For the past several years, there has been much focus about the demands of current employers and what educational institutions can do to prepare its students to meet those demands.  The focus has come from both international and national institutions including the UN, the World Economic Forum, and the UAE’s Ministry of Education.

As a way to further the discussion on this issue, the CHSS is proud to be hosting the Future Skills and Employability Forum.  It will be an opportunity for stakeholders from the educational and employment sectors to discuss what future actions can be taken to ensure our college graduates are prepared on Day One to successfully carry out the demands of their employers.

The CHSS is uniquely poised to host such a forum.  Current employers are asking that our students be prepared in both hard skills including statistical analysis and artificial intelligence; and soft skills such as cooperation and ethics.  In fact, these four specific skills and others are currently being taught in some form within the CHSS.  Therefore, I feel confident that our CHSS participants together with those who are attending from outside our College will be able to have a productive collaboration.

I would like to wish you a very warm welcome to the Forum and hope it will be a productive and useful day for everyone.

 

Prof. Hassan Alnaboodah, 
Dean, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, United Arab Emirates University