TECHNICAL NOTE

The Case for Microcredentials for

Workforce Preparation
AUTHORS ABSTRACT
Liesl Hotaling There is a global need for skilled workers across multiple sectors, including
Eidos Education the marine industry. To prepare this workforce, we must collectively take action to
Hans Van Sumeren establish attractive, innovative, agile, and equitable educational opportunities.
Northwestern Michigan College These opportunities should capitalize on skill sets from a range of workers and
encourage engagement pathways for life-long learning through obtaining micro-
credentials and professional certificates to promote personal growth, keep pace
Introduction with technological changes, and capitalize upon opportunities within the New Blue

T he estimation is by 2030 the ma- Economy.

rine industry will employ at least 40
million full-time-equivalent jobs,
with the fastest growth anticipated
to occur within offshore wind ener-
gy, marine aquaculture, fish process-
ing, and port activities (OECD,
2016, 2019). Many of these jobs
will not require advanced degrees in
engineering or science but rather
skills- and competencies-focused cre-
dentials. The preparation of the
workforce demands specific under-
standing and capabilities supporting
technical competencies common to
the industries they serve.
Fostering these critical abilities will
require a new set of learning oppor-
tunities. Developing and maintain-
ing such a workforce will rely on
innovative and flexible educational
programs that break through the tra-
ditional “siloed” approach to educa-
tion, while offering multiple and
rapid pathways for degree and certifi-
cation attainment.
This workforce will have a signi-
ficant impact on the future ocean,
helping advance and implement renew-
able energy sources; generating more
robust and accurate data leading to
improved predictive capabilities,
tools, and services for mineral extrac-
Keywords: microcredential, education, workforce preparation, blue economy,
training
tion and management, marine man-
agement, and commercial shipping;
mitigating coastal damage and severe
weather hazards increasing with im-
pacts of climate change; and sup-
porting sustainable food harvesting.
Rapid Pathways
Degrees and certificates offered by
institutions of higher learning have
coexisted for decades. In the past, de-
grees from colleges and universities
were perceived with a higher value
than credentials. Recently, certificate
programs, both in technical fields
and in the professions, are becoming
a more utilized vehicle by addressing
the following:
1. Skills “gap”
2. Flexible learning mechanisms
3. Equity–opportunity gap
Skills “Gap”
In an attempt to move past the
perennial skills gap deficit model—
companies can’t find workers claim-
ing “lack of skills”—employers are
looking to proactively describe spe-
cific skill sets needed. Increasingly,
these skills can be attained through
microcredentials.
Microcredentials are certifications
of mastery of specific skills. They are
smaller scale in scope and represent
specific knowledge and/or skills ac-
quired and demonstrated. Badges
are a transferrable symbol used to ver-
ify the attainment of specific compe-
tencies. Microcredentials can be
“stacked” in various ways—like inter-
locking blocks—to build toward com-
petencies needed for certificates or
employment.
Educational institutions con-
cerned with graduate job placement
are facing the probability they will
need to incorporate microcredential-
ling opportunities, requiring learners
to demonstrate, not just claim, that
they have the specific skills industries
want (Figure 1).
Flexible Learning Mechanisms
With the ever-increasing pulls
on our time, the need for flexible
and targeted education pathways
is also increasing. To keep pace,

January/February 2022 Volume 56 Number 1 35

FIGURE 1
Marine technology immersive field camp (L. Hotaling).
degree-granting organizations need
to increase the availability of flexible
learning options for their students
(Le et al., 2019). COVID provided
the proverbial clunk to the head
to push from more traditional teach-
ing methods to more hybrid ap-
proaches. And if there is a silver lining
to COVID, many institutions of learn-
ing are using this opportunity to move
toward more flexible educational expe-
riences and platforms. These new
models can create better “on-ramps
and off-ramps” (remediation, transfer,
military crosswalks, and leave policies)
FIGURE 2
Technology training supporting coral reef research in Bunaken National Park, Indonesia (E. Bailey).
36 Marine Technology Society Journal
for students pursuing degrees and mi-
crocredentials. It should also be noted
these same models and mechanisms
are also helpful to people seeking re-
training solutions and for people inter-
ested in adding to their knowledge
portfolio for promotion opportunities.
The incorporation of micro-
credentialling schema into these new
models will not only accelerate learner
placement in jobs but also integrate
industry standards and workplace
competencies into curricula to better
match job opportunities with em-
ployment opportunities.
And landing that first job is just
the beginning. The days of staying
with a single company for your entire
career are long over. People in today’s
workforce will have high probability
of changing jobs approximately every
4 years and completely change careers
two or three times over their entire
work life. Most people do not have
the time nor the funds to keep
going back to school for degrees, em-
phasizing the need for a system for
rapid knowledge attainment and a
system to organize constant, lifelong
learning (Figure 2).
The proof is already here. “A study
conducted more than 40 years ago
found that only 21 percent of four-
year arts and sciences colleges and
28% of professional schools awarded
certificates” (Hanson, 2021). Cur-
rently, two in five working-age Amer-
icans (40%) hold a nondegree
postsecondary credential, and accord-
ing to the Center on Education and
the Workforce at Georgetown Uni-
versity, the number is on the rise.
Certificates are being awarded at a
higher rate than associate’s degrees
(Carnevale et al., 2020), and more
than half of Black and Latinx under-
graduate students are pursuing certif-
icate or associate degree programs
rather than bachelor’s degrees (please
see the Equity section below).
Universities and colleges are be-
ginning to signal willingness to
adapt to this new reality. A few have
designed new majors based on badges
(rather than courses and traditional
course requirement pathways) to inte-
grate skills and experiential learning.
In addition to more traditional aca-
demic pathways, several in-house op-
portunities for experiential learning
exist within industry academies and
training schema. These programs pro-
vide experience for new workers and
also skills building for existing em-
ployees desiring promotion or job
shifting opportunities within the
companies.
Shifting to a microcredentialling
approach to competency attainment
would offer a potential “common
ground” for academic institutions
and industry and offer better align-
ment and fine tuning of skills prepa-
ration mechanisms for accelerating
job placement. Table 1 offers some
high-level examples of position re-
quirements which could be parsed
into microcredentials.
There are many pathways to exploit
the utility of microcredentials, and
stacking them in different ways unlocks
several employment opportunities.
Is this a scenario for complete mi-
crocredential disruption? Possibly,
microcredentials began their ascent
over a decade ago in the field of com-
puter programming and continue to
rise in popularity and spread to
other disciplines. It has been a slow
spread, yet spreading and demand
seems to be trending toward earning
microcredentials and badges. Even if
badges are not the ultimate solution,
TABLE 1
Sample blue economy jobs and microcredentials examples.
Sector Job Titles
Hydrographic surveying Survey Technician;
Companies: Hydrographic Technician; Field
Michels Corp; Fugro Hydrographer; Research Tech
JF Brennan; Oceaneering
Energy/Renewable ROV Technician;
Companies: ROV Pilot;
Oceaneering; Fugro Hydrographic Surveyor
Subsea 7; Helix Energy
Infrastructure ROV Technician; Hydrographic
Companies: Surveyor;
Subcom; Alpine Ocean Field Engineer
GL Dredge and Dock
Bollard Marine
H.S., high school; Eng, engineering; Exp, experience.
it is imperative that educational op-
portunities and learning credentials
become more relevant, flexible, and
open.
Equity–Opportunity Gap
The ocean industry continues to
be a male-dominated industry accord-
ing to the World Ocean Initiative.
While this is changing, accelerated
change is needed. Why? Firstly, re-
search repeatedly reveals that more di-
verse and inclusive workplaces lead to
better innovation, an increase in effec-
tive responses to change, and exceed-
ing financial goals. Secondly, it is our
collective responsibility to change the
“face” of the industry. People need to
be able to see themselves performing
the required skills.
Outreach from industry must in-
clude diverse faces for potential em-
ployees to begin to self-identify with
employment opportunities. And re-
cruitment of workers should change
to recognize skills and abilities over
traditional degrees to better align
with non-White experiences and
opportunities. For example, Black
Americans rated the quality and
Position Requirements
Experience w/multibeam and
side scan sonar;
Experience w/QPS and Hypack
data processing software; GIS
H.S. diploma; ROV pilot
sonar systems data processing
software experience
ROV ops experience;
Eng Tech background;
Exp w/ sonar systems; Exp
w/ data processing software
January/February 2022
value of nondegree credentials the
highest among racial groups, while
White Americans rated them the low-
est. Specifically, 71% of Black Amer-
icans with a nondegree credential said
their education helped them achieve
their goals, compared to only 46%
of White Americans (Hanson,
2021). Microcredentials and recogni-
tion of the value of badges could serve
not only to better align cultural values
but also to accelerate job placement
(Figure 3).
There is evidence that microcre-
dentials are increasing inclusivity,
offering “unprecedented opportuni-
ties” for people who might otherwise
be left behind from “low income and
underserved communities” (Spencer,
2019), and decreasing time and there-
fore financial obligations before enter-
ing the workforce. In addition, remote
training and operations opportunities
open pathways for participation from
people with disabilities, job sharing
opportunities for people seeking a bet-
ter work–lifestyle balance, people in-
terested in a career in the marine
industry yet not located near a coast,
or people who cannot work at sea.
Microcredentials/Competencies
Managing mapping data; sonar
data acquisition; data processing;
data management; project
management
System problem solving; ROV
piloting; ROV maintenance;
geoophysical data collection
and processing
System problem solving; ROV
piloting; ROV maintenance;
Hydrography; data processing
Volume 56 Number 1 37
FIGURE 3
Geospatial microcredential training, Northwestern Michigan College (NMC).
Once a more diverse workforce is
recruited, significant effort must be
continually given to provide inclusive
workplace environments through pro-
viding nonhostile work environments,
equity in pay, creating safe environ-
ments for sharing ideas and taking
all employee concerns seriously, and
providing equitable growth opportu-
nities for all employees.
Looking Forward
The New Blue Economy is a
knowledge-based economy, look-
ing to the sea not just for extrac-
tion of material goods, but for
data and information to address
societal challenges and inspire
their solutions (Spinrad, 2021).
With respect to the marine econo-
my and the emerging new blue econo-
my, a spectrum of technicians will be
needed within the next 10 years. From
mechanical, computer, biomedical, and
network engineering, to telecommuni-
cations, to instrumentation technology
to web development, to business devel-
opment, all of these skill sets are applica-
ble to a range of job opportunities
38 Marine Technology Society Journal
available. It is important that the existing
technician training programs under-
stand the opportunities within the ma-
rine economy and offer insight to
students through an awareness cam-
paign to enable graduates to apply
their skills to the new blue economy.
As an aside, in addition to specific
needed needed skills, the marine in-
dustry faces an awareness issue. Al-
though this issue is not the focus of
this paper, it does warrant mentioning
as it is a perpetual problem. Due to the
methods used by the U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics’ Standard Occupation-
al Classification (SOC) system, the
O*NET Taxonomy does not manage
to accurately capture the true spectrum
of ocean-related jobs and emerging
technologies. Therefore, potential
workforce recruits are often not made
aware of these jobs through many ca-
reer awareness or workforce retraining
programs.
One large group of highly skilled
individuals with strong potential to
participate in the maritime workforce
yet to be discussed is service members
transitioning to civilian life. Current-
ly, there is an educational divide be-
tween many retiring and separating
veterans and requirements for jobs
and second careers available within
the industry. And circling back to
the awareness issue, the Transition
Assistance Program (TAP) training
services provided to assist service mem-
bers transitioning from military to civil-
ian life bases their career guidance on
the O*NET Taxonomy. The marine
industry and, forward looking the
New Blue Economy, would benefit
greatly from connecting with TAP per-
sonnel to raise awareness of the num-
bers and types of jobs immediately
available and the great potential for en-
trepreneurs as there is a need for expe-
rienced marine professionals with many
of the skills these veterans possess.
A microcredentialling schema
consisting of a hybrid approach of
online and face-to-face courses that
are completed quickly and that can
offer a setting where learners can
choose to engage at their own pace
and offer maximum flexibility for
the student is a very intriguing path
to increase the number of technicians
needed in the very near future. Utiliz-
ing a badging infrastructure could
quickly provide workers with initial
job qualifications to fill vacancies for
skilled workers, quickly train up tran-
sitioning service members, quickly re-
train existing workforce, and also
utilize the infrastructure to provide
supplemental skills to traditional de-
gree holders to create an adaptable
workforce with a rich variety of skills.
In addition to microcredentials,
professional certifications or qualifica-
tions offered through professional so-
cieties or other designated agencies
should also be considered in the hir-
ing and promotion process. These
certifications attest to an individual’s
proficiency in an industry or profes-
sion. Most certifications are intended
to be part of an individual’s life-long
learning path; therefore, certifications
are normally time limited with the ex-
pectation of evolving changes to the
industrial or professional collective
knowledge. The ocean sector already
has a several organizations offering cer-
tifications in a number of topics, and
this is anticipated to increase in response
to the growth and the interdisciplinary
nature of the new blue economy.
Summary
The marine economy and the new
blue economy offer workforce opportu-
nities for workers at all education levels,
not just those with advanced degrees,
and across demographic groups (Na-
tional Science and Technology Council
[NSTC], 2018). The NSTC report en-
titled “Science and Technology for
America’s Oceans: A Decadal Vision”
mentions degree programs geared to-
ward ocean work, hands-on experience,
and professional development as an in-
vestment critical for ensuring U.S. lead-
ership, and that the next generation of
Americans remains competitive in the
growing international field of ocean re-
search and development (NSTC, 2018).
Building on mainstream resources
and expanding microcredentials and
certificates, a new set of skills and ex-
periences must be established quickly
to attend to the growing need for
technicians. A primary focus must
be on defining the required skill sets
for training this workforce.
It is essential to improve the cross-
disciplinary preparation and increase
the number of technicians available
to meet the needs of the growing
Blue Economy, and looking forward
to the New Blue Economy, by creat-
ing a more efficient preparation
process through utilizing a micro-
credential and certificate schema.
Corresponding Author: (Eds.), Preparing a Workforce for the New
Liesl Hotaling Blue Economy, pp. 87–111. Elsevier. https://
doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-821431-2.00042-1.
Eidos Education
51 5th Street
Highlands, NJ 07732
Email: lieslhotaling@yahoo.com
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