Still studying at 40? What New Zealand's high achievers have been quietly learning

Arriving in New Zealand from overseas, you may feel you lack a network, with unfamiliar surroundings leaving you eager to meet more like-minded people. Perhaps you are gradually discovering that your skills no longer meet your employer's expectations, and that traditional technical skills are no longer the sole focus. Or perhaps the arrival of the age of artificial intelligence has left you wondering whether your skills can keep pace.

 

The many complex challenges facing the world today make the importance of foresight even clearer—in business and career development, getting ahead early could help you stay ahead for the long term. What skills will business managers and professionals need in the future? Which careers and roles offer the strongest prospects? No one can predict this precisely, but the most powerful way to prepare for change is to equip your mind.

 

A New Zealand education provider may have the answer to your concerns. Here, learning is open to more than young students: the entire institution is designed for professionals and managers who have spent years in the workforce and are eager to learn, with students averaging 40 years of age. Its founder is herself a perceptive, future-focused “futurist”.

 

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The institution is the well-known academyEX, an independent tertiary education provider with an international focus, dedicated to empowering individuals and industries.

 

 

academyEX

• is registered with the Tertiary Education Commission and holds a Category 1 rating from the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA).
• It is a signatory to the Education (Pastoral Care of Tertiary and International Learners) Code of Practice 2021.
• It offers 28 innovative programmes, including 14 NZQA-approved programmes, and has helped more than 80,000 students develop relevant skills and capabilities to meet changing workplace demands.
• It helps students connect with more than 50 industry leaders in education, technology and business.
• It is run by a distinctive teaching faculty and management team comprising a highly diverse mix of educators, subject specialists, technology experts, data analysts, administrators, communications professionals and leaders, enabling students to make sustainable, far-reaching changes in the world.

 

academyEX founder Frances Valintine is a renowned New Zealand entrepreneurial leader, educator, futurist and technology expert with numerous honours to her name. She has been appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit and inducted into the New Zealand Businesswomen's Hall of Fame, among other achievements. She says:

 

“How do you gain a broader perspective, understand what is happening within your business, your industry, your country and your market, and respond accordingly? Learning is the only way to help you respond to these changes. There are no shortcuts.”

 

What inspired her to establish an education provider for working professionals? Can studying at academyEX really make such a difference? We interviewed Frances Valintine to explore her views on why learning is essential for people in the workforce.

 

Learning the skills the workplace really needs

 

When we think of educational institutions, young people usually come to mind first. But academyEX students are typically aged between 30 and 40. They already have undergraduate degrees and some work experience, but want to gain new knowledge and connect with new communities as they move into the next stage of their careers.

 

Why does academyEX focus on adult education? Valintine believes adults need to develop more skills to progress in their careers, yet have very limited opportunities to continue learning. Even when they want to study, many have to return to a very formal learning environment surrounded by young people. That is why academyEX provides postgraduate education specifically for students who are already in the workforce.

 

At the same time, the knowledge adults need as they grow older is very different from what they needed at the start of their careers. In Valintine's view, undergraduate study focuses mainly on technical skills. But employers in today's job market no longer look solely at hard skills, because anyone can develop skills such as working with spreadsheets.

 

In fact, employers hire people because they want them to think and genuinely focus on solving problems. As a professional, you need the skills to anticipate the future, along with the ability to think and reflect so you can plan and develop strategies.

 

 

“These skills go beyond practical tasks: they are about identifying problems, working out how to solve them and planning for the future. So we focus on these big-picture thinking skills, enabling students to connect different pieces of information. Our students can bring a completely new way of thinking alongside their existing skills, experience and qualifications, giving them a competitive advantage.”

 

This change in thinking also helps students adapt to the rapid pace of change. Valintine uses the construction industry as an example:

 

“Technology is advancing, and automation and artificial intelligence are being used more widely. It is about more than capturing data: more importantly, you need to learn how to use it. We continually focus on the skills students need. For example, if you work in construction, you might consider how virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) will change construction and building approvals. You might think about tools and data connected with the Internet of Things that can help you regulate a building's temperature automatically. You might also consider population management to ensure the industry can respond to demographic change. That is just one example, but the same way of thinking can be applied to sustainability, such as considering how to protect an industry from extreme weather events.”

 

This is more than theory. Valintine has observed that the institution's students have all progressed well after graduating. Whether they came from a small business, a large company or a government department, they have used their learning to develop into true leaders or specialists in a particular field. This is because they can apply what they learn at academyEX in practice, changing how they view problems and enabling them to solve those problems more efficiently.

 

 

academyEX is a tertiary education provider with the New Zealand Qualifications Authority's highest rating, Category One. It has three main faculties: Tech Futures Lab focuses on technology and disruptive innovation; The Mind Lab provides teaching and education for professionals in the education sector; and Earth Futures Lab explores the environment, sustainability and transformation.

 

Whether you gain a qualification at a particular level at academyEX or another institution, such as a master's qualification at level eight or nine, the quality is equivalent. Master's qualifications are academyEX's core offering, with degrees in three main fields as well as some shorter programmes. All these programmes are monitored and assessed by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA).

 

The learning experience at academyEX is small-scale, carefully tailored and highly focused, with classes typically comprising around 20 to 30 students. Compared with a large campus, smaller classes make it easier for students to build supportive relationships and connections, staying together throughout their studies. Unlike other institutions, academyEX pairs each student with an industry adviser who provides individual guidance from the start of the programme, helping them shape and complete their final project. academyEX also runs numerous online and in-person events, allowing students to connect, learn and discuss ideas with people in other classes.

 

Valintine says: “We place a strong emphasis on pastoral care, ensuring students build a community of mutual trust with their classmates. This is one of the most important aspects of learning: helping them feel surrounded by people they can trust and learn with, both inside and outside the classroom.”

 

If you are a working professional looking to recharge yourself from the inside out, do not miss academyEX's three master's programmes!

 

For more information, visit academyEX's Chinese-language website: https://academyex.com/ch-home。

Finally, academyEX wants to give more local citizens and residents the opportunity to strengthen their digital skills. It has waived the NZ$450 tuition fee for its Digital Skills for the Workplace Micro-credential, helping more people improve their performance and productivity at work. The next term begins in October, so do not miss this opportunity.

 

Visit https://academyex.com/courses/micro-credential/digital-skills-for-the-workplace-micro-credential and apply now! This is an NZQA level seven postgraduate programme, delivered entirely online and taking 7 weeks of part-time study to complete.