The Skills Gap: Why Traditional Education Fails to Prepare Students for Modern Workforce Demands

Authors

  • Rajesh Sahu Associate Professor TIT, Bhopal.
  • Shailendra Vishwakarma Assistant Professor, TRUBA Institute, Bhopal.
  • Ashok Soni Assitant, Professor, TIT, Bhopal.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.69968/ijisem.2025v4i2223-229

Keywords:

Skills gap, Technological innovations, Modern Workforce Demands, Traditional Education, Artificial intelligence

Abstract

In the dynamic workplace of today, the skills gap is a major problem. This mismatch, which can be defined as the difference between the abilities that employers need and the skills that workers possess, has become worse as sectors quickly change due to technology advancements and changing consumer expectations. The present article encompasses a comprehensive review of the diverse literature that has investigated the skills divide among students in traditional education in response to the demands of the contemporary workforce. It concluded that the widening skills gap highlights the urgent need for reform in traditional education systems. Current curricula often fall short in equipping students with the specialized technical and soft skills demanded by today’s rapidly evolving job market. The rise of automation and emerging technologies requires a shift toward continuous, accessible, and industry-aligned learning. To bridge this gap, educational institutions must collaborate with industry leaders, embrace flexible learning models, and prioritize lifelong skill development to ensure graduates are truly prepared for the modern workforce.

References

[1] G. Srivastava, N. Nigam, and A. Kapoor, "Transforming Education: A Significant Leap from Traditional to Modern Education Space," Eur. Econ. Lett., vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 71-77, 2023.

[2] Y. Wang, "A Comparative Study on the Effectiveness of Traditional and Modern Teaching Methods," Int. Conf. Humanit. Educ. Soc. Sci. (ICHESS 2022), pp. 270-277, 2022,https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-494069-89-3_32

[3] M.-C. Suciu, M.-O. Mitucă, A.-G. Stativă, A.-M. Bocăneală, and D.-G. Mihai, "An empirical analysis of modern employees and their demands. How well-established enterprises cope with their expectations," Proc. Int. Conf. Bus. Excell., vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 149-158, 2022,https://doi.org/10.2478/picbe-2022-0015

[4] H. Tushar and N. Sooraksa, "Global employability skills in the 21st century workplace: A semi-systematic literature review," Heliyon, vol. 9, no. 11, p. e21023, 2023,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e21023

[5] J. W. Lai, L. Zhang, C. C. Sze, and F. S. Lim, "Learning Analytics for Bridging the Skills Gap: A Data-Driven Study of Undergraduate Aspirations and Skills Awareness for Career Preparedness," Educ. Sci., vol. 15, no. 1, 2025,https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15010040

[6] M. Poláková, J. H. Suleimanová, P. Madzík, L. Copuš, I. Molnárová, and J. Polednová, "Soft skills and their importance in the labour market under the conditions of Industry 5.0," Heliyon, vol. 9, no. 8, 2023,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e18670

[7] J. Hu, "The Challenge of Traditional Teaching Approach: A Study on the Path to Improve Classroom Teaching Effectiveness Based on Secondary School Students' Psychology," Proc. 2nd Int. Conf. Soc. Psychol. Humanit. Stud., vol. 50, no. 1, pp. 213-219, 2024,https://doi.org/10.54254/2753-7048/50/20240945

[8] C. Teschers, T. Neuhaus, and M. Vogt, "Troubling the boundaries of traditional schooling for a rapidly changing future-Looking back and looking forward," Educ. Philos. Theory, vol. 56, no. 9, pp. 873-884, 2024,https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2024.2321932

[9] S. Vishwakarma, P. Gupta, and A. Soni, "Employment-Oriented Education in India : Challenges, Evidence, and Pathways Forward," Int. J. Innov. Sci. Eng. Manag., pp. 176-180, 2025,https://doi.org/10.69968/ijisem.2025v4i2176-180

[10] M. N. Vyas, "Traditional Learning Students insights," J. Pharm. Negat. Results ¦, vol. 13, no. 7, p. 2022, 2023, doi: 10.47750/pnr.2022.13.S07.502.

[11] M. Oda Abunamous, A. Boudouaia, M. Jebril, S. Diafi, and M. Zreik, "The decay of traditional education: A case study under covid-19," Cogent Educ., vol. 9, no. 1, 2022,https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2022.2082116

[12] R. Yusvana, "Addressing the Skills Gap in Technical and Vocational Training for Sustainable Socio-Economic Growth and Development," Int. J. Res. Innov. Soc. Sci., vol. VII, no. IIIS, 2025,https://doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS

[13] B. N. Uyal, E. B. Yel, and O. Korhan, "Impact of traditional education and tablet-assisted education on students: A comparative analysis," Eurasia J. Math. Sci. Technol. Educ., vol. 13, no. 11, pp. 7205-7213, 2017,https://doi.org/10.12973/ejmste/79045

[14] W. Alice, T. Eric, and D. Noel, "Bridging the Skills Gap: AI's Role in Continuous Learning Versus Traditional Methods in Modern Workplaces," Res. gate, no. April, 2025.

[15] C. Buckley and M. F. C. Jorge, "Upskilling for the Modern Workplace: A Case Study on the Most Effective Training Methods and Tools for Bridging the Skills Gap," Int. J. Adv. Corp. Learn. vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 94-108, 2024.https://doi.org/10.3991/ijac.v17i4.51277

[16] A. M. S. Cabueños, M. C. R. Panganiban, and J. S. Fernando, "The Evolution of Learning: Exploring the Impact of Modern Technology and Traditional Learning on Students' Development," Psychol. Educ. A Multidiscip. J., vol. 17, no. 7, 2024, doi: 10.5281/zenodo.10785217.

[17] P. K. Tee, L. C. Wong, M. Dada, B. L. Song, and C. P. Ng, "Demand for digital skills, skill gaps and graduate employability: Evidence from employers in Malaysia," F1000Research, vol. 13, no. June, 2024,https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.148514.1

[18] N. Fajaryati, Budiyono, M. Akhyar, and Wiranto, "The employability skills needed to face the demands of work in the future: Systematic literature reviews," Open Eng., vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 595-603, 2020,https://doi.org/10.1515/eng-2020-0072

[19] C. Sarin, "Analyzing Skill Gap between Higher Education and Employability," Res. J. Humanit. Soc. Sci., vol. 10, no. 3, p. 941, 2019,https://doi.org/10.5958/2321-5828.2019.00154.2

Downloads

Published

30-05-2025

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

[1]
Sahu, R. et al. 2025. The Skills Gap: Why Traditional Education Fails to Prepare Students for Modern Workforce Demands. International Journal of Innovations in Science, Engineering And Management. 4, 2 (May 2025), 223–229. DOI:https://doi.org/10.69968/ijisem.2025v4i2223-229.