VUCA world and industrial revolution 4.0…
- In some recent forums, you often mention the need to innovate human resource training to adapt to a very "new" and "different" labor market in the near future, in which you often mention concepts such as the VUCA World and the 4th Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0)... Could you please share more about these two concepts?“VUCA world” is a concept that has existed for decades, formed by the first four letters of the terms Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity, used by the US military during the Cold War, later economists often used it to refer to the unstable financial market... Recently, many international higher education experts have used the term VUCA to talk about the unpredictable changes of the human resource market in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industrial Revolution 4.0) which is strongly affecting the future of careers.
The World Economic Forum (WEF)'s "The Future of Jobs" report published in 2016 estimated that: "For the generation of students entering primary school today, 65% will work in jobs that do not yet exist." Also according to the WEF's forecast, in the period 2015-2020, on average, for every 6 million jobs lost, only about 2 million new jobs will be created, the public administration sector will decrease sharply while new jobs will mainly be in the high-tech sector and management sectors. [1] In fact, the risk of fluctuations in the labor market under the impact of modern technology has been warned for decades. For example, exactly 20 years ago (1999), the US Department of Labor gave an estimated figure of 65% as reported by the WEF. More recently, in 2017, Dell Technologies Corporation gave an even higher estimate: in the next 10 years, about 85% of human resources will do jobs that do not yet exist.
- So, many challenges and risks have been and are being posed, requiring not only students but also lecturers and training institutions to innovate training activities?Innovation is a mandatory attribute of any organization or society. Without innovation, there will be no development. Higher education is no exception, it needs to keep up with the current stormy development trend of technology and the labor market. I have mentioned some of the challenges facing universities today.
Firstly, the increasing demands of employers on qualities and skills in addition to professional qualifications of students create pressure for innovation on schools in balancing knowledge teaching with skills training and developing positive thinking for students. The fluctuations in future careers make the training activities of universities face the risk of falling behind the new human resource needs.
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Signing ceremony of cooperation and sponsorship agreement between the University of Social Sciences and Humanities and Dao Minh Quang Foundation on developing the Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Startup project in Vietnam and continuing to grant scholarships to VNU-USSH students, November 2023
Students of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities receive recognition and support from many domestic and international scholarship funds.
Second, students' legitimate demands for a learning environment do not stop at knowledge but also include accompanying services: facilities, learning equipment, self-study space, canteen, internships (especially abroad), professional development clubs, cultural-sports-arts activities, school-enterprise connections, startup support... There is a very existential example: the philosophy of "studying painfully to live happily" of 20th century students is now considered "distorted" because 10x generation students consider studying at school "not only as preparation for life, but also as life itself"! Therefore, universities around the world today are concerned with investing in improving facilities to attract students, encourage students to study and live at school, thereby sticking with the school and not dropping out...
VNU-USSH is increasingly realizing the dream of many generations of teachers and students about a spacious, modern, and humane learning and working environment.
Third is the risk of losing market share in enrollment and training in traditional training sectors, especially basic science sectors, which are increasingly less attractive to learners. In recent years, the total number of Vietnamese youth studying at domestic universities has decreased steadily, while the number of studying abroad has increased sharply, not to mention the trend of "on-site study abroad" through distance or online training programs of foreign universities and international joint programs with domestic universities... According to the annual Open Doors report of the Institute of International Education (IIE), the number of Vietnamese students studying in the United States has increased continuously over the past 17 years, reaching 24,325 students in 2018, meaning that more than 800 million USD flowed from Vietnam to the United States in the past year,[2] not to mention the large number of Vietnamese students studying abroad in other international education systems.
The University of Social Sciences and Humanities hosted a training course on designing courses in English for university lecturers in Hanoi with the support of experts from the University of South Australia.
Fourth, the strong shift in the employment structure of students after graduation to the non-public sector (private, international, non-governmental, start-up...) requires adjusting the structure of training programs, teaching time in class, investing in developing a comprehensive skill system, training proactive attitudes and positive learning mindset so that students can adapt to different working environments in the future. The World Education Summit (WISE) held in New York in September 2018 emphasized the importance of cognitive education and "lifelong learning" thinking because in the future, knowledge learned at university will become outdated very quickly. Therefore, only with a view of regular learning and a lifelong learning mindset can workers adapt to the changes in future careers.
Fifth, the slow innovation of university management thinking is a reality that has been warned by education experts, especially in the public school sector. This risk leads to missing the trend of world university training, falling behind in awareness, not being able to predict human resource market trends, and not even understanding the changes in the needs of learners themselves, leading to a situation where university management cannot keep up with the needs of learners.
The Ministry's "industry" - the teacher's "profession" - the student's "career"...
- So, it can be seen that one of the existing risks is the "old" and "static" nature of the current training structure in relation to the "new" and "dynamic" nature of future careers, sir?
The structure of the training sector always tends to change more slowly than the rapid changes in occupations and the labor market, especially in the context of the current fourth industrial revolution. However, it must be said objectively that the state's training sector structure is not completely "static" or "closed" but is always recommended by training institutions for the state to supplement. Therefore, universities must both see the benefits and recognize the responsibility to build new training sectors based on future human resource needs, organize pilot training, and then recommend the Ministry of Education and Training to add to the training sector code. For example, more than two decades ago, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities pioneered the opening and pilot training of Tourism Studies, which has now been included in the official list of training sector codes of the state.
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student of Vietnamese Studies, University of Social Sciences and Humanities. This is an interdisciplinary major, increasingly attracting the attention of Vietnamese and foreign students.
- But besides the story about training sectors, we also have to talk about the system of occupational titles in society. How should these two aspects be noted in the context of training new human resources, sir?Previously, the story of “industry” and “profession” was mentioned in an organic, very close relationship. According to traditional employment logic, students graduating from a training major often tend to work in that professional field, related to the code and professional title standards issued by the state. However, in recent years, the boundary between “industry and profession” has become increasingly blurred; the trend of studying one major and working in another profession is becoming more and more popular. Ultimately, this is completely normal in every society if we look at the labor and human resource trends in developed countries and the developments of domestic policies, especially the policy of streamlining the payroll and restructuring the team of cadres, civil servants and public employees in the spirit of Resolution 18 and Resolution 19 of the 6th Central Conference, Session XII.
Foreign students studying for bachelor's and master's degrees in Vietnamese studies at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities have created a multicultural academic environment here.
Students of the Faculty of Vietnamese Studies and Vietnamese Language of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU, Hanoi won first prize nationwide in the 2023 Vietnamese Speaking Contest for Foreign Students (Photo: Tuoi Tre Newspaper)
Accreditation of training programs according to international standards is focused on by the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU to improve and enhance the quality of training programs. It is important that training institutions quickly and fully recognize the above reality in order to make appropriate adjustments to the training structure. In addition to opening new training majors to meet the human resource needs of society 4.0, old training majors that are no longer in high social demand can reduce the scale of training or consider the possibility of integrating with some nearby majors to form new majors. When society no longer has a need for human resources, the industry will hardly survive, except for basic science majors that any society needs, then the state will invest in maintaining them. In the world, eliminating a training program that is no longer in social demand is a very normal thing, although it is inevitable to feel nostalgia and regret.
At the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, students are equipped with fundamental knowledge of basic sciences to support their studies and research in their majors; in addition, they are equipped with critical thinking and the ability to adapt to the labor market. Every year, thousands of students are able to do internships and practical training abroad as an important part of their curriculum at the University.
Looking at the practical movements of the labor market in recent years and predicting the labor usage trend in the next decade, the thing to pay attention to now is how to harmonize the three main factors: the "industry" of the Ministry - the "profession" of the Teacher - the "career" of the student. The State has been quite open about the training code, the labor market has been quite public about the movement trend for students to start a business after graduation, so the lecturers and universities themselves need to be proactive and determined to act as a bridge between the two ends of the bridge, the learners and the labor market. In other words, teachers must always innovate and be creative to both maintain their passion and the profession they have chosen, and ensure the formation of new training majors to meet the career orientation of students in the digital human resources era.
Advantages of Hanoi National University: Multidisciplinary/Basic Science foundation - Interdisciplinary/Transdisciplinary trend - Innovative/Creative thinking
- So, in your opinion, what is the main trend of the training system in the future?Many different views have been presented. Personally, I believe that interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary will be the fundamental trend in the context of a university ecosystem operating under the motto of connection and innovation - creativity.
For a long time, Vietnamese universities have followed a narrow and specialized orientation. Specialized training has certain advantages, but in the era of digital human resources with artificial intelligence and automatic Internet of Things, interdisciplinary/cross-disciplinary training has more prominent advantages. Education experts have recently talked a lot about the new human resource training model "T-shaped People" based on the combination of the philosophy of knowing something about everything with the perspective of knowing everything about something (of the previous I-shaped People model). New work practices require future workers to know broadly and converge many more cognitive and problem-solving skills than just specialized and narrow knowledge, which can be solved by artificial intelligence (AI). For example, currently in many countries, individual jobs such as Hotel Receptionist, Tour Guide, Salesperson... have been completely replaced by robots; In the near future, more complex jobs such as Interpreters, Legal Consultants, Teachers... can also be performed by machines with artificial intelligence... Therefore, human resources for the 4.0 labor market need more than single specialized knowledge; learners need to be equipped with multidisciplinary, cross-disciplinary knowledge, positive thinking, and synthesis skills...
Hanoi Humanities students are healthy and active in cultural and sports activities.
The curriculum at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU focuses on organizing internships and practical activities for students.
In particular, in addition to scientific and technological knowledge (STEM), people have begun to talk about the crucial role of philosophy, ethics, and knowledge of humanities, arts, etc. At the recent International Education Summit, President of the Institute of International Education (IIE) Allan Goodman said that technologies that have the potential to transform society on a large scale will be the ones that need the strongest ethical foundation, that judgments based on ethics and morality can be revolutionary in the 4.0 era.[3]
- What advantages does the University of Social Sciences and Humanities have if it implements interdisciplinary/cross-disciplinary training and the spirit of innovative and creative universities, sir?The University of Social Sciences and Humanities in particular, and Vietnam National University, Hanoi in general, have a great advantage in adapting to human resource training in the digital age because this is a multidisciplinary, multi-field university center, harmonizing basic science and applied science sectors... leading in the country. With the social sciences and humanities sector, in addition to maintaining basic science sectors - which are essential for any nation - the University is developing "hybrid sectors" on the basis of linking existing sectors. For example, in addition to the International Studies and Anthropology sectors, the University is developing the "International Development Studies" (IDS) sector; in addition to the three existing sectors of Sociology, Social Work, and Psychology, the University is researching and developing a hybrid sector to serve the practical aspects of Aging and Social Development...
Psychotherapy requires interdisciplinary knowledge
