With his eyes firmly set on a career in physiotherapy, grade 10 student Brody Eyles remains apprehensive about the future.
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As more and more jobs face automation, Mr Eyles and his friends at Deloraine High School have begun carefully considering their career choices.
“I think physiotherapy is still safe with that, (automation) because a robot can’t do that, but I guess with a lot of other jobs, there is a big threat from computers and artificial intelligence,” Mr Eyles said.
Mr Eyle’s concerns have been widely documented, as rapid technological change places the future of skilled work in doubt.
More than half of Australian students are being trained for jobs that will be radically affected by automation in the next 15 years, according to the Foundation for Young Australians.
Their research shows the skills in demand are generally the same traits required to run a business, including problem solving, creativity, financial literacy and critical thinking.
Deloraine High School principal Lee Barker said the school had responded to these concerns by altering its curriculum.
She said projects range from allowing the students to develop their own newsletter from scratch, to having them document their mistakes in self-reflective exercises via social media.
ENTREPRENEURIAL EDUCATION
Launceston educator Adam Mostogl is leading the entrepreneurial charge – teaching primary and high school students how to think like a businessperson.
“Working for a single business in a specialised role is going to be very unlikely as we go on, because businesses won’t need that,” Mr Mostogl said.
“We will still need degrees, but the ability to train for three years and have a career for life is no longer the case.”
Mr Mostogl’s mantra is reflected in the current research surrounding young people, as social researcher McCrindle found that young people will have 17 jobs throughout five different industries in their lifetime.
Underemployment of recent graduates has also risen past 30 per cent since 2014, above the previous highs of 29 per cent recorded during the 1992 recession, research by Graduate Careers Australia found.
And with more and more graduates struggling to find work, Mr Mostogl is teaching students to develop a niche, and combine polarising skills such as architecture and finance.
The 2015 Tasmanian Young Australian of the Year is the founder of illuminate Education, which runs five-day courses teaching young people how to start their own business.
He said the program includes lessons in pitching, financial literacy, teamwork, public speaking and business strategy.
But how have other institutions responded to change?
UNIVERSITY SECTOR RESPONDS
University of Tasmania deputy vice-chancellor Professor Brigid Heywood said the university was in the process of developing an optional student academy focusing on entrepreneurship and creativity.
Ms Heywood said we need to change our attitude surrounding university degrees, as the skills can apply to a range of industries over a lifetime.
“What we’ve been slow to is responding to the value equation of why we invest in tertiary education, and what we expect to see as a product, and we’re trying to see that as an immediate one.
“Measuring the value six months post-graduation, (is the issue) and yet all the data shows, that the salary benefits, the career progression, and the value out of a university degree, takes place over a 15-year window.”
So are we doing enough to support the jobs of the future?
A 2014 report by the Office of the Chief Scientist suggested that 75 per cent of the fastest growing occupations will require science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills.
THE GOVERNMENT AGENDA
Federal government Education Minister Simon Birmingham said this was why the Turnbull Government was investing $112.2 million for STEM through the National Innovation and Science Agenda.
At the same time, the chief scientist report also noted the importance of teaching innovation and entrepreneurship in schools.
“We must inspire children from the earliest years to embrace the all-important STEM subjects and support them to continue this study through school and into further education.
“It is the only way to create the next generation of researchers, innovators and digitally literate citizens prepared for the jobs of the future,” Mr Birmingham said.
A state government education spokesperson said Tasmanian government schools were implementing the Australian Curriculum, which included an optional unit on social entrepreneurship for Year 9 students.
They said the course allowed students to develop a social enterprise of their own, and in Year 10 they learn about the benefits of the entrepreneurial mindset and its relevance to 21st century work.
But Mr Mostogl believes that governments, industry and schools need to collaborate further to foster a culture of entrepreneurship in schools.
“That creativity and that business knowledge is often seen as a side thing, whereas it’s actually fundamental to be able to find your place,” he said.
Yet the transition to short-term work was already underway, Mr Mostogl said, with more and more businesses outsourcing their work, including social media consultants and designers.
His point is supported by Australian Bureau of Statistics data, which showed 162,800 part-time jobs were created in Australia this year.
But a dwindling workforce is of no concern to Deloraine High School student Brody Eyles, who said he believed tenacity will help him achieve his goal of becoming a physiotherapist.
“It will be a lot harder, which will mean I will just have to work harder to get into it,” he said.