Higher Education Global Evidence Summit: Evidence on Higher Education and Employability
Employability Week Summary
About Employability Week
Higher education can offer learners opportunities to gain both the technical and soft skills needed to be contributing members of society and to join the workforce with the skills required by the private sector today and for the jobs of the future. Question 4 of USAID’s Higher Education Learning Agenda asks: “How can skills or competencies (e.g., technical and soft skills) for employability best be identified, analyzed, and incorporated into curricula, teaching, and learning?” Twenty-three summit sessions shared research and promising practices for providing higher education students with the skills needed to prepare for a wide range of future careers.
Click here to visit our YouTube playlist with all recorded sessions from Employability Week.
Employability Week Plenaries
The Importance of Higher Education in USAID Programming: A Keynote Message and Fireside Chat with Samantha Power
- Samantha Power, Administrator, USAID
- Albina Tortbayeva, International Development Professional
USAID Administrator Samantha Power spoke with a young international development professional and recent graduate student from Kazakhstan, Albina Tortbayeva, to further explore how USAID's programming can support youth and their pathway to employment with and through higher education.
The Past, Present, and Future of Higher Education and Work
- Minu Ipe, Managing Director and Vice-Chair of the University Design Institute, Arizona State University
- Moses Chimbari, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Great Zimbabwe University
- Albert Nsengiyumva, Executive Secretary, Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA)
- Lucy Heady, CEO, Education Sub-Saharan Africa (ESSA)
Higher education has always played a role in workforce development, yet how and why this function has evolved differs across geographic contexts. In this session, panelists explored the relationship between higher education and work in the past, present and future. After making a distinction between employability and employment, the moderator posed a series of questions for the panelists from varied backgrounds to debate. The conversation revolved around the intersection of higher education, youth, and workforce development; higher education’s commitment to students vs. the government vs. the market; and how higher education institutions around the world may need to evolve to contribute more effectively to workforce development in a rapidly changing labor landscape.
Employability Day 1 Closing Plenary
- Yolande Miller-Grandvaux, Senior Global Education Strategy Advisor, FHI360 and Member, USAID Higher Education Learning Network Steering Group
- Albina Tortbayeva, International Development Professional
Employability with Dis-Ability: How Employable Africa Enhances Academic and Employment Opportunities for Youth with Disabilities
- Gwaliwa Mashaka, Founder, Employable Africa
- Katherine Sawicki, Co-Founder, Employable Africa
Employable Africa enhances academic and employment outcomes for youth and children with disabilities. Started in 2018 in Tanzania, Employable Africa uses data and technology innovation to support people with disabilities in Africa to succeed in education and employment by training and supporting digital transcription services. Recognized by many local and international stakeholders for its unique regional impact, Employable Africa has won awards from MCC/PARFAR through DLab Tanzania, Zero-Project, and was an Africa finalist from the World Bank Group. This session was led by Employable Africa’s Executive Director Gwaliwa Mashaka, a data software engineer based in Tanzania who has a disability, and challenged participants to think about the connection between higher education and employability for individuals with disabilities.
Journeys to Employment: Youth Stories on Employability
- Rebecca Ward, Senior Technical Advisor, IREX
- Roshane Tareke Bartley, Youth Leader
- Kevin Ndura, Cloudfactory Kenya Ltd.
- Maryam Nihad, Youth Leader
What is the impact of higher education employability programs on the youth they serve? Through visual storytelling, this session gave alumni of programs at the intersection of higher education, youth, and workforce development a chance to share what made these programs transformative to their lives and livelihoods. After the stories, participants had the opportunity to ask questions and make written resolutions to apply their learning to future programs and practices.
Employability Day 2 Closing Plenary
- Ananya Singh, Graduate Student, Jawaharlal Nehru University
Audience Takeaways
