Drivers of the global push for microcredentials in higher education: flexibility and employability in contemporary university systems

ABSTRACT

The recent emergence of microcredentials, short courses leading to accreditation with an emphasis on work-aligned skills, is worthy of note due to its speed, scale and accompanying endorsement from governments and influential non-state actors worldwide. This paper analyses the reasons for this rapid growth which have been proposed in academic literature and policy documents, revealing a set of drivers associated with neoliberalism’s impact on higher education systems, such as the increasing demand for universities to offer vocational learning leading to improved employability outcomes. Beyond this, the global microcredentials landscape speaks to a wider conception of modern labour markets as markedly unstable and requiring great flexibility to navigate. The paper concludes with recommendations for higher education management practice in response to the microcredential boom in light of its underlying character.

KEYWORDS:

• Microcredentials
• employability
• neoliberalism
• higher education
• flexibility

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Dan Davies, Jürgen Enders, Miriam Reynoldson and Ana Castaño Arques for their comments on an earlier version of this piece, and for the anonymous reviewers for their feedback.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

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Michael Salmon

Michael Salmon is a doctoral student at the University of Bath’s International Centre for Higher Education Management (ICHEM), where his research explores higher education policy and strategy. He has worked in a number of academic and managerial roles in international education and digital education. He is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.