In recent conversations with business leaders of Iraq, I gained insight into the challenges the country faces in growing its workforce, as well as the tremendous opportunity it has to support the careers and capacity of its younger generation. While the government remains the largest employer in Iraq, private enterprise is rapidly emerging in oil and gas, hospitality, and consumer and logistical services. As businesses seek opportunities to expand in a new and promising market, many struggle to find the skilled labor they require. Recently, IREX met with over thirty multinational and local companies operating in Iraq to gauge their needs and solicit their suggestions for reforming higher education. Here is what we heard:
1. Provide hands-on learning: Students need practical opportunities to apply theoretical knowledge to real world problems. Current pedagogy and curricula rely on lecture-driven instruction; programs and courses are based heavily on technical knowledge and theory with few opportunities for application. New curricula and instructional methods must be developed to incorporate the skills students need for the 21st century workplace.
2. Develop critical thinking and problem solving skills: Business leaders surveyed throughout the past year agreed that a major area for growth lies in developing graduates’ critical thinking and problem solving. Industry representatives noted young people’s eagerness to learn and develop but cited that opportunities to improve the soft skills so crucial to workforce success are lacking in Iraqi education.
3. Reform higher education based on market need: Decentralization of the education system and greater autonomy for academic leaders would speed up changes in university campuses and classrooms and allow a greater nimbleness to respond to dynamic market needs.
4. Provide real world experience through internships: Many students have access to higher education, but graduates often enter their first job with unreal expectations regarding salary, job duties, and employer relations. Internships can equip Iraqi students with real world experience and more realistic expectations and understanding of private sector employment.
5. Strengthen collaboration between higher education and business: Very little coordination between higher education faculty and officials and business leaders has regularly occurs. Consistent communication is critical if universities are to remain responsive to ever-changing market dynamics.
The insights provided by business leaders will be vital as IREX works with partner universities in the US Embassy Baghdad-funded Iraq University Linkages Program [8] to introduce curriculum reform and launch career centers. Businesses and universities in Iraq share a common goal and now a more direct relationship to develop the country’s workforce.