DEGREE OR SKILL? THE AGE-OLD DISCUSSION:

We can think of degree and skill as two ends of the same rope. To thrive in the race of life, a person can have a degree along with skill. A degree without any skill would be as futile as a car without its tires. The degree needs to go hand-in-hand with the skill to be fruitful. Without a skill, a degree is nothing but “certified documentation”. Many people having some sort of skill may not manage to get a degree. Likewise, every degree possessor is not necessarily skilled. The necessity of some degree or skill depends upon organizations, job nature, etc. From a broader perspective, which criteria carry more weight – the degree or the skill?

DEGREE:

• Degree is a verified certificate that a person gets after completing 4-6 years of education.
• He has the theoretical ability to regulate the functioning and requirements of the post.
• A degree draws social esteem. People are usually assessed through their qualifications which are exhibited by their degree.
• The more specialized the degree, the higher the post and higher the salary package.

SKILL:

• Every degree holder is not certainly skilled. It is the skill that benefits in getting the tasks done and not the degree.
• Skill is an abstract expression that cannot be evaluated on bits of paper. 
• It is an extensive spectrum that is nurtured within the individual through the recurred practical implications.
• Most prominent people from history were all skilled people. They didn’t have the “official certifications” for their education.

ISSUES OF GRADUATES:

Private reasons aside, there are bigger issues that many graduates face, stepping into the field, such as:

• Greater competition
• Little to no work experience
• Few or no skillset
• Limited networking
• Lack of proper communication
• Indecisiveness in regard to choosing a field

VOCATIONAL TRAINING VS. TRADITIONAL EDUCATION:

The debates for vocational training vs. traditional education (and vice versa) are mixed, but some of the chief ones sound like the following:

• A degree shows that you have the specialized education an employer might be looking for and that can be used in the workplace.
• Getting an education only proves you can succeed academically, not in a real-world work situation. Vocational training permits you to practically showcase your skills.
• Skill developed through vocational training can make you a suitable match for a particular job today, but one will lack the overall understanding without higher education, you may lack the skills that are important for advancement tomorrow.

THE GAP:

We frequently hear employers complain about the unfortunate gap between what is being taught in traditional educational setups and what they are really expected to do in practice. This is distressing in light of the large and still raising number of people graduating from universities.

But then again, as university qualifications become more common, recruiters frequently demand them, unconcerned of whether they are truly required for a specific job. So, while normal degrees may still lead to higher-paying jobs, the very same employers giving out these jobs are spoiling themselves and young individuals by limiting their candidate pool graduates. In times of variable job evolution, it is hard to argue that the learning process was never linked to a mere degree in ancient times.

STATISTICS AND PSYCHOLOGY:

There are various data-driven arguments that question the actual, other than the noted, value of a traditional degree. Meta-analytic reports have authenticated, long ago, that the relationship between education and technical job performance is weak to none. Factually speaking, researches show that practical intelligence rates are a much better pointer of job potential. If employers were to choose between an applicant with just a degree and an applicant with a high practical intelligence rate, one could expect the latter to defeat the former in most domains. Educational grades are connotative of how much an applicant has studied, but their display on the field indicates their real ability to perform, reason, and analyze logically.

WRONG INDICATORS:

When businesses attach value to traditional degrees, it’s usually because they see them as a certain indicator of an applicant’s intellectual rate. If that is their focus, subjective evaluations should be used instead, it will be much more predictive as vocationally trained people are less confounded with socioeconomic status and demographic variables.

HANDS-ON TRAINING TO BRIDGE THE GAP:

Having stated all that, vocational training could extensively boost the value of the traditional degree if more time is spent teaching their employees critical soft skills as well. Recruiters and businesses are doubtful to be influenced by applicants with just their degrees with no skill to showcase. This is possibly one of the most prominent differences between university graduates and vocationally trained people. While employers want candidates with higher levels of EQ, skills, resilience, empathy, and integrity. As the influence of AI and disruptive technology advances, vocationally trained applicants who can perform tasks that machines cannot are becoming more worthy and that stresses the growing importance of soft skills, which are hard for machines to imitate. All this also provides a huge opening for traditional graduates to restore their importance by enrolling in some vocational training camps and bridging the learning gap.

In short, the business world requires a clear call for a criterion shift and everyone should start considering vocational training as the real deal. More and more people are spending more and more money on getting an education, with their main goal being considerably pragmatic: to boost their employability. Even if the significance attached to a traditional degree is profitable to those who get it, businesses can help switch the narrative by putting less emphasis on “educational degree” as a standard of intellectual ability and work potential, rather preferably, advance towards hiring with vocationally trained skillful applicants.

IS A TRADITIONAL DEGREE BEING COMPETENT ENOUGH:

Here are some reasons why wanting a degree may not always be the most competent option:

You could be blowing away top talent – There are numerous reasons applicants don’t get traditional degrees – from the expense of tuition to the need of making ends meet. It’s essential to look at the individual’s traits to work/life encounters to skills to conclude if they have the aptitude for a given position.

PERKS OF VOCATIONAL TRAINING:

Vocational training can prepare talent for key positions. Some people know specifically what they aspire to do, be it an IT specialist or product developer. They may have detoured the costly and lengthy degree path and opted for vocational training to get the skills they want.  

Vocational training on the company’s premises might be one of the best ways to prepare employees – Many businesses, even licensed firms, have designed in-depth training plans to equip new hires for the literal role they will be doing. These programs assist employees not only with the technological skills they may need but also help introduce them to the field.

DIFFERENT VOCATIONAL TRAINING SITES:

The workplaces are frequently used as a vocational training place for people. The idea of quality vocational training exercises for applicants is often based on completing requirements of education and production as well, keeping in consideration of contextual and experimental approaches for training, and using instructional strategies that vary from traditional methods. Action learning is best practiced via vocational training. But the only problem with workplaces is that everything might get overwhelming.

VOCATIONAL TRAINING CENTER IS ONE OF THE BEST LEARNING PLACES

What makes the vocational training center one of the best learning places for people? This question should be our top priority. In schools, instructors use the curriculum, schooling plans, homework, quizzes, etc as the base structure of an instructional plan with a definite formation, which can be performed with uniform quality that can be assessed. However, when the place of learning shifts, learning possibilities are shift as well. 

The quality of learning can be assured, how? All workplaces are different, across and within businesses. They provide different results and services, for various divisions of the market, and administration structures. All this might end up creating confusion in learning.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORKS OF VOCATIONAL TRAINING

Conceptual frameworks are there to aid this effort in established perception and vocational learning methods, and in the vocational analysis models of training development. Training approaches used in vocational training programs add to the harmony of how learning happens in the field. These conceptual approaches on contextual and vocational learning can be crucial in addressing the following questions: 

What do we perceive about how learning happens in such environments? What are the aspects of quality vocational learning? What does this inform us on how to devise training activities for such learning places? How exactly does our learning system need to be restructured to provide students with a quality learning experience?

VOCATIONAL TRAINING TASK ANALYSIS

Vocational learning, including disciplined reflection on the affairs that includes reflective observations, making sense of information, and applying that knowledge in other situations. Innovative problem-solving methods, involving problem definition, analysis, and implementation of the preferred solution. Acquisition of related experience from other people, print or computerized sources. Vocational co-learning boot camps, where people support each other and add knowledge from their personal wisdom and experience. All this is developed to help fill the gap between what employees do and what an academic plan teaches. Task division catalogs work requirements of precise job positions using data about tasks executed by employees in that position to develop learning and training programs based on the certainties of that job position. It identifies what a job involves and how to accomplish the job.

Vocational training task analysis accumulates data about work practices from studies with job occupants, perceptions of job responsibilities being executed, and employee interviews, as well. Examinations of employees may additionally outline how significant vocational training is to perform a certain job.