- Title
- Virtual reality bridging the gap between work experience required and university qualifications in South Africa
- Creator
- Gwatiringa, Tsitsi
- Subject
- Employment forecasting -- South Africa
- Subject
- Labor supply -- South Africa -- Forecasting Work environment -- South Africa -- Forecasting
- Date Issued
- 2019
- Date
- 2019
- Type
- Thesis
- Type
- Masters
- Type
- MBA
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10948/42331
- Identifier
- vital:36646
- Description
- Increasing technological evolutions are constantly requiring humankind to reform how we plan for the future. Pervasive technologies such as Virtual Reality are making our working life and education to become more digital, complex and interconnected. The job landscape has already been disrupted by the Fourth Industrial Revolution (FIR). The way we work and learn is set to be transformed as the jobs people have and required skills necessary for success are some of the areas most impacted by technological advances such as the FIR and this is particularly concerning for the South African context. New ways of education are required in order to allow future employees to flexibly react to the future world of work and meet the demands of such a digitised working environment. The expected future trajectory of the job landscape may present challenges but there are also unique opportunities. By way of the futures methodology, the intention of this research was to systematically make inquiries, create, suggest and test foreseeable and desirable future visions. Ultimately, the purpose of the research was to assess and suggest plausible futures for the future of education and future of jobs in South Africa. The Six Pillars of Futures Studies approach to research by Inayatullah was applied throughout this study. The mapping (environmental scanning) of Virtual Reality technologies as a driver of change was done, highlighting the impact of such technology on tertiary education and on the world of work. The purpose of the environmental scanning was to uncover existing and driving forces that will influence the future of tertiary education and the future of work. The Causal Layer Analysis (CLA) was the primary futures methodology applied in this research. CLA was used to investigate deeper causal issues from various viewpoints in order to formulate scenarios for the future. The study developed four different future scenarios, namely, “Virtually Going & Thriving”, “Running on Fumes”, “Sneaky Turn” and “Oh Snap! Never Left”. These scenarios can be used as departure points for bridging the gap between education qualifications and skills requirement for jobs in South Africa. Formulated from the “Virtually Going & Thriving" scenario the recommended vision, "Future Vision of Education and Work in South Africa towards 2030" incorporates a realistic, attainable and desirable future that could foreground the improvement of the skills gap in the South African context. The desired future of education and future of work in South Africa is a result of transformation of the tertiary education sector and the acceptance of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, of digital learning, of the new world of work, the demand for new skills - it is a future where Virtual Reality technology is being applied in an innovative approach to equip students with the right skills, to reskill and upskill workers in the workplace and technologies have been leveraged for a sustainable future. The preferred future offered by this research, the “Future Vision of Education and Work in South Africa towards 2030" envisages an education system that broadens access to opportunities and provides the skills and competences that people need to thrive in a new sustainable economy. Education 4.0 can bring a radical shift in the way people think, act and discharge their responsibilities to one another and to the planet. The programmes instituted by "Future Vision of Education and Work in South Africa towards 2030" will build knowledge, skills and values that will be pivotal for the sustainable future of South Africa as a nation.
- Format
- iv, 164 leaves
- Format
- Publisher
- Nelson Mandela University
- Publisher
- Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences
- Language
- English
- Rights
- Nelson Mandela University
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
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| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | Final Copy for Graduation MBA Treatise Tsitsi.pdf | 1 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |