Sustainable Educational Ecosystems: Bridging the Gap between Educational Programs and in-Demand Market Skills

Abstract

With the technological advancements, academics and educational programs’ developers need to provide students with competences and skills that match the market’s demand. The article considers the problems of updating educational programs and content, taking into account changing requirements of standards and employers for qualifications and competencies of specialists. It is shown that the updating process in transition to an innovative and digital economy is associated with the transition to the convergence model of education. The authors have developed a basic model for updating educational programs based on the convergence approach. The presented framework benefits both academia and industry by enhancing the programs and therefore bridging the skills gap.