Twenty-First Century Work Skills and Competencies

Abstract

The twenty-first century has borne witness to a steadily increasing pattern of global interdependence, a keystone of which has been the progressive and seemingly inescapable conjoining of economic activity throughout the world. This trajectory has been amplified by the role being paid by technology of all forms, but most especially (perhaps!) those that link information, computing, communication, and automation. Whereas, 20-some years ago, David Harvey’s judgment that contemporary globalization had resulted in the annihilation of time and space seemed perhaps to border on overstatement, today it is a proposition that few would contest (1990). Situated in the center of this transformation is the nature of work in economies of all stripes, as these forces of change rapidly influence the kinds of work being done, where, and by whom. Closely linked to these phenomena is the myriad of ties that link education at all levels with what we can more appropriately term the “worlds of work.” It is also true, that there remains a digital divide that shuts out over 60 percent of the world that does not participate in those aspects of globalization that require this form of technology. This fact has significant implications for the link between learning and work (see Internet World Stats, available online at http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm).