67. Long Life Learning and Preparing for Jobs That Don’t Even Exist Yet: A Conversation with Michelle R. Weise, PhD

Michelle Weise is an expert in higher education and in the development of more innovative workforce and talent pipelines. A former Senior Research Fellow in Higher Education at The Christensen Institute, she joined us on The Disruptive Voice to reflect on her career over the last decade, which has concentrated on preparing working-age adults for the jobs of both today and tomorrow. Hosted by Katie Zandbergen, they discuss Michelle's experiences working with Clayton Christensen, her thoughts on the disruptive potential of online competency-based education, her time in the role of Chief Innovation Officer at Southern New Hampshire University (where she lived the innovator’s dilemma!) and, of course, her newly-published book, “Long Life Learning: Preparing for Jobs That Don’t Even Exist Yet”. 

In that book, Michelle considers questions of huge consequence, including “Can a four year degree earned at the beginning of a 100 year career possibly prepare us for all that is to come in our professional lives?”, “Why is education overdue for momentous changes?”, and “How can the existing education system adapt in order to meet the needs of a new generation of workers?” She takes listeners on a journey from considerations of our current system of education and learners’ engagement with the labor market to designing and building a learning ecosystem that better meets the needs of all of us, the future’s working learners. This conversation is a fascinating listen for anyone interested in higher education, the labor market, and the future of work in an age of longevity.