Vision and Mission
Vision
We believe in a world where every student is equipped with a navigation system to design their educational and professional future.
Mission
To enable access to career and college counseling for high school students around the world, positioning them for future success in postsecondary education and the global workforce.
The Bigger Picture
Global Skill Gap
By 2030, an estimated 825 million youth in low and middle-income nations and 260 million in India alone – more than half the world’s youth population – will leave school without the skills needed for the modern workforce. This global crisis of unprepared youth has significant negative implications for colleges, universities and industry. According to the World Economic Forum, this gap could cost the global GDP USD$11.5 trillion by 20281.
Most importantly, it raises the question of whether students are achieving their full potential, and whether we are adequately preparing global citizens to solve some of the most pressing problems and grand challenges of the future.
High Youth Unemployment Rate
In addition to an overall skills gap, youth unemployment rates also remain high worldwide. In India, for example, research suggests that 35% of Indian youth who possess graduate degrees and above are unemployed. Despite the popularity of engineering, it is estimated that 60% of graduating engineers are unemployed, and for those who are employed attrition and low satisfaction rates in the workforce are common.
There is a serious mismatch between skill-building and available jobs/jobs of the future, with youth typically lacking access to guidance and preparation that would enable them to enter best-fit careers, while employers continue to struggle to find the requisite talent.
Shifting Demographics
Given demographic shifts and the growing youth population in some world regions and the escalating demand for an educated and purposeful workforce in all countries, closing the skills gap and ensuring appropriate educational and professional pathways for students becomes even more critical. India alone has over 112,000 senior secondary schools in 2015, which have grown from 71,000 schools in 20102. As a result of this rapid growth and India's burgeoning youth population, there are now over 9.2 million students enrolled in class XII (Grade 12). India also has one of the largest student enrollments in higher education, estimated at 35.7 million.
The need is equally severe in other parts of the developing world that are also home to the current largest youth population and are projected to have a large youth population in the future. Across South Asia, there are currently 327 million children and youth in the 15-19 age group; in Southeast Asia, the number is 106 million. Africa is slated to have the highest population growth in the future.
The Need of the Hour
Despite the emergence of new careers that require new-generation skill sets, schools still focus exclusively on academic areas such as Mathematics, Sciences, Languages, etc. and human resources are typically assigned to these departments in large numbers. The function of career and college counseling, which is as important, if not more, to a student’s development usually does not receive adequate resources or attention.
The IC3 Institute aims to change this imbalance and enable high schools to help their students make best-fit higher education and career decisions. Responsible counseling is about helping students find answers to three important questions:
What to study?
Where to study?
How to make it happen?
Counseling should not only manage the process of applying but more importantly provide guidance for students in making these important decisions.
The IC3 Institute advocates for counseling to begin directly from class 8 or 9, with a complete curriculum for counseling in each grade throughout high school. The IC3 Institute also advocates adoption of a more personalized approach instead of a mass approach, by having one dedicated career and college counselor for every 120 students.