Will China push to bring higher education closer to industry fix its skills mismatch?

In an age of technological acceleration, with AI threatening to upend the job market, those countries that rapidly instituted mass higher education will inevitably experience higher graduate unemployment. Other factors, such as a slowing economy and economic restructuring will only intensify the mismatch between a university education and the skills demanded by industry. The most important virtue of a college and university is not job training. Nevertheless, households that pay tuition fees, companies that need skilled employees who can also innovate, and students who aim to secure lifelong stable employment expect their institutions of higher education to have a high level of external efficiency with the labour market. This is especially true for a country such as…