1 Introduction

“Future Skills development” is a term like “quality education”: much sought after, equally difficult to achieve, not tangible but immediately noticeable if absent. By gathering different Future Skills approaches, we aim to make more visible and manifest the logic of the still young concept and the mechanics of putting it into practice in higher education. In the previous chapters of this “Creating the University of the Future” publication, we’ve introduced the concept, have discussed this emerging Global Future Skills initiative, have presented the different contributions published in this volume, and have summarized the results of a meta-analysis of Future Skills studies and approaches. The book is a body of evidence that Future Skills are viewed as a possibility to fill the gap between demands for skills and competences and the current state of provision in higher education. It is a body of experience, practices and implementation concepts from educational professionals in the field. These provide a unique opportunity to us which we are valorizing in this chapter: an analysis and synopsis of the perspectives and experiences around Future Skills and their implementation in higher education institutions.

We’ve asked the authors to elaborate on their specific definition of the concept of Future Skills and to provide recommendations for promoting Future Skills in higher education in practice, based on their experiences. This chapter shall provide an analysis and synthesis of these elements: we will start with a panoramic view of places and institutions (Sect. 3.2), analyze the Future Skills definitions provided (Sect. 3.3), and finally synthesize the practice recommendations given (Sect. 3.4) before concluding in Sect. 3.5 with an outlook for a Future Skills vision for higher education and its conditions for success. The analyses are based on an inductive, content-structuring qualitative content analysis (Kuckartz, 2018) conducted with the software MAXQDA applied to the text passages identified which a) provide a Future Skills definition or concept and b) provide recommendations based on the authors’ experiences in promoting Future Skills in higher education.

2 Panorama of Contributions: Places and Institutions

The future is complex. To deal with it in a productive and active way, Future Skills are necessary. There is a multitude of challenges graduates are facing today—and as multifaceted as these challenges are, so are the approaches of dealing with the importance of Future Skills in higher education. One way to deal with this complexity is to allow a multitude of perspectives on the subject of Future Skills in Future (Higher) Education. Some may be more labor-market-oriented, while others follow a broader understanding of employability or focus more on citizenship.

However, the multitude of perspectives to be discovered when venturing into Future Skills research and practice is even greater. In this volume, we compile contributions from authors who are engaged in transnational, multinational or even global international organizations involved in research and policy-making, such as the IESALC (International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean) of UNESCO based in Caracas, Venezuela, the OECD, based in Paris, France, and the ITCILO, the International Training Centre of the International Labor Organization, based in Torino, Italy. Another internationally focused perspective comes from the ICoBC, the International Council on Badges and Credentials, based in Berlin, Germany. We present contributions from SkillsFuture Singapore, a national government agency, from Tony Bates, who is related to Contact North, a Canadian regional network (Ontario’s Education & Training Network), from the Stifterverband with a specific German focus on higher education strategy and policy-making, from Ashoka, an international organization involved in regional and local contexts worldwide, and from The Burning Glass Institute with Wiley as an international publisher. The volume naturally brings many higher education institutions from different countries and continents together, public and private, centralized or with different locations—from countries as diverse as New Zealand and Japan, Romania and Ireland, Singapore and Brazil, the Philippines and Germany, the USA and Mauritius, Eswatini and UK.

3 Future Skills Definitions

There also is a certain diversity of Future Skills definitions present in this book, starting from the editors’ approach based on our own research. While working with the contributors, we asked them to reflect on the definitions and approaches underlying their Future Skills projects and programs reported in the book. It is thanks to this work that we are able to see the shapes and coordinates of the emerging concept of Future Skills currently evolving in higher education around the world.

The definition introduced by Ehlers (2020, p. 53) is as follows:

Future Skills are competences that allow individuals to solve complex problems in highly emergent contexts of action in a self-organized way and enable them to act (successfully). They are based on cognitive, motivational, volitional and social resources, are value-based and can be acquired in a learning process.

Several authors decided to base their chapter on this precise definition or refer to it such as Barty et al., Wihlenda and Garbin & Oliveira. While the concept of Future Skills is often named synonymously to other terms, we find references to soft skills (Bates), 21st Century Skills (Wihlenda; Barty et al.; Seidl), key competencies (Seidl) and an analogy of character and Future Skills (Duckworth).

Definitions also refer to different (target) groups such as learners (Pedró), individuals and people (Gervacio; Süßenbach et al.; Paunescu & McDonnell-Naughton; Vogel; Bates; Ehlers) or even young people (Wihlenda). Relating to the specific outline and the context of the Global Future Skills initiative, students and graduates (Ikeda; Seidl; Gahl et al.; Senges; Wihlenda; Chacón et al.; Stark) or, more precisely, engineering students (Deus Lopes & Santana), are named in several definitions. But what comes after graduation? Here, individuals are conceived as employees (Paunescu & McDonnell-Naughton) or citizens (Gunness et al.). Stark’s definition also takes faculty or staff into account in his Future Skills concept.

This is closely related to the context to which the proposed definition or approach refers to. Most often, the industry, employers, or the world of work are named here (Gog et al.; Seidl; Gahl et al.; Deus Lopes & Santana; Senges; Süßenbach et al.; Wihlenda; Paunescu & McDonnell-Naughton; Vogel; Stark; Bates; Pedró), but society as a context is also often referred to (Ikeda; Marshall; Seidl; Deus Lopes & Santana; Vogel; Stark) or even global society and citizenship (Wihlenda). Moreover, Future Skills matter for life more generally (Duckworth; Pedró) and are needed in a changing world (Gahl et al.), for individuals (Senges; Barty et al.) and collectively (Gunness et al.; Vogel). We see here that in all cases, higher education with a focus on Future Skills goes beyond the walls of university buildings.

The definitions are more or less concrete, precise and clear, sometimes agile, and sometimes include a sound theoretical framing, such as in the cases of Seidl, Barty et al., Gervacio, Süßenbach et al., Ehlers and Garbin & Oliveira. A clear timeframe to which the future refers is rarely provided. Süßenbach et al. look five years into the future while other concepts refer to a more general future (Gog et al., Seidl, Pedró, Ehlers) or to future and present time both (Ikeda; Vogel; Schleicher; Paunescu & McDonnell-Naughton; Seidl).

Future Skills definitions and approaches also can be analyzed and differentiated according to the aim or mission promoted in the approach—and there is a great variety to be named. In a most basic approach, Future Skills are simply needed to survive (Ikeda) in the twenty-first century (Wambeke) or a rapidly changing economic and technological environment (Bates). More closely study-related, they are needed to master one’s studies (Seidl). In very active approaches, they help to act (Ehlers), transform (Stark), innovate (Wambeke), to shape (Senges) and lead change (Ikeda). Challenges and problems shall be solved (Ehlers) or addressed (Gunness et al.; Pedró) and goals pursued (Vogel). There is also the question to compete (Wihlenda) or be successful as an individual (Gahl et al.; Gervacio) and of thriving (Gunness et al.) and empowering (Süßenbach et al.).

While there is a certain variety in Future Skills definitions and the related target groups, contexts and goals, all authors share the belief that their promotion matters in higher education, a belief they base their practices and argumentations on. Authors were also asked to share practical recommendations for promoting Future Skills which are summarized in the following section in order to identify conditions of success for promoting Future Skills in Higher Education.

4 Practice Recommendations

Practice recommendations are always context-dependent. They represent a certain procedure which has been found suitable for the very context of its implementation. In order to analyze these experiences, we have tried to decontextualize the recommendations and find overarching principles of successful implementation of Future Skills. The process of decontextualization was possible through employing an inductive, content-structuring qualitative content analysis.Footnote 1 In this process, three main categories were determined, these being a) the target group the recommendations refer to, b) the focus and c) the level. They shall shortly be presented and summarized in order to synthesize some principal conditions of success.

a) Which target groups are important to include when implementing Future Skills concepts?

The three target groups mostly referred to are closely related to the higher education focus of this publication—these are the learners (e.g. Gog et al.; Süßenbach et al.; Gunness et al.) or individuals (Gog et al.; Marshall), teachers, faculty, and researchers (e.g. Marshall; Seidl; Wihlenda; Vogel) as well as institutions or institutional leaders (e.g. Marshall; Gog et al.; Gervacio; Süßenbach et al.; Chacón et al.). Government and policymakers are also addressed by Gog et al., taking Singapore’s national context into account, and by Chacón et al., adopting a transnational or global perspective in discussing Future Skills. Future Skills needs are also related to society as a whole (Gunness et al.; Süßenbach et al.; Gog et al.; Marshall), relating individuals to societies and making Future Skills a possible matter of social cohesion. Also related to the higher education context, student engagement centers (Wihlenda; Chacón et al.), startup schools (Wihlenda) and student support teams (Chacón et al.) are addressed in the authors’ recommendations. A preliminary conclusion can be drawn: Future Skills implementation in higher education demands for a whole system approach. It is not just a matter of a single target group—such as learners or teachers—but can and should be supported through multiple stakeholders in the educational context: learners, education professionals, institutional leaders, as well as policymakers.

b) What is the focus and direction of Future Skills implementation in higher education?

The data on Future Skills practices gathered in this book shows a variety of aims, values, and missions of Future Skills development:

  • Social cohesion and sustainability (Gunness et al.) and inclusivity (Gog et al.; Gunness et al.)

  • Economy-focused approaches refer to the labor market, economic growth, or industry and argue for closing existing skills gaps (Gog et al.; Barty et al.; Süßenbach et al.; Deus Lopes & Santana)

  • On an individual level, Future Skills are seen as a means for people to realize their fullest potential (Gog et al.) and for lifelong learning (Barty et al.)

  • A transversal issue woven like a thread through many of the experiences provided is related to a much-needed change in higher education, such as a cultural change (Süßenbach et al.), a more general restructuring of higher education (Barty et al.; Süßenbach et al.; Chacón et al.) and a change and integration of Future Skills into higher education curricula (e.g. Brunner & Ehlers; Seidl; Deus Lopes & Santana; Gervacio).

In summary, we find that Future Skills development in higher education is a strong value-driven and normative discourse which is generally aiming at empowering individuals, providing space for individual meaningful learning, and boosting self-responsibility and autonomy of individuals on their pathway through their lifelong learning journey. In order for this to come true, change requirements are articulated for higher education.

c) Which level is addressed in recommendations for Future Skills implementation?

The recommendations discussed address higher education as a whole; on the micro level of teaching and learning in classrooms and beyond, the meso or institutional level, and the macro or policy level. They are summarized in Table 3.1 and can be accessed more closely in the individual chapters of the book.

Table 3.1 Recommendations for promoting Future Skills in higher education
Full size table

5 Conclusion: Conditions of Success for Promoting Future Skills in Higher Education

Based on the qualitative analysis made from all contributions in this book, we are able to derive some general and some more specific recommendations and success factors. The first set of recommendations can be understood as factors which need to be considered in order for Future Skills to gain relevance and in order to shape a Future Skills environment and ecosystem within the higher education context:

  • Faculty Development: ensuring that faculty members are equipped to promote Future Skills learning, through training and support, can improve the quality of the provided educational experiences.

  • Relevance to labor market demand: aligning education programs with Future Skills that are in high industry demand helps to ensure the relevance and practicality of the educational experiences provided.

  • Interdisciplinary Approach: problems do not know disciplines and their solution always demands multidimensional and interdisciplinary approaches. Incorporating Future Skills across multiple disciplines can help students develop a holistic understanding of the subject.

  • Experiential Learning: Providing students with opportunities to apply their knowledge through projects, internships, and other hands-on experiences can increase their motivation and enhance their learning.

  • Flexibility and Adaptability: With the rapid pace of technological change, it is important for education programs to be flexible and adaptable to changing demands and needs.

In addition, we also found the clear need for change in higher education. Future Skills approaches demand new perspectives on our current educational systems. This reform agenda needs a sound approach to manage this transformation towards changing cultures in higher education. The authors provided recommendations on important factors which need to be considered in these change processes.

From this analysis, we can dare to synthesize and formulate some conditions for success for promoting Future Skills in Higher Education—aimed at everyone who is taking some steps towards future higher education.

For successfully promoting a Future Skills culture in higher education, it is necessary to:

  • Form coalitions, exchange practices and approaches, inspire and share. A transformation on many levels is needed, but every step counts—and connecting can inspire, energize, and empower.

  • Involve all educational stakeholders in the process—(lifelong) learners, teachers, institutional leaders, civil society, the world of work, politics—while considering that seemingly fixed roles can and have to change: learners will become designers and experts, teachers will become coaches, learning will become more participatory and individualized, knowledge will become more personal and decentralized as a basis to build Future Skills upon, and digital tools and environments will facilitate these processes. This will, however, possibly need some more guidance and counseling in order to support learners to navigate through their own learning pathways and become ever more autonomous learners in this process.

  • Reflect on existing learning, teaching, and assessment practices and how these are included in curricula: they can successfully contribute to Future Skills learning once this process is considered holistically and reflection on Future Skills development is incited. Not everything has to be reinvented.

  • Be open and flexible and start with small steps instead of perfectionism: many steps are needed on all levels, but every step in the right direction will contribute to deepen a much-needed Future Skills culture in higher education.

  • Not consider higher education institutions as enclosed but as open spaces and connect them to society while offering real-life and meaningful learning and engagement opportunities supporting learners’ transformative learning journeys—and involve students or lifelong learners in participatory processes in co-designing the future of these institutions.

  • Discuss Future Skills in a competence-oriented way, putting learners, their personal and social wellbeing first and go beyond purely functional Future Skills approaches. This also means that we should not consider Future Skills learning as an isolated experience characterized by concurrence but connect learners and make them support each other in their learning journeys—and accentuate Future Skills for connecting and cooperating, as tomorrow’s challenges cannot be solved by disconnected individuals, but only by diverse and inclusive teams.

  • Not fear discussing values and normative assumptions in determining the Future Skills that matter for a certain vision of a future. Values and motivation are an important component of Future Skills, so these should be debated and made transparent—without everyone having to agree on these, but being aware of them.