




































AGORA International Journal of Economical Sciences, http://univagora.ro/jour/index.php/aijes 

ISSN 2067-3310, E-ISSN 2067-7669 

Vol. 18, No. 1 (2024), pp. 132-143 

 

132 

 

ADAPTING TO CHANGE IN THE MODERN WORLD: SKILLS 

DEVELOPMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION FOR ECONOMIC AND 

SUSTAINABILITY ISSUES 

 

A. MUSTAFAZADA 

 

Ayshan Mustafazada  

Azerbaijan University of Languages, Azerbaijan  

https://orcid.org/0009-0004-6687-7400, E-mail: ayshan.mustafazada@adu.edu.az  

 

Abstract: The capacity to adapt to change is critical for both individual achievement 

and societal growth in the quickly changing global scene of today. This study investigates how 

higher education can provide students with the tools they need to successfully handle 

difficulties related to sustainability and the economy. Utilizing multidisciplinary viewpoints 

from the fields of education, economics and environmental studies, this research delves into 

the tactics and methods used by universities to cultivate flexibility and fortitude in their 

students. This research attempts to uncover critical competencies and pedagogical strategies 

that support skill development for solving complex economic and sustainability concerns by 

looking at case studies and best practices from different educational environments. This 

research also examines the relationship between environmental sustainability and economic 

growth, highlighting the value of holistic methods in the creation of curricula for higher 

education. In the end, this study adds to the continuing conversation about the role of higher 

education in equipping students to prosper in a changing, globally interconnected world where 

sustainability and adaptation are essential to long-term success and the welfare of society. 

Additionally, this article emphasizes the significance of acquiring 21st-century skills for 

success in the contemporary workforce, including as critical thinking, creativity, cooperation, 

communication, and technological literacy. In order to successfully solve economic and 

environmental concerns, the research ends with recommendations for enhancing programmes 

for skill development, funding faculty development, encouraging multidisciplinary 

collaboration, and interacting with stakeholders. 

Keywords: Higher education, sustainability, economic growth, pedagogical strategies 

 

INTRODUCTION 

Rapid technology breakthroughs, economic transformations, and environmental issues 

require higher education to take a proactive approach to skill development in light of the ever-

changing modern world. Formerly focused only on academic information acquisition, the 

traditional model of higher education today has to provide students with the adaptable skill sets 

needed to deal with changing economic and sustainability issues. This introduction explores 

the vital role that higher education institutions play in helping students develop resilience and 

flexibility so they are ready to flourish in a world where change is a constant.  

https://orcid.org/0009-0004-6687-7400
mailto:ayshan.mustafazada@adu.edu.az


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The economic landscape has changed dramatically as a result of globalisation, 

automation, and the creation of new industries. This has brought about both opportunities and 

challenges. Higher education establishments must therefore place a significant priority on 

developing abilities like critical thinking, problem-solving, entrepreneurship, and adaptability. 

In addition to making graduates more employable, these abilities enable them to spur economic 

growth, foster innovation, and negotiate the uncertainties of a labour market that is changing 

quickly.  

Stronger ties between academia and business are clearly advantageous to both parties, 

unless it takes up time that a professor should be using to assist students. While working with 

businesses is “the third task” for universities in the Nordic region, many of these institutions 

do not charge tuition; yet government financing for these institutions ranges from 20% to 35% 

(Bridgestock, 2021). The government of Japan separated HEIs into multiple groups and gave 

the instructions on how to locate their own revenue streams (Destination Guides, 2021). In 

many nations, HEIs are becoming increasingly distinct from one another as a result of their 

uneven success in these endeavours. Furthermore, a number of knowledgeable obsevers assert 

that even with better didactics, the declining quality of instruction cannot be entirely offset. 

Another difficulty facing HEIs is how to integrate the Sustainable Development Goals 

(SDGs) into their institutional, scientific, and pedagogical processes on a worldwide scale. The 

majority of the world’s top institutions compete in Times Higher Education THE’s Impact 

Ranking (Impact Rankings, 2021), which indicates how closely they adhere to the SDGs, which 

were endorsed by all UN members in 2015. A total of 767 institutions from 86 countries took 

part in the 2019 THE ranking; nevertheless, 82% of them are located in high-income nations.  

These changes suggest that higher education is becoming increasingly cognizant of the 

consequences of contemporary, post-industrial society in academia. The 21st century demands 

a completely distinct knowledge base abs skill set due to its intensity and complexity, which 

includes understanding the sociopsychological characteristics of young people who are 

preparing to enter the workforce. A university cannot meet the highest scientific standards on 

its own. Regardless of the precise responsibilities they will play in society or the economy, 

they are now expected to be able and motivated to instil in young people the ideals of 

sustainable development and a feeling of social responsibility. Regretfully, not many 

governments recognise the need for constant assistance and sufficient financing for this.  

In conclusion, the necessity of developing new abilities in higher education is 

highlighted by the need to adjust to change in the current world. Institutions may empower 

students to flourish in a fast-changing global world by providing them with the varied skills 

necessary to address sustainability and economic challenges. This investigation will focus on 

different approaches and top techniques for incorporating skill development into curricula in 

higher education, with the ultimate goal of producing a new breed of knowledgeable, flexible 

and conscious leaders.  

 

Higher Education and Sustainability  

Higher education establishments play a pivotal role in propelling social and economic 

advancement by moulding the cognizance, competencies, and principles of forthcoming 

generations. The relationship between sustainability and higher education has gained more 



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attention in recent years. More and more people are calling for higher education to take the 

lead in tackling urgent global concerns including social injustice, resource depletion, and 

climate change. 

Academic institutions have a pivotal function in advancing sustainability via many 

approaches such as curriculum development, campus management, research endeavours, and 

community involvement. 

 Curriculum Integration: A lot of colleges include sustainability concepts in all areas of 

their curricula. Regardless of their major, this integration guarantees that students are 

exposed to ideas like social responsibility, renewable energy, sustainable development, 

and environmental science. Higher education institutions teach students to become 

environmentally conscious professionals prepared to face sustainability concerns in 

their particular industries by offering courses, minors, or majors focused on 

sustainability. 

 Research and Innovation: Universities carry out research to expand understanding and 

provide novel approaches to sustainability problems. Numerous academic fields are 

covered by this research, including engineering, economics, sociology, environmental 

science, and public policy. Universities frequently create sustainability-focused 

research centres or institutes to promote multidisciplinary collaboration and provide 

funding for significant studies that tackle urgent environmental issues. 

 Campus Sustainability Initiatives: A lot of colleges integrate sustainability practices 

into their internal infrastructure and operations. Energy-efficient building designs, 

renewable energy installations, trash reduction and recycling programmes, water 

conservation techniques, environmentally friendly transportation alternatives, and 

sustainable procurement methods are a few examples of these activities. Higher 

education institutions show their dedication to environmental stewardship and give 

students real-world examples of sustainability in action by implementing sustainable 

practices on campus. 

 Outreach & Community Engagement: In order to enhance sustainability and solve 

regional environmental issues, higher education institutions interact with the 

communities in which they operate. In order to design and carry out sustainability 

projects, initiatives, and outreach programmes, this involvement may entail 

collaborations with regional administrations, companies, nonprofits, and community 

organisations. Universities can help create more resilient and sustainable communities 

while giving students chances for hands-on learning and civic participation through 

community involvement. 

 Accountability for Sustainability: To monitor and disseminate their progress towards 

environmental, social, and economic sustainability objectives, several colleges provide 

sustainability reports. Data on energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, waste production 

and diversion, water use, sustainable transportation choices, sustainable procurement 

methods, and social responsibility programmes are usually included in these reports. 

Higher education institutions show their stakeholders that they are accountable to them 



Ayshan MUSTAFAZADA 

135 

 

and work to continuously improve their sustainability practices by being open and 

honest about their sustainability performance. 

Higher education institutions, in general, are essential to the advancement of 

sustainability because they train the next generation of leaders, carry out research, adopt 

sustainable practices on campus, interact with the community, and encourage responsibility 

and openness in sustainability initiatives. By means of these diverse channels, academic 

institutions aid in moulding a future that is both egalitarian and environmentally friendly. 

 

Higher Education and Twenty-First Century Skills  

Companies' contributions to society need to shift fundamentally and permanently as a 

result of the post-COVID and climate change reality. In order to effectively address the need 

for action on a sustainable, human-centric, and resilient European industry, leaders must 

possess the abilities to consider, comprehend, and act in the company's and society's long-term 

best interests as well as to fit within the current but also the foreseeable EU policy frameworks 

(Cooke, 2012). 

The skills and abilities required by the current labour market heavily dominate themes 

covered later in school, and the reasons for this include the rising pace and breadth of change. 

It is widely acknowledged that compared to many other countries, the Nordic countries have 

embraced this issue earlier and more easily. 

Employers pay graduates based on jobs, which are essentially determined by the sort of 

formal degree, and students are driven to get formal degrees even if they do not always indicate 

a set of abilities and skills. This is the primary issue that most European nations face. While 

this serves a very different social purpose—that of training the future elite in a society where 

the majority of people lack literacy—it is related to the idea of a traditional university. 

A large portion of the workforce in higher education still operates under the outdated 

belief that they can only truly succeed as long as they impart to their students the greatest 

knowledge possible in their field. They pay little attention to the competencies and skills that 

employers will need in the labour market of the future. The majority of European nations 

continue to face serious challenges as a result of these discrepancies between the labour market 

needs and the actual competences of graduates (not so much in Scandinavia, in the US, and 

numerous Asian countries). Far too many university instructors are not receiving the help and 

encouragement they need to modernise their teaching methods. This is seen as their duty, which 

aligns with another antiquated method of treating every topic rigorously independently and 

providing little room for interdisciplinary and intersubject viewpoints and actions. The majority 

of institutions' curriculum and programmes on certain subjects serve as excellent examples of 

this. The OECD (OECD Future of Education, 2021) has created a global skills strategy, 

refocusing its attention from traditional higher education tracks to lifelong learning and skills 

retained throughout the lifetime. This is due to the organization's recognition of the intricacy 

of skills policies as well as the possibility for peer learning. 

Let us emphasise that the leadership of universities and their departments, as well as 

the relevant authorities, are involved in this issue. The first stage is to assess what the 

appropriate government agencies and their policies should be doing, as well as what colleges 

and academics themselves ought to be doing. 



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Nothing in the extensive education literature refers to, say, the «20th-century skills» 

because of the greater changes that have occurred in the 21st century as opposed to previous 

centuries. What are the 21st-century abilities that are necessary in today's technologically and 

socially advanced world and that must be gained through both lifelong learning and formal 

education, including university education? After reading a plethora of relevant material, we 

may choose to use Stauffer's (Stauffer,2021) summary, which consists of the twelve abilities 

and competences listed below, divided into three categories: 

Learning skills: Critical thinking, Creativity, Collaboration, Communication. Literacy 

skills:  Information literacy, Media literacy, Technology literacy. Life skills: Flexibility, 

Leadership, Initiative, Productivity, Social skills. 

None of these abilities are brand-new, with the exception of digital literacy, but they 

have never been deemed necessary elements of a high-quality education. In the field of 

education science, they are now acknowledged as being very necessary for persons who wish 

to succeed in the modern workforce. 

How will instructors help their pupils gain all these skills? is another important topic. 

To begin with, it is important to note that the professor or instructor was formerly highly 

esteemed based only on their position and academic standing. This is no longer the case; 

instead, students now need to sense the quality of their teachers and their desire to be welcomed 

due to their capacity to interact with them both in person and virtually. 

The instructor must demonstrate a commensurate degree of proficiency in using digital 

tools to communicate with students online and search and share knowledge online in order to 

gain the respect and acceptance of the students. In the new technology era, students will 

consider their professors as senior partners, therefore only on this basis can a proper 

relationship be anticipated to grow. Without it, pupils will view teachers as learned individuals 

from a bygone era. This can lead to a big hole that would make it difficult to develop modern 

teaching methods or experiences. 

Here are some beneficial proposals by a digital native, Professor T. Palmer, listing the 

significant characteristics of a high-quality 21st-century educator (Palmer,2021): Learner-

centered classroom and personalized instruction, Students as producers, Learning new 

technologies, Going global, Smartly use of smartphones, Blog, Go digital, Collaborate, Use 

Twitter chats, Connect, Project-based learning, Build your positive digital footprint, Code, 

Innovate, Keep learning. 

Creating and managing future scenarios and corporate foresight are generally not 

included in HEIs' curriculum or set as required courses for professional development pertaining 

to sustainable practices in organisations. Concurrently, corporate foresight has started to shift 

in recent years from being a tool for top management to a more inclusive stakeholder-driven 

approach. great levels of involvement, interaction, and immersion in hybrid techniques have 

demonstrated a great potential for increasing the number of stakeholders on board and 

advancing ownership of the deliverables. 

 

The Economic and Social Roles of Higher Education  



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Competencies and skills are also essential in the continuous transition to a more 

sustainable economy. They are also necessary to foresee and address unforeseen outcomes of 

innovation. In order to create mid-range visions that serve as guidelines for cooperation, 

sustainability foresight competences necessitate the combination of empirical research skills 

with hermeneutic skills for the interpretation, contextualization, and evaluation of individual 

results. Rarely are these competences and skills taught in European HEIs (with a few notable 

exceptions in Finland, Germany, and France, for instance), (Adams, 2016). 

Strategic sustainability foresight is a competence that is lacking in many European 

companies. Strategic foresight is a prerequisite for organisational integration, general strategic 

decision-making, and leadership and product/service level visioning. Businesses and students 

alike struggle to understand how to approach the task of working methodically with desirable 

and realistic green future possibilities (Adams, 2016). 

Employers must implement significant and long-lasting reforms in response to the post-

COVID and climate change reality. Here, skills and competences are essential to the continuous 

transition to a digital economy that is more robust, sustainable, and sustainable. They are also 

necessary to foresee and address unexpected repercussions of innovation (which is crucial for 

innovation focused on sustainability). 

The current state of education in the majority of European nations falls short in the 

following areas: 

* Methods to promote sustainability foresight independent of the specific area of interest; a 

step-by-step hybrid learning approach; and product/service design schools. 

* Content and materials available for higher education establishments. 

* Appropriate individuals to impart the knowledge. 

The use of cutting-edge approaches in digital, hybrid, and human-centered education to 

facilitate involvement led by stakeholders or students (Adams, 2016). 

It won't be enough to address social issues, neighbourhood projects, and measures 

aimed at lessening environmental damage and social unrest. In order to achieve shared value, 

developing innovative goods, services, and business strategies is insufficient (Adams, 2016) to 

have the net beneficial effect that business may have. Rather, this calls for creating a values-

based organisational culture and managing innovation through procedures and approaches that 

blend action, foresight, and direction. Let me emphasize that a value-based strategy is essential 

to achieving sustainable development goals since shared values guarantee dedication and 

perseverance in achieving desired results. 

In keeping with the above justifications, HEIs may help create the ideal future by 

carrying out the following actions: 

 Establishing a group of exceptional professionals with crowdsourcing and 

sustainability vision to identify obstacles and best practices. 

 Compile and evaluate complementary information, abilities, and techniques; identify 

important obstacles in the areas of innovation, sustainability, and local and national 

industry. 

 Involve experts and practitioners in jointly developing specialised solutions to deal with 

the aforementioned problems. 



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 Create prototype solutions, which have to be tested and improved upon iteratively in 

collaboration with representatives of the industry partners who offer criticism and 

recommendations. Within the existing EU frameworks, such as Horizon Europe, Inter 

Reg, and other financing schemes, there are plenty of opportunity to develop new 

industrial solutions. 

These arguments support the claim that, in order to ensure sustainable development and 

produce innovative skill sets, higher education needs to change to a multidisciplinary 

partnership with employers (industry) and policy communities at all levels. This shift is 

necessary in light of current economic and social trends. This claim may be used to inform 

recommendations for future studies on the trends and difficulties in higher education if the data 

from the current research are consistent with it. We conducted many bibliometric evaluations 

of the corpus of existing information to examine if the research patterns over the previous five 

years reflect our hypothesised path of higher education development in order to support such a 

notion and provide guidance for future empirical research. The analysis's foundation is: 

 assessment of research trends, made possible by Elsevier SciVal, a scientometric tool 

that allows for the evaluation and benchmarking of research trends and performance 

based on Elsevier Scopus data; 

 a thorough examination of bibliometric data pertaining to publications indexed by the 

Elsevier Scopus and Clarivate Web of Science (WoS), identified using the terms 

suggested, that describe the research trends in the body of existing literature about 21st-

century skills, sustainability, and higher education. 

 

METHODOLOGY  

A high-level evaluation of research articles that may be related to 21st-century skills 

and the sustainability of higher education forms the foundation of empirical analysis. In this 

empirical investigation, we analysed an entire corpus of publications indexed by Elsevier 

Scopus that were related to the pertinent Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) using the 

Elsevier SciVal scientometric tool. The prior five-year period, from 2016 to 2020, was the 

subject of the research. 

We initially determined pertinent search phrases and keywords pertaining to 

sustainability, higher education, and 21st-century skills before conducting our research. 

Various concepts like "sustainability education," "21st-century skills," and "higher education" 

were among these keywords. Next, we searched the Elsevier Scopus database for publications 

published between 2016 and 2020 using these keywords. 

Only peer-reviewed publications that directly related to the goals of the study were 

included in the search results. This required evaluating each article's title, abstract, and 

keywords to ascertain how relevant they were to the subjects of interest. The analysis did not 

include any articles that did not fit the criteria. 

We performed a scientometric analysis of the corpus using the Elsevier SciVal tool after 

identifying the initial set of articles. This included analysing a range of measures and indicators 

to obtain insights into the state of research on sustainability and 21st-century skills in higher 



Ayshan MUSTAFAZADA 

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education, including authorship patterns, publishing trends, and keyword co-occurrence 

networks. 

Finding important topics, patterns, and trends within the corpus of articles was the main 

goal of the study. This involved figuring out which articles were the most often referenced, 

whose authors were the most productive, what the most popular study topics were, and whether 

there were any new areas of interest or disagreement in the field. 

 All things considered, the technique used a methodical strategy to locate and examine 

a large collection of research articles associated with the goals of the study. Through the use of 

the Elsevier SciVal tool, we were able to get important information on the current status of 

research concerning sustainability and 21st-century skills in higher education throughout the 

designated period. 

 

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION  

Our empirical strategy is doing a high-level examination of academic papers from the 

five years prior (i.e., the 2016–2020 timeframe), which have been identified as pertinent to our 

study proposal and linked to the pertinent SDGs. SDG 4 (Quality Education), SDG 6 (Clean 

Water and Sanitation), SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and 

Communities), SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), and SDG 13 (Climate 

Action) are the broad topics of sustainability and the value of higher education for employers 

that we have mapped to. 

Figures 1a–f, which also include the total number of published research items cited by 

Elsevier Scopus, demonstrate a rise in research interest in the chosen SDGs from 2016 to 2020. 

The fields of sustainable energy (Figure 1c), clean water (Figure 1b), climate change (Figure 

1f), quality education (Figure 1a), sustainable consumption and production (Figure 1e), and 

sustainable cities and communities (Figure 1d) have the highest level of research interest 

among the pertinent SDGs. 

 

Figure 1 (a) 

Research output pertaining to SDG4 (210,989 total papers) from 2016 to 2020. 

  



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Figure 2 (b) 

Research output pertaining to SDG4 (210,989 total papers) from 2016 to 2020 

 

(a). Research output pertaining to SDG4 (210,989 total papers) from 2016 to 2020.  

(b). Research output connected to SDG 6 from 2016 to 2020 (a total of 264,807 papers).  

(c). Research output pertaining to SDG7 from 2016 to 2020 (731,457 total papers).  

(d). Research output pertaining to SDG11 from 2016 to 2020 (336,506 total papers).  

(e). Research output pertaining to SDG 12 from 2016 to 2020 (198,075 total papers).  

(f). Research output pertaining to SDG13 from 2016 to 2020 (221,759 total papers).  

Source: Elsevier SciVal. 

 

Multidisciplinarity is the most noteworthy aspect of the results, as it aligns with the 

frequently discussed role of higher education in tackling the "wicked problems of the 21st 

century," such as sustainable development, innovation, and human capital production for the 

modern economy and society (Hensley,2021, Keep, 2014). To address these issues facing 

contemporary society, a multidisciplinary approach to research and transboundary education is 

necessary (Ramley,2014). This is particularly helpful in times of crisis, like the one the EU has 

experienced over the past five years, with the large influx of migrants [41], the economic 

difficulties brought on by COVID-19 (Zigman,2021), and other pertinent concerns. Table 2 

provides an illustration of the multidisciplinarity of the examined study fields. 

 

 

 



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Table 2  

Lists the top 25 WoS fields of study that are related to the study subject. 

 
 

CONCLUSIONS 

Ensuring sustainability remains a significant task of higher education and its 

institutions, which can be concluded based on the previously reported empirical results related 

to the extant literature, referred by WoS and Scopus indexing databases. However, a vast body 

of knowledge related to sustainability, its implementation, and the role of the higher education 

sector in ensuring sustainable development has put the empirical analysis of the 21st-century 

skills to be supplied by higher education institutions to the background. Nevertheless, this topic 

still deserves the full attention of scholars and policymakers alike. 

As reported by the World Economic Forum, for the next four years, growth of 13.5% 

in emerging professions is expected—parallel to the decreasing fall of redundant jobs. Workers 

will have to acquire even 40%–50% of new skills during the next five years. Employers expect 

to offer reskilling and upskilling to 70% of their employees. This is creating an unprecedented 

challenge for everyone, including university teachers, who can contribute a lot but are often 

not sufficiently aware of the situation’s urgency. The same can be said for the respective 

government departments, which is also applicable to students and the general public. 

Moreover, various university rankings do not provide an objective insight into whether 

a country has developed an optimal university system. Excellence is certainly most welcome 



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and adds to the international prestige of the countries concerned. However, improving the 

general level of university teaching (i.e., its relevance and quality) is even more critical. This 

is reflected by the education policy of Nordic and some Baltic governments, not only on the 

higher education level which could further serve as a benchmark and inspiration to other 

European regions. 

This is why the awareness among policy and the educational communities, the 

professional and general public, and the media of the critical importance of 21st-century skills 

to be developed during the entire education cycle, including higher education. This notion is 

confirmed by the bibliometric analysis, which we performed, to support the theoretical 

identification of the relevant trends in higher education. It confirms that the extant body of 

knowledge views the integration of the relevant business skills for the 21st century with the 

outlook and competencies of ensuring sustainable (industrial) development as a key to the 

further development of European society and the economy. 

Some specific recommendations, which could be extended, both to the higher education 

administrators as well as to the education policy community, include: 

 Promoting multidisciplinary education and research through finance and human 

resource management strategies rather than merely declaring a multidisciplinary 

approach.  

 Putting a focus on stakeholder communication and promoting collaborative research 

across academic, business, and policy players.  

 Interacting with students and getting their feedback on suggested changes and policies 

for higher education. 

This also requires adequate and stable funding of higher education institutions, 

wherever it may come from. While 100% public funding might not be realistic in all European 

countries, governments and universities should cooperate in creating a system that secures the 

conditions for quality in teaching and research. Many countries have not yet found a reasonable 

university funding scheme to develop, encourage, and provide the best possible learning 

outcomes for the highest possible percentage of students to complete their studies and stimulate 

individual universities to achieve these goals without compromising the strict quality criteria. 

Our proposition and recommendations to researchers, policymakers, and higher 

education administrations might help achieve such a goal. 

In summary, this study has advanced our knowledge of how higher education may 

adjust to the changing needs of the contemporary world by giving priority to the development 

of skills related to sustainability and economic challenges. Higher education institutions may 

realize their role of equipping students to flourish in a dynamic and interconnected global world 

by embracing this necessity and cooperating towards common goals. 

 

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