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Skills for Global Work –Skills for Global Life?

By UCL Careers, on 24 July 2014

I was lucky to get invited to a breakfast debate hosted by Think Global at City Hall on June 20th.

Think Global is a national education charity and the hub of a community of educators working to create a more just and sustainable world.

There is growing interest in the skills young people need to flourish in the globalised workplace of the future.  Indeed, in 2018, the OECD’s PISA education league tables will include a measure on global competences.ThinkGlobal

This debate considered whether our young people are developing the skills they need to thrive in a globalised world – both for the world of work and for life.  Speakers on the day included:

  • Caroline Waters OBE, BT’s former Director of People and Policy and Deputy Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission
  • Dame Julia Cleverdon DCVO, CBE, Co-Founder of Step Up To Serve Campaign
  • Dan Simpson, Head of Talent, Siemens UK
  • Tom Franklin, CEO at Think Global

The top 3 skills were voted as the ability to:

  • think critically and openly about global and inter-cultural issues
  • to seek, understand, and analyse different perspectives on global issues
  • to interact well with people from diverse countries and cultures

The top 3 threats were voted as:

  • Young people are not aware that employers value knowledge of the wider world more highly than degree classification or A-levels. More employers (79%) say knowledge and awareness of the wider world is important than the numbers of employers who say the following are important: degree subject and classification (74%), A-level results (68%), or A-level subjects (63%) according to an ICM poll of 750 business leaders
  • Horizons and aspirations are too narrow to thrive in a globalised and multicultural economy
  • Inward looking domestic concerns in the UK risks diminishing young people’s relative breadth of perspective against peers in emerging economies who are increasingly globally literate

UCL Careers acknowledged the importance of equipping graduates with the knowledge, skills and capabilities for a global marketplace through dedicating three days on How to Market Yourself as a Global Citizen” during the intensive summer school session.

To find our more about how to work with a global perspective, head on over to International Futures

– Helen West, Careers Consultant, UCL Careers