What is Micro-credentialing? Is this the future?

by Crystal Langat

So what are micro-credentials anyways? Micro-credentials typically encompass a limited series of modules or project-based components and cultivate a range of skills or competencies. Micro-credentials are sometimes grouped to offer learners more usage and they can offer flexibility and hard skills often in a short or accelerated time frame. Often the more credentials learners accumulate and take the more they increase their value among the job market. This can be a great way to create more pathways to better or higher paying jobs. They have become a valid add on to traditional degrees and sometime in place of one all together.

For busy professionals, micro-credentials offer many advantages over the traditional degree or diploma. For instance the ability to save time, typically having a reduced course load, saving money due to greater affordability, and getting increased specificity for the learners career path. Additionally, the global pandemic has accelerated online learning adoption, creating increased accessibility to online credentials and their acceptance in the knowledge economy. Micro-credentials affordability, specificity, and time frame may be the key to a strong Covid-19 recovery as a way to get more skilled entrants into the workforce. Furthermore, Employers have come to value micro-credentialing for their ability to increase lifelong learning, continuous workforce development, productivity, and retention. As a result in the past couple of years colleges and universities have been gradually expanded to offer online, skill and competency based courses, or micro-credentials in partnership with different industry and business partners. We believe that this will only increase in the coming years.

So what does this mean for women leaders today?

Be on the lookout for opportunities to get micro-credentials, upskill, retrain, and retool. There are so many opportunities out there we don’t want you to miss out. To learn about our current program the " Canadian Career Plus Program™ " (CC+P™) click below.

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References:

https://www.ecampusontario.ca/new-report-analyzes-canadas-micro-credential-trends-and-knowledge-as-online-learning-and-demand-for-skills-rise/

https://medium.com/the-higher-learning-futurist/microcredentialing-and-the-future-of-higher-ed-46d67c8a60fc