The top 10 in-demand jobs in 2010 did not exist in 2004.

This means that we are currently preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist, to use technologies that haven’t yet been invented, in order to solve problems we don’t yet know are problems.

Universities face a challenge to improve their standards of research and teaching in a way that meets stakeholders’ short-term needs, while positively contributing to the long-term shaping of our society.

Leaders will need to be far more innovative and challenging of the status quo, while retaining and reinforcing the need for academic rigor and discipline.

The education sector will also experience:

-A dramatic increase in competition from institutions at home and overseas
-Exponential growth of online learning
-Inefficiencies of staff and building management
-Students (customers) having ever-widening choices in methods of delivery
-An increase in subject areas (everything from carpentry to nuclear physics), which will require more specialist teachers

Universities also need to consider infrastructure challenges. They will need to scale up not just their staff, but also their physical infrastructure to accommodate the influx of student numbers. Limited real estate poses a serious threat to expanding physically, which means administrators must be able to execute growth strategies virtually or with

With the sector increasingly offering e-learning and technology solutions, current IT systems, platforms and overall structure will also need to be addressed.