UAE students believe earning a Professional Certificate can help them get a job after graduation: Coursera study

UAE students believe earning a Professional Certificate can help them get a job after graduation: Coursera study

Dubai, UAE: With advances in digitalization, data, and artificial intelligence expected to create up to 97 million new jobs while displacing 85 million existing roles, the need for large-scale skills development has never been greater. In this context, Coursera, a global online learning platform, led a student and employer-focused survey that explored the motivations, needs, and challenges of students pursuing a degree and employers seeking to hire them.

In partnership with universities and colleges across the globe, Coursera’s Advancing Higher Education with Industry Micro-Credential Survey Report explores the demands for entry-level Professional Certificates and career-related skills training deployed in degree programs to improve student recruitment and graduate employability. Coursera surveyed nearly 5,000 students and employers across 11 countries, including the UAE, in collaboration with two market research firms, Dynata and Repdata.

With the UAE focused on changing its perception as an oil-driven economy by heavily investing in technology and start-ups in the coming decade, job prospects in the country are only expected to boom. As a result, the majority of students in the country are looking for fast-tracked pathways to well-paying jobs.

New Coursera data indicates that 97% of students in the UAE agree that earning a Professional Certificate from companies like Google