Digital Skills as a Great Equalizer: Promoting the Economic Self-Reliance and Resilience of University Students in Liberia

• In Event: Catalyzing Higher Education Institutions for Economic and Social Change: Global Innovations in Curriculum, Pedagogy, and Community Engagement

Proposal

Today’s university students must navigate rapidly changing economic landscapes marked by climate change, digitization, and global interconnectedness. To equip them for this challenge, EDC has developed Future Proof Skills (FPS), a comprehensive work-readiness and skill-training program, that is being successfully implemented in Liberia through USAID Youth Advance. This presentation will discuss how colleges, universities, and youth-serving organizations are delivering FPS across three Liberian counties, demonstrating how the curriculum promotes the economic self-reliance and resilience of young people.
Informed by an analysis of over 25 recent Future of Work skills reports, FPS equips university students and recent graduates with the skills to thrive in any type of workplace. As a blended-learning course, it combines online and in-person instruction over the course of several months. The design of FPS—from content to delivery—rests on a foundational premise: digital skills are part and parcel of the future of work, and they can be a great equalizer. Teaching these skills to young people—such as recent university graduates in Liberia—can catalyze sustainable change and foster local ownership of workforce development efforts.
Practical, participatory, and hands-on, FPS empowers young people to interact with the world and businesses around them. First, a community-mapping activity requires learners to analyze local labor market demands. This knowledge helps to align their job search with the realities of the economy. Second, youth must acquire a certificate in an in-demand digital skill, such as cloud computing or data analysis and visualization. Finally, workplace projects equip and help position young people to gain real-life work experience and use creative thinking and design thinking principles to help employers solve problems. For example, an FPS student might help a small business owner analyze social media metrics to better inform advertising efforts. Throughout the course, youth develop in-demand skills including communication, emotional intelligence, navigating conflicts, and resilience.
The implementation of a curriculum such as FPS demonstrates that innovative teaching of 21st-century skills and digital skills can enable motivated university graduates to work across borders, solve pressing challenges, and find sustainable, meaningful livelihoods.

Author

• William Sheldrick Marshall, Education Development Center (EDC)