Coursera: Egyptian graduates seek jobs in data science and software development

Today, Coursera, one of the largest distance learning platforms in the world, released the University Skills Report 2022. The report reveals the most important jobs that students around the world seek to obtain, and the most important skills they seek to master The report also mentions the main steps that higher education institutions can take to meet the needs of the labor market in various sectors, and to increase graduates’ chances of obtaining suitable jobs. According to the “Coursera” report, Egyptian students are moving towards technical jobs in several different fields such as software development, and data science.

While the graduation of students today requires new skills to enter the labor market, new skills - which have been reshaped as a result of the development the world has gone through and the crises it has faced - employers on the one hand and students on the other hand suffer from a mismatch between the skills that graduates master and those that they require. The labor market, however, the University Skills Report 2022 provides evidence of tangible progress in this direction, as educated Egyptians are studying aiming at obtaining jobs that are in line with the needs of the labor market, which offers a competitive advantage in a country with the largest number of youth in the region where One in four people was without a job in 2019.

Investing in digital skills is the path taken by learners to be ready to obtain fast-growing jobs within existing institutions, and these skills also enable them to launch their own projects as companies Emerging, especially in light of the country’s encouragement of this trend, which contributes to achieving development at a faster pace, and among the nine countries that were highlighted, Egypt occupied the highest percentage of students wishing to join software development jobs (22%) upon graduation. In addition, It appeared that 13% of Egyptian students hoped to become data scientists, while 7% of them chose machine learning engineering as the best career choice, and no other job had more than 5% of the 2,300 Egyptian students.

Anthony Tattersall, Vice President of Coursera for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said that the changing skills map creates more diversity and the need for different job opportunities, and it is expected that 149 million new digital jobs will emerge worldwide by 2025.

The report added that Egyptian learners are highly motivated about high-growth career paths, and cooperation between higher education institutions, governments, and various industrial sectors will help ensure that students' enthusiasm is directed in the right direction towards mastering the required high-quality skills, which will help narrow skills gaps at both levels. local and regional.

The percentage of students who chose “software development” as a preferred profession The first is Egypt 22% The second is India 18% The third is the United States 12% The fourth is Turkey 10%.

The University Skills Report 2022 also revealed the following points:

• Globally, the top jobs demanded by learners are: data scientist, data analyst, software engineer, machine learning engineer, and marketing specialist. •

While some learners have made progress in achieving a basic proficiency score in job-related skills, the majority have not achieved the target proficiency score needed to move into and obtain these jobs.

• Students of arts and humanities, who aspire to become university professors and teachers in educational stages from kindergarten to twelfth grade, give priority to communication skills, scientific research and writing.

• Business administration students showed an interest in the field of data analysis and financial analysis equal to their interest in the field of marketing and consulting, and these students seek to join computer programming programs and machine learning to build distinguished capabilities in dealing with data. .

• Engineering students primarily prefer jobs as software engineer and data scientist, so they prioritize core skills such as mathematics, statistical programming, and computer programming.

• The data scientist job is the preferred job for health sciences students, so they learn data analysis skills, data management, and general statistics that can help them in the field of healthcare technology.

• One of the most important jobs that social sciences students choose is researcher, data analyst, and economist. To complement their research skills, they choose statistical programming and business analysis skills.

Looking at 3.8 million learners from 3,600 universities using Coursera's free or paid learning system, the report measures the proficiency of undergraduate learners in emerging fields, and identifies the paths these learners take from learning skills to getting a job in 10 academic disciplines It also highlights the trend in learners' choice of skills in 9 countries.

In order to prepare the next generation of talented workforce, higher education institutions are increasingly linking skills-based learning with those required in the recruitment process, using diverse learning models to deliver high-quality, low-cost, and inclusive learning experiences. It is widely accessible to students.