How might micro-credentials influence institutions and empower learners in higher education?

Figures & data

Table 1. Overview of the drivers and experts’ evaluation of relevance for multiple impacts.

Type of driver	Driver	Appearance of impacts (Step 3)	Overall importance score*
Technology drivers	A reliable, portable and secure technical platform for data exchange.	Key driver for 5/10 impacts	4.2
	Open badges and other credentialing technologies that enable transparency and recognition.	Key driver for 6/10 impacts	4.0
	Making use of artificial intelligence to personalise the learning and teaching experience.	Key driver for 6/10 impacts	2.0
	Open-source tech based on commonly agreed-upon European standards.	Key driver for 2/10 impacts	1.6
	Building upon existing infrastructure instead of ‘reinventing the wheel’.	Key driver for 2/10 impacts	1.0
	Making use of blockchain to link learning to a learner’s identity.	Key driver for 2/10 impacts	0.4
Policy drivers	National-level strategies created with cooperation between ministries, HEIs and employers.	Key driver for 7/10 impacts	6.4
	Defining levels of micro-credentials in accordance with national qualification frameworks (NQFs).	Key driver for 3/10 impacts	2.4
	Inclusion of micro-credentials in the standards and guidelines for quality assurance in the European Higher Education Area (i.e. Bologna process).	Key driver for 4/10 impacts	2.4
	Europe-wide trusted platform.	Key driver for 6/10 impacts	2.4
	Connecting commercial employment platforms to European educational institutions.	Key driver for 4/10 impacts	1.8

* The score indicates how highly the expert participants ranked each driver in relation to the various impacts.

Table 2. Experts’ evaluation of potential impacts and barriers for the three alternative scenarios.

Theme	Impact	Scenario 1/2/3*	Impact realised	Key barriers for the impacts
Impact oninstitutions	Institutions offer flexible and more personalised learning opportunities.	1	Yes	Lack of trust in micro-credentials. Resistance towards further digitalisation in terms of micro-credential adoption.
		2	No	Strategies are missing to allow implementation. Absence of mutual trust between HEIs, especially at an international level.
		3	Yes	Lack of a trusted list of micro-credential issuers.
	Institutions utilise micro-credentials as a means of recognising the skills and competences of learners and teachers.	1	Yes	Lack of common format for describing learning. Lack of portability for credentials.
		2	Yes	Lack of job market studies to determine which skills are industry-demanded.
		3	No	Lack of common recognition frameworks. Setting up (quality) frameworks necessitates large-scale collaboration and agreement, which is very challenging if only a limited number of HEIs become involved.
	Stackable micro-credentials have enabled the adoption of new business models for HEI professional bodies.	1	Yes	Lack of consensus among the traditional HE community.
		2	Yes	Lack of clear definition and agreements about the roles the different institutions will play in the micro-credential value chain.
		3	No	Reputation of issuing organisations will dominate the market and contribute on formation of monopolies.
	New educational ecosystems have emerged, consisting of universities, employers and educational content providers.	1	Yes	Cooperation in defining the skill requirement. Establishment of a dialogue regarding an ongoing timeframe.
		2	Yes	Absence of means of direct collaboration between industry actors and HEIs.
		3	No	Setting up collaborative educational models requires sufficient members on a level playing field, which will not be the case in this scenario.
	Dropout rates are reduced.	1	No	Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programmes are seen as the only measure of educational competence.
		2	No	The non-flexible composition of study programmes versus the flexible nature of micro-credentials.
		3	Yes	Learners in the most disadvantaged circumstances will require local support (possibly from community organisations, charities, etc.).
Impact on learners	Skill mismatch is decreased and employability is enhanced.	1	Yes	Lack of trust in micro-credentials.
		2	No	Industry endorsement of skills and competences within the reference framework.
		3	No	Employer would need to understand how to submit skills for validation or request information on new skills developed in certain occupations.
	Student motivation, responsibility, and determination are increased, enabling effective learning.	1	Yes	Underestimating the importance of micro-credentials in learning and motivation.
		2	No	Lack of awareness about micro-credentials and their importance.
		3	Yes	The various platforms used to display and claim badges and credentials make it difficult to collect the various achievements in one place.
	The underlying metadata on skills and competences contained in micro-credentials has enabled learners to express learning outcomes beyond simple participation certification.	1	Yes	A common understanding and usage of vocabulary for standardised metadata describing micro-credentials and learning management systems.
		2	No	The semantics and competence mappings are very different across organisations and complex systems are difficult to implement, given wide adoption.
		3	Yes	Open badges may not be viewed as credible by some providers.
	Participation of disadvantaged people is increased through lifelong learning and flexibilisation of learning, thus contributing to the well-being of society.	1	Yes	None identified by the group.
		2	No	Differences in study benefits and the costs of studying between countries; general goals of accessing any studies on a large scale are problematic. Differences in learning needs (as in special educational needs).
		3	No	Free learning opportunities do not contribute to inclusiveness, per se; often, the more expensive programmes have better visibility and have better job placements available, depending on the skills one wants to learn.
	Students are more prepared for jobs that did not previously exist and are able to anticipate future needs.	1	Yes	None identified by the group.
		2	Yes	None identified by the group.
		3	No	The high fees of some micro-credential offers made them unaffordable or unattractive. Stackability does not work: HEIs and professional bodies are reluctant to recognise micro-credentials. Information problem: learners find it difficult to identify suitable online courses/micro-credentials.

*Scenario 1 = HEIs fully embrace micro-credentials (Wide-scale adoption); Scenario 2 = HEIs partially embrace micro-credentials (Partial adoption); Scenario 3 = HEIs minimally embrace micro-credentials (Minimal adoption).