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Introducing the Coursera Global
Skills Index
Coursera
Blog: 3.14.2019 by Emily Glassberg Sands, Head of Data Science, Coursera
Today marks the release of the inaugural Coursera Global Skills Index (GSI), an
in-depth look at skill trends and performance around the world, made possible
by the millions of learners who come to Coursera to learn and grow.
Skills are the foundation of human productivity
and economic success. Yet the skills landscape as we know it is under
transition. Technology is advancing faster than humans, and the skills that
once fueled our economy will no longer suffice. Companies, countries, and
individuals are grappling with a serious skills shortage, in addition to
uncertainty on which skills they need to succeed in the changing economy.
Urgency around upskilling is a global one, but
there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Each country has a unique set of circumstances
– economic, political, social – that shape their skills landscape today.
Industries, too, face challenges unique to their verticals that require
tailored talent strategies. This first edition of the Coursera Global Skills
Index looks closely at these trends, benchmarking 60 countries and 10
industries across Business, Technology, and Data Science skills.
Here are some of the key findings:
Two-thirds of the world’s population is falling
behind in critical skills, including 90% of developing economies.
Countries
that rank in the lagging or emerging categories (the bottom two quartiles) in
at least one domain make up 66% of the world’s population, indicating a
critical need to upskill the global workforce. Many countries with developing
economies — and with less to invest in education — see larger skill
deficiencies, with 90% ranking in the lagging or emerging categories.
Europe is the global skills leader.
European
countries make up over 80% of the cutting-edge category (top quartile globally)
across Business, Technology, and Data Science. Finland, Switzerland, Austria,
Sweden, Germany, Belgium, Norway, and the Netherlands are consistently
cutting-edge in all three domains. This advanced skill level is likely a result
of Europe’s heavy institutional investment in education via workforce
development and public education initiatives.
Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, and
Latin America have high skill inequality.
Consistent with the vast economic and
cultural diversity that characterizes each region, Asia Pacific, Middle East
and Africa, and Latin America have the greatest within-region skill variance.
Asia Pacific is at the extremes of the global Business rankings with New
Zealand (#6) and Australia (#9) approaching the very top, while Pakistan (#57)
and Bangladesh (#59) land near the bottom. In the Middle East and Africa,
Israel is a leader in each of the three domains and #1 in Data Science, while
Nigeria lags near the bottom of the rankings across domains, and is last in
Data Science. In Latin America, Argentina’s #1 ranking in Technology is in
stark contrast to Mexico’s (#43) and Colombia’s (#49) lower proficiencies in
the field.
The United States must upskill while minding
regional differences.
Although known as a business leader for innovation, the
U.S. hovers around the middle of the global rankings and is not cutting-edge in
any of the three domains. Within the U.S., skill proficiency is distributed
non-uniformly while the West ranks ahead of other regions in Technology and
Data Science, the Midwest shines in Business.
In addition to benchmarking countries, we also
evaluated trending skills globally and skill proficiencies across 10 major
industry verticals:
Demand for Technology and Data Science skills is
growing, while demand Business skills is shrinking.
Across the board,
enrollment numbers highlight fast-growing demand for Technology and Data
Science skills from individuals and companies alike. While Technology
enrollments increased by 13%, for example, Business enrollments decreased by
11%.
Technology industry professionals lack strong
business skills.
Technology ranks 5th in Business out of the ten industries in
our analysis.
Manufacturing shows skills resilience in the
digital era.
Manufacturing ranks #1 in both Business and Technology and
demonstrates an aptitude for tackling change successfully.
Telecommunications consistently ranks near the
top.
Telecommunications is the only industry to rank consistently in the top
three across Business, Technology, and Data Science (#3 in each).
Finance surprises with below-average skills
performance.
Despite its pursuit of digital transformation, Finance ranks second
to last in Business (#9) and Data Science (#9), and hovers near the middle in
Technology (#5). READ
MORE >>
Workplace
2019:
Global Skills Index, Coursera
2018: A
Stronger Nation: Learning beyond high school builds American talent, Lumina
2017: UpSkilling
Playbook for Employers, Aspen
Institute
2015:
Skills Gap Report, NAM-MI
2008:
Reach Higher America: Overcoming Crisis in the U.S. Workforce, NCAL
2007:
America’s Perfect Storm, ETS
2007:
Can California Import Enough College Grad's. Meet Workforce Needs?, PPIC
2007:
Mounting Pressures: Workforce . . . Adult Ed, NCAL
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