Presently, there is a movement towards earning micro-credentials in addition to, or in lieu of, traditional university degrees. Micro-credentials have been described as bite-sized chunks of education, which include online courses, bootcamp certificates and apprenticeships with specialty providers and online learning platforms. According to Simon Nelson, CEO of FutureLearn, a learning platform that offers online courses through its partnerships with universities, micro-credentials have stemmed from three global “macro trends.” The first trend is that there is a higher demand for high-quality tertiary education. Secondly, the digital transformation experienced by many industries has created a skills gap left unfilled by traditional education systems.
Finally, the higher education sector has been digitized in response to a greater demand for people to easily acquire new skills in addition to their university degree. Ultimately, micro-credentials are often sought after by companies looking to source talent beyond just university graduates and target candidates with non-traditional backgrounds. However, whether these new forms of education will replace or simply supplement university degrees remains unknown, since the current job market still values candidates who have earned degrees.
