World Youth Skills Day: Does college impart skills for the real world? Gen Z answers

Is the higher education system, whose objective is to prepare students academically and professionally for life after college, succeeding in fulfilling its responsibility? Are colleges equipping the youth with the skills and know-how to navigate real-world challenges? Are lectures, assignments, late-night exam preparations and social events helping students develop practical skills?

It's tough to reach a clear verdict, given the diversity of courses and curriculums that exist. However, there's a need to bring focus to the current education-employability and academia-industry gap in the country.

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Analysing data from 2500 colleges and 440,000 students, India's Graduate Skill Index 2023 report by the talent assessment company Mercer Mettl found that only 45 per cent of graduates in India are employable. The Global Skills Gaps Measurement and Monitoring Report 2023 by International Labour Organisation states that 46.6 per cent of Indian workers are underqualified for their jobs.

These statistics present a worrisome picture, necessitating discourse around colleges' capability to prepare the youth for what comes next. Besides job-oriented competencies, the youth also need to be equipped with other necessary skills to navigate day-to-day challenges.

On the occasion of World Youth Skills Day, mid-day.com hears about this conundrum from the horse's mouth. We speak to the youngsters of the country - the Gen Z - to get answers to the questions posed above.

Did college prepare you for the real world?

"The answer is both yes and no," says Harshit Agarwal, a 23-year-old Software Engineer working in Bangalore.

"Although the college coursework has provided the foundation of technical skills we need for our job, most of the skills we apply in our daily work are learned on the job itself," he clarifies.

Some Gen Zers believe that college can't prepare every student for future challenges since each one sets out on a different path.

Arhya Singh, a final-year Computer Engineering student and intern, says, "I think college hasn't prepared me for the real world per se. But again, I never expected that in the first place because we all have different experiences when we step out of our academic life and I think there's no set techniques or methods to prepare you."

The notion of having subjective experiences after college is backed by Vishvesh Trivedi, a Mumbai-based copywriter. He says, "To be honest, the academics were not that big of a help because having studied BMM (Bachelor of Arts in Multimedia and Mass Communication), I realised that the real-world applications of the subject are diverse and different from the theoretical curriculum. It's not like MBA that is taught in a very specific manner. It's very subjective. Professors give you a perspective on it. But when you start working, you see a completely different lifestyle."

While some believe college prepared them partially for the outside world, others refuse.

"What college teaches you is way different from what actually happens. It is mostly bookish knowledge, with more focus on history than what one can implement in the real world," feels Mitali Lakhotia, a B.Com graduate and Fashion Communication postgraduate.

Aishwarya Zombade, a 24-year-old psychologist and educator, agrees, saying, "In a lot of courses, practical skills are the most important. However, colleges often tend to just focus on grades and unhelpful assignments."

But college can't be all that bad, right?

What skills did you develop in college that have real-world applications?

College life is often characterised by many opportunities and events, apart from academics. These impart soft skills that have real-world applications.

"College did allow me to learn how to communicate and function cohesively with other people. So, in some way, it helped," feels Singh.

Lakhotia has a similar experience. "One skill that I have learned from college is communication. When you can communicate well, your ideas and thoughts reach more people. During college times, we had to do a lot of presentations and communication was key. You had to put your point forward and navigate through questions and explanations," she elaborates.

"I was an introvert earlier. How to interact with people is something I have learned in college," she adds.

The people one meets in college also help in skill-building.

"Through the help of our seniors and taking part in various club activities, we gained experience of working in a team and how to tackle difficult situations which helps us in the real world," states Agarwal.

"The way you end up making contacts in college, the way you are pushed to build connections, that helps in the real world. I have noticed that I have been able to connect with people and spot growth opportunities due to this. College fests, activities and projects helped me build that skill. There were also times when you had to connect with other people and make use of their skills and your skills to create something. That has been fruitful for me," reveals Trivedi.

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Singh also believes that college has enabled her to introspect and grow. "I learned patience and accountability. College basically for me was 4+ years of learning how to be patient with yourself and others around you, and it also taught me how I'm the only one who is responsible for what happens to me. It kind of helped me get over the fact that the world is unfair and some things don't go according to your perfect life plan," she says.

What needs to change?

"Most of the skills apart from technical are learned through seniors or various clubs. If college can include these skills in the coursework, it will be much more impactful, because not all students take part in club activities," Agarwal is quick to respond.

Every Gen Zer we spoke to feels that practical knowledge should be given more importance.

"I'm from a field (computer engineering) where the requirements change almost every day, but the courses in the college are rarely ever updated to accommodate said changes, instead they make us mug up whatever is in the books. Whatever colleges teach is too theoretical and a practical approach would overall be much better," says Singh.

"I think the intense focus on academics leaves most of us in a position where we know what we're supposed to do but we can't because we only know things theoretically. Also, colleges rarely ever teach us how and where to apply what we learned which kind of makes everything pointless," she adds.

Trivedi also recommends a more practical approach to assignments and projects. "I would recommend colleges to include a lot more collaborative assignments and projects that actually involve interaction with the industry," he suggests.

"Real-world application-based assignments help understand how the industry works and how much effort you are supposed to put into something. All the theory is important and fine to a certain level, but the practicality is lacking in college curriculums," he adds.

One skill you wish you learned in college but didn't

"Managing finances," comes the recurring answer.

"College should teach about finances - how to manage and grow money," feels Lakhotia.

While some believe that personal finance should not be taught in colleges because it doesn't relate to every curriculum, one cannot deny that it is a necessity, irrespective of the course one opts for. When you are preparing for a job, the natural next step is to prepare for managing money that comes from the job.

"Instead of solely focusing on grades and getting first place in class, colleges should start teaching students how to get a job, how to manage finances, how to take care of yourself and your mental health. These are the basics," says Zombade.

However, she also believes that these life skills should be imparted at the school level. "⁠I strongly believe that whatever you teach someone in school or in college stays with them forever. So, life skills should be taught in schools and reiterated in colleges," she concludes.

It won't be fair to put every course and college in the same mould. However, the broader situation calls for action to better facilitate skill-building for the real world in colleges, both academically and beyond academics.