Stopped reding right there ...
Posted on 02/05/2021 8:05:12 AM PST by karpov
Even though experts believe college is still worth the cost, employers question the value to their businesses. Many believe college degrees do not provide graduates with the skills needed in today’s workplace.
In a 2014 survey of over 600 business leaders, only 11 percent strongly agreed that college graduates had the skills their companies needed. The majority believed that universities are not adequately preparing students. The gap has only widened since then. Employers expect more from college graduates.
The mismatch between college programs and the needs of the business community creates two problems for graduates. Many cannot find meaningful employment after graduating, and then they cannot pay off their student loan debt. Unfortunately, universities are doing little to address this issue.
So why aren’t colleges offering courses that teach students the skills employers want?
The answers lie with university faculty who make course and curriculum decisions. Without industry experience, faculty cannot teach workplace skills.
This problem is often more severe for STEM degree programs despite STEM grads’ higher salaries because of the large gap between theory and practice. Universities need to change their approach and work with the business community when they create new courses.
One way four-year colleges could make their degrees more valuable (and marketable) is by embedding skills-focused courses in degree programs.
By asking local and regional employers about the skills they need, college leaders can create certificate programs within a major that makes students more employable. It could be the future of higher ed.
Certificate programs are packages of four or more courses focused on specific employers’ needs that teach students in-demand skills. Colleges could also mandate an industry internship as part of a certificate program, so students gain relevant working experience.
(Excerpt) Read more at jamesgmartin.center ...
Isn’t this re-inventing the wheel? Apprentince jobs and OJT was the way it was done ninth past.
The professors want to pontify. They are not teaching, they are indoctrinating.
Stopped reding right there ...
Major universities tend to train STEM students to go into academia. Obviously not everyone can be a college professor, that is why so many people become stuck as permanent post-doctorates.
There are a few universities that train students to work in the private sector and require internships to graduate, no matter what degree is being sought.
The author does a good job of highlighting the problem but really misses the mark on the underlying problem. Embedding a certificate program in a university degree will do nothing to fix the problem because it’s still run by the university.
I’ve had a successful career in a STEM field. I will cite two facts related to my own background that illustrate the problem:
1. I was a marginal student.
2. After I graduated, I passed all of my professional licensing exams (three in total): (A) by a wide margin, and (B) on my first attempt (engineers typically failed 2-3 times before passing, back in those days).
Clearly there is a disconnect between what an employer needs and what our system or higher education provides.
Another crazy idea would be having the department of commerce work with the department of education to predict or project what degrees our population needs for the expected future. Then limit the number of loans or scholarships given to those required for the country. Don’t make loans on degrees the country doesn’t need. I think they do something like this in South Korea where space in their universities is limited.
I’ve been advocating vocational ed for 20 years or more. We don’t need more Ph.D taxi drivers.
That is what a community College is for. Not everyone needs a 4 yr degree
How about having the University on the hook for the Student loan of the unemployable student? The college has no skin in the game. Everybody thinks their kid needs a college degree, even if it is in under water sports management studies and gives something for parents to brag about but generates no economic value.
Big problem with this idea. Any “industry-vetted certificate program” that did not result in the desired demographics groups passing would be tossed out as racist/sexist/ableist etc.
I received a Masters degree from what amounted to an academy specializing in international business. It struggled to maintain its "official" accreditation because the instructors were actual businessmen and the foreign language instruction was by verbal immersion taught by native speakers. In other words, the opposite of how universities and the academic priesthood function.
Companies doing international business lined up to interview graduating students as every semester ended because we tended to hit the ground running with far less useless BS between the ears.
Speak with any tradesmen. The story is the same everywhere: young people don't want to work.. Tradesmen can't find entry level trainees/apprentices. Young people don't want to work.
As to why they are unmotivated, that is a long discussion in itself. Executive summary: they live in a polluted culture devoid of decent values.
And Biden will make things much worse with his minimum wage hike. Minimum wage jobs are "starter" jobs for unskilled people. People in these jobs build their skill set. It starts with punctuality, grooming, and dedication to the job.
That's nuts. They'd miss out on predicting the needs of some of the most of the successful industries this country has ever had.
"If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses." -- Henry Ford
They haven’t realized that Reading, Writing and ‘Rithmetic would close the skill gap because proficiency in these skills is what’s missing.
Contrary to what you will often hear from students and employers, one of the problems I see in STEM fields is that the degree programs aren't extensive enough.
There's been a long-term trend of reducing the credit load for undergraduate degrees in these programs. I 120-credit bachelor's degree is supposed to be the norm. When I was in engineering school my degree was a 132-credit program (which has since been reduced).
I honestly think an engineering degree should be a SIX year program (180 credits), with the whole thing transformed dramatically to include other elements:
1. Students should be able to test out of any course in a subject matter where they can already demonstrate a high level of competency.
2. The program should include a robust internship/apprenticeship component where students are gaining real-world experience as early as possible -- perhaps after the first year is completed.
“So why aren’t colleges offering courses that teach students the skills employers want?”
Simple! These students will have to rely on all levels of government funding to live in America.
They will, in turn, vote for democrats who fund those programs and forgive their student loans and buy their votes for the rest of their miserable lives.
You post a lot and I want to thank you for all your efforts
Germany and Switzerland have successful apprenticeship programs. That works. Forcing companies to pay $15 per hour for all employees, even those who know nothing, is a failure.
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