The digital economy is transforming the ways people live and work. It’s changing old jobs and creating new jobs and altering traditional careers across all sectors of the economy. Multiple disruptions accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic led to significant shifts in social and business practices. These changes created an increased demand for new skills, competencies and capabilities to help people and businesses adapt to different and frequently changing environments.
Employers are looking for quick and flexible ways to upskill or reskill their workers. Workers are in search of viable opportunities to align their skills with rapidly changing labour market demands. Governments are seeking approaches that enable the post-pandemic recovery, job creation and overall economic growth. Skills, capabilities, new learning and career pathways are among the themes that dominate the current labour market ecosystem – and micro-credentials will be part of the response.
A potential solution
Micro-credentials are not new in the learning and continued education space, but they’ve certainly grown in popularity over the past two years.
As Professor Beverley Oliver, one of the global experts in the higher education and micro-credentialling field, indicated, since 2016, micro-credentials have expanded to encompass many types of short courses such as:
- Short courses on-site or online;
- Boot camps – short intensive learning experiences, often associated with information technology or entrepreneurship opportunities;
- Digital badges earned for achievement or participation in short learning events; and
- Licences and certifications.
One of the biggest opportunities with micro-credentials is their flexibility. A digital badge can be an easy signifier of industry-verified skills and competencies, and can be simply exchanged between individuals, learning providers and employers. At this point, the micro-credentials and digital badges ecosystem is still evolving. There’s work to be done in testing how effective they are in facilitating learning that is equally valued and recognized.
Victoria Pazukha will be co-presenting a webinar series with Jake Hirsch-Allen, in partnership with CERIC and OACM, on “Micro-credentials and badges: Helping clients build future skills and career success,” starting Nov. 10. Learn more and register at ceric.ca/webinars.
What is a micro-credential?
The definitions of micro-credentials vary between jurisdictions and among institutions. There has been significant interest and efforts both in Canada and internationally to develop a universal definition. Below are the definitions from three Canadian jurisdictions and the proposed universal UNESCO definition.
Colleges and Institutes Canada: A micro-credential is a certification of assessed competencies that is additional, alternate, complementary to or a component of a formal qualification.
eCampus Ontario: A micro-credential is a certification of assessed learning associated with a specific and relevant skill or competency. Micro-credentials enable rapid retraining and augment traditional education through pathways into regular post-secondary programming.
Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario: A micro-credential is a representation of learning, awarded for completion of a short program that is focused on a discrete set of competencies (i.e. skills, knowledge, attributes), and is sometimes related to other credentials.
As stated in the 2021 UNESCO study, Towards a Common Definition of Micro-credentials, a common language on micro-credentials is an essential first step toward their wider use and recognition by employers and learners, and for facilitating mobility of learners and workers. The study engaged more than 40 global experts and proposed the following draft definitions:
- a record of focused learning achievement verifying what the learner knows, understands and or can do
- includes assessment based on clearly defined standards and is awarded by a competent organization
- has stand-alone value and may also contribute to or complement other micro-credentials or macro-credentials, including through recognition of prior learning
Experts consulted for the study concluded that having a common definition is critical for the whole credentialling ecosystem since it supports practices and operability across many different jurisdictions.
Do employers value micro-credentials?
Generally speaking, employers that are familiar with micro-credentials view them as indicators of commitment to continuing education and skill development. They see them as certifications of competency or qualifying an individual for a promotion or lateral career move within organization or industry, rather than acting as a standalone, foundational job qualification.
A 2021 study from CICan on The Status of Microcredentials in Canadian Colleges and Institutes shows that there is a general positive feedback on potential usage of micro-credentials: “Interviewees reported that those employers who have been informed about the offer, whether industry members of program advisory committees or employers consulted at the start of the development of a microcredential, were very positive about this new category of offering.”
The value for individuals
Learning, micro or macro, is always valuable and although it is not for employment purposes only, evidence suggests that it is positively correlated with better employment outcomes.
The benefits of micro-credentials include:
- Allowing workers to select and personalize their learning
- Aligning learning with an individual’s immediate or longer-term career goals
- Ensuring learning meets employers’ expectations and industry needs
- The opportunity to explore new subject areas and skills
- Flexible delivery and shorter time commitment
- More learning providers locally and globally to choose from
- Capacity to integrate into career pathways and larger education credentials
How can career practitioners help clients understand and use micro-credentials?
Career practitioners who work in a variety of settings – including educational institutions, government-funded employment agencies and skills development programs, or as individual coaches and advisers – are on the front lines of current workforce transformations helping clients navigate the now and prepare for the future of work.
Here are some suggestions how to incorporate micro-credentials into career practices:
- Have a list of a micro-credential programs by region/field of study/delivery mode
- Link a micro-credential to industry specific in-demand skills and competencies
- Help clients connect a micro-credential to specific work or career goals
- Identify if a micro credential can be stacked into certifications, diplomas or degrees to support career pathways
- Encourage clients to explore micro-credentials and digital badges portfolios to better monitor and understand their skills and engage in self-directed learning
- Where possible, engage with local employers to understand their skill gaps and needs to align with available flexible learning and career pathways
There is a growing interest in micro-credentials as a solution to flexible learning, skill gaps and talent mobility challenges. However, the ecosystem is still evolving and requires thorough analysis, research and further collaborations between learners, employers and education providers to build trust, add value and achieve sustainability.
Further reading
- Micro-credentials: Trends in Credit Transfer and Credentialing (BCCAT)
- UNESCO gathers global experts to reflect on a common definition of micro-credentials (UNESCO)
- Future-Proofing the Credentialing Ecosystem: Bringing Microcredentials Into the Fold (The Evolllution)
- Micro credentials fast track to high-demand jobs (Government of BC)
- Digital Fluency Stackable Micro-credentials for the Workforce (Future Skills Centre)
