supply chain agent preventing disruptions while you sleep, sales agents breaking down silos between business systems to chase leads, and finance agents closing the books faster.”
Why more colleges are embracing AI offerings - Lilah Burke, Higher Ed Dive
Ever since the public release of ChatGPT in November 2022, artificial intelligence has dominated conversations related to higher education and the future of work in the U.S. Now, some colleges are investing significantly in AI-related programs, from specific degrees to integrating AI literacy into other disciplines. They are doing so for several reasons. Those include responding to predictions that the American workforce will rely on AI much more in the future. For students who would like to work with the development and science of AI, that can mean jobs — some of which are fairly high-paying. For students in other disciplines, that could mean they need to demonstrate AI-related knowledge or competency to land jobs.
Saturday, January 11, 2025
Your Facebook & Instagram feeds may soon be filled with AI bots in the future - Rafly Gilang, MS Power User
The bots will have their own bios and profile pictures and will be able to create and share AI-generated content—just like real-life users—making sure it’s labeled “AI” of course, as Meta is on the C2PA Steering Committee. Meta first started talking about this in August, and although they haven’t given a timeframe for a full rollout, they have disclosed that a large number of bots do already exist, and are being tested, privately. Facebook and Instagram have been fighting a decline in popularity and engagement over recent months, especially among younger audiences, and this move is undoubtedly Meta’s way of trying to remain relevant.
https://mspoweruser.com/your-facebook-instagram-feeds-may-soon-be-filled-with-ai-bots-in-the-future/
How could Project 2025 change education? - Jackie Mader, et al; Hechinger Report
The document calls for prosecuting “all state and local governments, institutions of higher education, corporations, and any other private employers” that maintain affirmative action or DEI policies. That position matches the views expressed by Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, about the use of race in college admissions and beyond. — Liz Willen
In higher education, the proposal argues that college graduation and earnings data need a “risk adjustment” that factors in the types of students served by a particular institution. While selective colleges tend to post the highest graduation rates and student earnings, they also tend to enroll the least-“risky” students. A risk adjustment methodology could benefit community colleges, which often have low graduation rates but enroll many nontraditional students who face obstacles to earning a degree.
What might happen if the Education Department were closed? - Jill Barshay, et al; Hechinger Report
The mere specter of shuttering an agency that commands more than $200 billion has led parents, students, teachers, policy experts and politicians to wonder about (and in some cases plan for) the possible effects on their children and communities. Collectively, state and local governments spend far more on education than the federal government does. With federal dollars connected to many rules about how that money can be spent, however, the Education Department does play a significant role in how schools and colleges operate. Deleting the agency would not undo federal law providing money for students in rural places, with disabilities or who come from low-income families, but doling out that money and overseeing it could get messy. Republican Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota recently introduced a bill to unwind the Education Department and spread its work across other federal agencies. The Hechinger Report tried to answer some of the questions raised by the possible dismantling of the department, consulting experts and advocates on student loans, special education, financial aid, school lunch and beyond.
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