GoKawiilThe rapid ascent of artificial intelligence and semiconductor manufacturing has created a paradox: Industries are booming yet they face a critical shortage of skilled workers. Demand for data center technicians, fabrication facility workers, and similar positions is growing. There aren’t enough candidates with the right skill sets to fill the in-demand jobs.
Although those technical roles are essential, they don’t always require a four-year degree—which has paved the way for skills-based microcredentials. By partnering with higher education institutions and training providers, industry leaders are helping to design targeted skills programs that quickly turn learners into job-ready technical professionals.
The new standard for skills validation
Because microcredentials are relatively new, consistency is key. Through its credentialing program, IEEE serves as a bridge between academia and industry. Developed and managed by IEEE Educational Activities, the program offers standardized credentials in collaboration with training organizations and universities seeking to provide skills-based qualifications outside formal degree programs. IEEE, as the world’s largest technical professional organization, has more than 30 years of experience offering industry-relevant credentials and expertise in global standardization.
IEEE is setting the benchmark for skills-based microcredentials by establishing a framework that includes assessment methods, qualifications for instructors and assessors, and criteria for skill levels.
A recent collaboration with the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles, for example, developed microcredentials for USC’s semiconductor cleanroom program. USC heads the CA Dreams microelectronics innovation hub.
“The IEEE framework allows us to rapidly prototype training programs and adapt on the fly in a way that building new university courses—much less degree programs—won’t allow.” —Adam Stieg
IEEE worked with USC to create standardized skills assessments and associated microcredentials so that industry hiring managers can recognize the newly developed skills. The microcredentials help people with or without four-year degrees join the semiconductor industry as cleanroom technicians or as engineers with cleanroom experience.
IEEE also has partnered with the California NanoSystems Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, to create skills-based microcredentials for its cleanroom protocol and safety program.
Best practices for designing microcredentials
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