---
title: "Is your child’s degree enough? The future of work demands more than a qualification"
description: "South African parents have long operated on a simple premise. Choose a good school, choose a good university and choose a “good” degree. The qualification was the starter. The job would come. But that premise no longer holds."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "Sponsored Content"
author: "Investec"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/investec/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-07-17-is-your-childs-degree-enough-the-future-of-work-demands-more-than-a-qualification/"
published: "2026-07-17T11:08:52"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 855
---

# Is your child’s degree enough? The future of work demands more than a qualification

> South African parents have long operated on a simple premise. Choose a good school, choose a good university and choose a “good” degree. The qualification was the starter. The job would come. But that premise no longer holds.

By Investec · Published 17 July 2026, 13:08 SAST

## Content

Artificial intelligence has already reshaped what work looks like. What employers now need are [skills that can’t quite yet be quantified](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-03-06-the-future-of-work-preparing-teens-for-careers-that-dont-yet-exist) in a job description or necessarily taught in a university curriculum.

AI tools have ingested the world’s knowledge, but what remains distinctly human, however, cannot be downloaded, automated or generated in a prompt. It is something that universities have always known how to cultivate - the capacity to think, adapt, question and lead.

So how should higher education evolve to prepare graduates for that future? And what does that mean for parents who have long believed that choosing the “right” degree was enough to guarantee career success?

### The degree is the foundation and no longer the finish line

Speaking on Investec’s *[No Ordinary Wednesday](https://link.investec.com/njgzh9)*[podcast,](https://link.investec.com/njgzh9) Jerome September, the Dean of Student Affairs at Wits University, explains that a degree is no longer the full package – it is a starting point and foundation. “What we’ve got to do is help our students on a journey towards learning sets of skills, behaviours and values that make them think not just about a job tomorrow, but about economic participation in a broader sense.”

[YouTube video: "YouTube video"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JOCXUIqP-k)

[Listen on Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/za/podcast/now-ep129-what-the-future-of-work-means-for-todays-students/id1466036737?i=1000773055456)

[Listen on Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/0qpSA9GSbQTzsoSqXx2cYD?si=a8469db73b1f44f7)

Universities must now produce versatile graduates. These are graduates who can navigate repeated change, across [multiple careers](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-03-17-what-todays-teens-should-know-about-tomorrows-careers), over a working life that looks nothing like the ones of today.

Research suggests that people entering the workforce today may hold as many as 17 different jobs across seven distinct careers in their lifetime. “These are not promotions or lateral moves. They are fundamental shifts in skills, industries, and roles,” says September. “For young South Africans, academic preparation matters less now. A psychological reset is what’s required.”

As machines become more capable, employers need humans who are more humane. Lesley-Anne Gatter, Investec’s Global Head of People and Organisation, who was also a guest on the podcast, describes this paradigm shift in how employers, like Investec, think about talent: “As machines absorb more technical capability, we want humans who amplify human capabilities. We’re interested in people who can solve complex problems, show great resilience and have high adaptability.”

The capabilities Investec hires for now are critical thinking, ethical reasoning, resilience, and the ability to learn and unlearn, repeatedly. These capabilities are a return to the true purpose of a university education.

“Nowadays, AI can generate a first draft, analyse, or automate a process. It’s still only the human who can evaluate, challenge, judge and take accountability,” says Gatter. “Organisations would do better to teach a class in philosophy than to run another AI training module. Technical literacy matters, but critical reasoning is the foundation everything else builds on.”

### What parents and educators can do

September points to the co-curricular space as undervalued and underused – things like debating societies, student leadership, community engagement and cultural exposure. These activities are where young people develop the reasoning, communication and interpersonal skills that will travel with them across every career transition.

“It’s time for students to create, and not just graduate. The graduate who can identify a problem and build a solution is employable. And they can create employment for others. For parents, it’s time to move on from asking ‘what job will this lead to?’ to asking ‘what kind of thinker will this produce?’”

### Investing in the pipeline before it reaches the workplace

For Gatter, talent is far more evenly distributed than opportunity. The role of organisations like Investec is to close that gap by investing long before young people reach the labour market. “We need to really enhance that talent pipeline long before it gets here.”

[Invest-ED](https://link.investec.com/4wjamq), designed for Grade 8 to 12 learners and their parents, is built on precisely this principle. The choices that young people make before university shape the choices available to them after it. Career guidance, subject decision support, and insight into the skills shaping tomorrow’s economy are the new infrastructure for success.

### The cost of getting this wrong

September is frank about what is at stake for universities that fail to adapt. “South Africa’s graduate unemployment rate currently sits at around 12%. The question of relevance, whether a degree is worth the investment, is already being asked and so we have to get it right.”

Gatter frames the risk at a national level. “If South Africa fails to close the future skills gap, the human cost could dwarf the economic one. The current pace of change creates true potential for a widening divide between those who are equipped to participate in the new economy, and those who are not. Every country is facing the same disruption of technological evolution. South Africa is not necessarily behind. The opportunity to leapfrog historical disadvantages is real, if we invest in people now.”

### **Preparing children for a future, not just a first job**

The young people best positioned to thrive beyond 2026 will be the ones who learn how to think, adapt and keep learning for the rest of their lives. And according to experts, that journey starts in the conversations happening right now, around dinner tables, in career guidance offices, and in your home. **DM**