"There’s a real 'skillification' movement where you just want to get the training you need when you need it."

–Kathleen deLaski

About Kathleen deLaski

Kathleen deLaski is the founder and board chair of Education Design Lab, which helps reimagine higher education. She is a senior advisor to Harvard's Project on the Workforce and on the advisory board of the Taubman Center at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Kathleen is author of Who Needs College Anymore? Imagining a Future Where Degrees Won’t Matter.

Website:

whoneedscollegeanymore.org

eddesignlab.org

LinkedIn Profile:

Kathleen deLaski

What you will learn

The evolving value of college degrees in a rapidly changing economy
Who benefits most from higher education, including four key learner profiles
The rise of 'skillification' and alternative pathways to career readiness
How employers assess degrees and non-degree credentials in today's job market
The impact of AI on both education and workplace expectations
Why AI literacy—and understanding its limits—matters for career success
The growing divide between technical and non-technical learners regarding AI adoption
Practical strategies for maximizing uniquely human skills—like originality and judgment—in an AI-powered world

Episode Resources

Transcript

Ross Dawson: Kathleen, it's a delight to have you on the show.

Kathleen deLaski: Thanks for having me, Ross.

Ross: So, amongst many other things to your name, you have a fairly recent book out called "Who Needs College Anymore?" So, does anyone need college anymore?

Kathleen: Yes, the answer is yes. There are people who are looking to bash the notion of a three- or four-year university degree, but they need to look somewhere else. What I try to do in the book is serve two audiences. One is universities—what we call colleges in the US—who are actually in a state of panic right now about surveys showing that people are not valuing degrees anymore. It's a perfect moment to reassess: what does a degree need to deliver as we approach the mid-21st century? That's the hot topic, the debate that's raging.

To frame the question, "Who needs college anymore?" is to say, "Wow, you need to step up your value proposition in this age," especially when, at least here, the number of 18-year-olds is dwindling and we have AI and technological solutions that allow people to get skills as needed. There's a real 'skillification' movement where you just want to get the training you need when you need it. There's also a questioning of hanging around to learn about the liberal arts, to do your philosophy, English, or history required classes—can't we get right to the skills? That's the debate that's raging. So, colleges need to hear this message; that was one audience.

Secondly, I know so many students—even in my own family—who are trying to parse the different messages they're hearing. One message is, "You absolutely need a four-year degree if you want to get a 'good job.'" The other message is, "College isn't worth it anymore; you can just get the skills you need and get the job." Meanwhile, families think the price tag is going up and up. Here, it's staggering—although, in reality, universities in the US have actually begun to hold prices and even give a lot of discounts because they're short on the number of folks coming through the door. So, all these confusing messages—I think families also need to understand who exactly, among different types of learners, does need a degree and who doesn't. Which jobs, which age groups, which learning types? I actually walk through all those using a human-centered design approach.

Ross: Human-centered is a good way to go. So I and others have talked about the unbundling of higher education, and there are a number of elements to that, including the educational processes, the social connections, sometimes the physical place, the links with employers and credentials. Of all the facets bundled together in a degree, the real focus, of course, is on the certification—you've got a degree—and the point to which that signals to employers. I suppose that's usually the name of the game. It's the differentiator. In the past, we've seen that in some fields—most notably software—where you can get some indicators of competence outside a degree, and employers have been more than happy to accept that. So, just focusing on the credential, what is the role of the credential today?

Kathleen: Yeah, that's an excell...