Call for Book Chapters "Literacies and Labor Market Challenges in the Digital Era"

There has been intensive work and debate in recent years at an institutional level to develop strategic planning and policies in order to define and foster literacies for facing the continuously changing social and economic environment (EC, 2018). The new technologies that these forces often produce and the acceleration of the digital era are provoking a “literacy crisis” with potential effects on the future of occupations and the labor market (Raja & Christiaensen, 2017). We are reaching a critical turning point with profound implications for social and economic transformations, which are linked to the emergence of Industry 5.0, based on economic growth by focusing on sustainable innovation, using human skills and creativity in combination with technological advances, like automatization, digitalization, artificial intelligence (IA), machine learning, and data analytics, among others (McAfee & Brynjolfsson, 2017; Moltzau, 2020). Under these circumstances, there is an open debate arising unresolved questions, which include, for example, which are the new literacies that should be trained at an educational level, including higher education (HE) as well as vocational education and training (VET)? How is their incorporation affecting students, professors, and educational managers? What are the main implications in terms of students’ motivations, assessment and training processes and tools, and managerial decisions? Is there an equilibrium between educational literacies and occupational skills demanded by the labor market? What challenges and opportunities arise with the new occupations of the digital era? What are the main implications for employability, considering especially vulnerable populations?

We welcome original chapters related to these subjects. Conceptual, theoretical and empirical studies are all welcome. Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

• Unveiling the notions of literacies, competences and skills
• New literacies HE and VET: implications on course content delivery, students’ motivation, evaluation and assessment, managerial decision-making.
• National and regional frameworks to define and assess literacies at an educational level
• The role of hard and soft skills in future occupations