How to keep tech skills fresh for IT professionals in higher ed

Tech is changing fast, and it can be a challenge for IT professionals in higher education to stay up-to-date. Limited resources, legacy systems, and complex, decentralized environments only widen skills gaps and increase the risk of attrition and security vulnerabilities.

Here’s what you can do to keep your IT team’s tech skills sharp—and keep your IT talent, period.

IT professionals everywhere are understaffed and overworked. Providing time to learn sounds easy, but the reality is that competing priorities and constant threats make it hard for IT teams to upskill. And if they aren’t using or learning certain skills, they’ll lose them.

“The average half-life of skills for a lot of technologies is about two and a half years,” said Hannah Aldine, FEDSLED Solutions Consultant for Pluralsight. “IBM research has shown that people lose up to 30% of their skills every year if they’re not using those skills often and completing tasks correctly.”

So how can you help your teams keep up? Provide bite-sized learning directly tied to the tools and responsibilities they use every day.

“IT professionals likely need to be learning smaller concepts, such as updates to the technologies they’re already working in, on a weekly or monthly basis to keep up,” said Hannah.

Even with bite-sized learning, IT professionals won’t have time to learn everything. They’ll need to focus on the highest-impact tech skills. What skills should they learn during their limited time?

Unsurprisingly, cybersecurity should be one of your top upskilling priorities. 2023 was the worst ransomware year on record for the education industry, with higher ed in particular seeing a whopping 70% increase in ransomware attacks. Phishing, data breaches, and other threats also continue to impact the industry. 

To combat these threats, IT professionals in higher education need to stay up-to-date with the threat and vulnerability landscape. Learn about the latest critical vulnerabilities, exploits, and breaches. 

“When teams can’t keep things running smoothly, the teaching and the research that is so central to the university’s mission is impacted. On the flip side, skilled IT teams that can minimize the security risks and adapt to changing technologies can support a more innovative and thriving campus,” shared Hannah.

Uncover the four things you need to close the cybersecurity skills gap.

Understanding AI is quickly becoming another core skill for IT professionals. “Cybersecurity risks are huge, and we’ve seen, for all the good AI can do, it’s also increasing cybersecurity risks,” said Hannah. 

But only 12% of IT professionals have significant experience working with AI. They need these skills to mitigate security risks and identify ways to use AI to respond faster and improve their day to day. 

(AI skills are critical for non-IT staff and faculty, too. As Hannah said, “Everyone needs a foundation in generative AI and wider tech fluency beyond that.”)

Another area where upskilling can make the most impact in higher education? Automation. 

“There’s a lot of demand for IT professionals’ time, and it’s not common that there is an hour or two set aside weekly for them to go learn. And yet if they were to learn skills such as automation, they could carve out that time,” said Hannah.

Higher education often struggles to compete with private organizations for IT talent. Retaining them starts with upskilling. 

“Professional development and career progression opportunities are really key to keeping people when higher ed can’t afford to lose IT talent,” said Hannah. “Ongoing education ensures teams upskill and reskill and stay relevant in their current role.”

Ideally, IT teams have access to bite-sized learning resources to keep their skills fresh with minimal time commitment throughout the year. Then you set aside dedicated time to focus on new technologies and skills. 

“When you’re looking at moving beyond training to development and career progression, every six months to a year you need to dig into something that’s newer,” advised Hannah. “As [IT pros] advance levels, they’re ready to get promoted or reskill into a new role.”

It’s a win-win. When you provide skill development opportunities, you retain your people, and your IT professionals build critical skills that help them advance their careers.

Get practical tips to foster a culture of learning for tech teams.

“Learning culture is key not only for productivity but also for simply having a healthy environment and ensuring technologists are current and ready to deliver projects more quickly,” said Hannah. “It also ensures they have the space to innovate.”

In higher education, everyone should be learning, not just the students. IT staff need to stay abreast of the latest tech trends and cybersecurity vulnerabilities to mitigate threats and provide seamless experiences for students, faculty, and staff. 

Learn more about how Pluralsight's learning platform equips higher education institutions with critical tech skills.