Occupational Training Through Micro-credentials
By Dr Felix Quayson
The complexity of the future of work requires us to re-think training for occupations and careers. In the modern age, there would be non-traditional and traditional ways to define what an occupation/career should be or look like because of advanced knowledge and technologies in the world. To re-structure our thinking of occupational training, we need to explore micro-credentials in professional learning and development. Micro-credentials are skills-based competencies that enable individuals to demonstrate knowledge and skills in a specific career or occupation, culminating in a digital badge or certification. An effective micro-credential program is one that leads a person to demonstrate trained competencies examined by experts and professionally trained evaluators/assessors against a rubric.
In this excerpt, I make the case for institutions, organizations, and training centers involved in career and occupation training to integrate micro-credentials into their course designs, curricula, and educational programs. This approach would give students or learners an advantage by allowing them to demonstrate their skills-based competencies when applying for jobs.
“To re-structure our thinking of occupational training, we need to explore micro-credentials in professional learning and development”
Undergraduate Programs
I would encourage undergraduate programs to integrate micro-credentials into courses, curricula, and academic programs. In any course syllabi, there are learning objectives/outcomes that each faculty member would like the students to achieve. However, students rarely receive recognition for achieving learning objectives or outcomes with micro-credentials, as opposed to receiving letter grades. For example, a business course would have the learning objectives/outcomes of at the end of this course, students will demonstrate foundational knowledge and application of concepts and theories in marketing, accounting, management, and economics.
“students rarely receive recognition for achieving learning objectives or outcomes with micro-credentials, as opposed to receiving letter grades”
Students will complete the course for a letter grade and there is no indication of a micro-credential embedded within the course. In this case, students should earn micro-credentials because they were able to demonstrate foundational knowledge and applied the concepts and theories of marketing, accounting, management, and economics in business environment. These students will be able to demonstrate to employers their advanced knowledge and training in accounting, marketing, economics, and management leveraging this in the job search process because an expert and professionally trained assessor (faculty member) has examined these competences against a course rubric. Undergraduate programs that integrate micro-credentials into academic programs will create an identity of advanced knowledge and skill competencies for students as a leverage in the employment process to employers.
“students will be able to demonstrate to employers their advanced knowledge and training in accounting, marketing, economics, and management leveraging this in the job search process because an expert and professionally trained assessor (faculty member) has examined these competences against a course rubric”
Graduate programs
Professional learning and development at the graduate levels (master and doctorate) need an overhaul. Rarely do graduate students earn micro-credentials when they complete their courses or graduate from an advanced program. Today’s unpredictable labor market and economy demand changes to curricula practices that pigeon-hole graduate students in the employment process. There are graduates who feel overwhelmed and frustrated about not being able to get jobs or even jobs within their studied field. I would highly encourage graduate programs to explore micro-credentials for their graduate students when they achieve learning objectives/outcomes in curricula activities and learning.
“I would highly encourage graduate programs to explore micro-credentials for their graduate students when they achieve learning objectives/outcomes in curricula activities and learning”
For example, in teacher education training, students are trained in classroom management, instruction assessment, curriculum planning, or special education training in individualized educational plan, she/he/they/them should earn micro-credentials that allow students to display skill competencies to school districts and education employers. The micro-credentials would indicate to employers that the student turned professional went beyond receiving specialized training in those content knowledge areas. Graduate programs that do not allow students to earn micro-credentials as part of their education journey are a wasted opportunity in today’s labor market.
Organizations and Training Centers
I would urge industry organizations and training centers to provide professional development opportunities to employees or members to support all stages/phases of their career development. The professional development opportunities must come in the form of micro-credentials where they can demonstrate advanced knowledge and skills of competencies as evidence of consistent and effective professional practice. Each organization and training center should form committees that will consist of experts on content/subject knowledge who would create rubrics and serve as evaluators/assessors. Micro-credentials in the workplace are likely to improve employees’ self-efficacy to execute behaviors necessary to produce specific performance attainments (Bandura, 1977, 1986, 1997).
References
Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84(2), 191-215.
Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Prentice-Hall.
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-Efficacy: The exercise of control. W. H. Freeman.
About the author:
Dr. Felix Quayson is a faculty member and program coordinator at Texas State University. He teaches in organization, workforce, and leadership studies, and in 2022, completed an EdTech certificate from Harvard Graduate School of Education in media and technology for education.