IBL News | New York
Coursera’s CEO, Jeff Maggioncalda, announced yesterday the release of the 2020 Global Skills Index (GSI), a report that benchmarks skills proficiency for 60 countries, 10 industries, and 11 fields of study in business, data science, and technology.
The index analyzed data from 65 million learners on the Coursera platform, including 15 million new users since March.
Coursera’s GSI highlighted that recovery in a post-pandemic world will rely on broad reskilling. “I hope this report inspires institutions to prioritize skills development as the foundation of economic revival,” wrote Jeff Maggioncalda in a blog post.
Other insights are the following:
- Countries, both developed and developing, excelling in critical business, technology, and data science skills see more income equality.
- Countries with higher skill proficiencies are also those with higher labor force participation rates.
- Countries with more equal access to the internet are also those with higher skill proficiencies.
- Every skill proficiency percent gained for a country is associated with a $600 increase in GDP per capita.
- Industries with more highly skilled talent, especially in technology skills, see higher stock returns and less disruption from COVID-19.
- Of the 200 million higher education students whose studies have been disrupted by COVID-19, 80% are located in countries with emerging or lagging skills.
- Institutions navigating COVID-19 continue to prioritize business, technology, and data science skills.
- The top five trending skills related to COVID-19 are public health, recognizing symptoms, understanding risk factors, social distancing, and contact tracing. Since March, there have been more than 800,000 enrollments and a 540% enrollment increase in Coursera courses teaching these skills.
- Demand for personal development skills like confidence, stress management, and mindfulness has grown by 1,200% among individual learners.
