Solving Youth Unemployment

In her global unemployment talk, Mona Mourshed discusses the differing perspectives of young people, educators and employers. While education can dramatically change life opportunities and lift people out of poverty, the rocketing unemployment rates amongst university and college graduates says otherwise. Education is no longer enough to secure jobs, as there is a gap between the necessary skills and what students are taught. Youth feel unprepared and not good enough.

While job needs are evolving extremely rapidly, there is some hope. There are programs in place at a sector level where companies unite to agree on a set of desired skills, while working with educational institutions to arrive at a compromise. The problem is these programs are rare and only help a small percentage of the young people affected. Educators and employers need to communicate with empathy and assess student proficiency based on demonstration. Young people need to do their research and avoid taking the path of least resistance.