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Employers are Raising the Bar: What They Need and Expect in a Well-Prepared College Graduate WASC Academic Resource Conference As Others See Us: Education 360 April 23-25, 2014 Dr. Carol Geary Schneider Mr. Roberts T. Jones.
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Employers are Raising the Bar:What They Need and Expect in a Well-Prepared College GraduateWASC Academic Resource ConferenceAs Others See Us: Education 360April 23-25, 2014Dr. Carol Geary SchneiderMr. Roberts T. Jones
The Standards and Applications of ‘Every Field of Endeavor’ Are Evolving Faster Than Education Systems Can Adapt!Roberts T. Jones, President and Founder, Education Workforce Policy, LLP and Member of the LEAP National Leadership Council
#1 World Population is Changing • Population Developing Nations 9 Times Developed World by 2025 • Younger • Increased Literacy • Growth in P/S Education • Growth in Higher Education
US Population is Changing • Demographics • Slow Population Growth • 0.9% per year • 0.7% by 2030 • Slow Labor Force Growth • 0.08% per year • Increased Percentage of Older Population • Fewer Younger People Entering Workforce • Core Workforce Age Group is Declining • US Economic Growth Will Depend on Fewer Workers…And Increased Productivity!!!
World and US Population Are Changing… 200020202040 Age 0-19 28.5% 26.4% 25.9% 20-6459.0% 57.2% 53.6% 65+ 12.4% 16.3% 20.4% 20082022 Potential HS Grad 3.32 Mil 3.36 Mil BLS/DOC Knocking At the College Door: 2008
#2 World of Work is Changing!Size of Business Shrinking • Size of New Startups Fell.. • 1990’s 7.6 • 2001 6.8 • 2007 4.7 • Establishment Size Shrinking.. • 2000 17.5 • 2005 16.4 • 2011 15.7 • Firms of… 19942007 • 500-999 7.0% 6.7% • 1,000+ 12.3% 10.5% BLS/MLR--BoC/QCEW
#2 World of Work is Changing!Careers, Skills, and Tenure Changing… • 50% of Workers Have Been With Company Less Than 5 Years • 25% Less than 1 Year • WkF Age 199620102016 35-44 5.3 5.1 ? 45-54 8.3 7.8 ? 55-64 10.2 10.0 ? • Every year, more than 1/3 of the entire US labor force changes jobs. • Half Life of Industries, Companies, Jobs, and Skills Decreasing BLS 9/10
#2 World of Work is Changing!Careers, Skills, and Tenure Changing… (cont.) • Breadth, Depth, & Application of Skills are Expanding • Breadth and Level of Academic & Technical Prep is Increasing • Every year, 30 million Americans are working in jobs that did not exist in the previous quarter. BLS 9/10
World of Work is Changing! • 40% Workforce Retires in Next 5 Years • 32 States Project Shortage of Degreed Wkfc • 8 Mill Nat Shortage of Certs/AA/BA By 2018 • 3 Million College Grads • 16 Mill By 2025 • Labor Shortage of 21 million in 2020 Health Care Technology Engineers Teachers Energy Accountants TransportationGovernment ManufacturingGeospatial DOL/BLS
Employer Expectations… • Competitive Advantage by 2020 • 95% Skills of Workforce • 92% Cross-functional Application • Greatest Workforce Growth • 90% Complex Knowledge-Based Role • 85% Developed Communication & Judgment • Major Change in Next 20 years • 95% Point to Highly Skilled Workforce • Degrees or Competencies? • 90 % of Employers say ‘specific skills and abilities of applicants more important than type of Degree’ Economist Survey *Gallup Poll
Students are Underprepared Only 11% of Business Leaders strongly agree that graduates havethe necessary skills and competencies to succeed in the workplace. While 96% of academic officers believe they are effectively preparing students for success in the workplace Economist Survey *Gallup Poll
Overview • It Takes More than a Major (Hart Research Associates, 2013) – Employers’ Views on College Learning and the Economy • AAC&U’s LEAP Initiative—Liberal Education and America’s Promise • Making Quality a Shared Priority: The LEAP Employer-Educator Compact
About LEAP • Launched in 2005, Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP) is AAC&U’s signature national initiative to champion the importance of a twenty-first-century liberal education—for individual students and for a nation dependent on economic creativity and democratic vitality.
Essential Learning Outcomes A Guiding Vision and National Benchmarks for College Learning and Liberal Education in the 21st Century High Impact Practices Helping Students Achieve the Essential Learning Outcomes Authentic Assessments of Student Learning Probing Whether Students Can APPLY Their Learning – to Complex Problems and Real-World Challenges Inclusive Excellence Diversity, Equity, Quality of Learning for All Students LEAP Promotes
The LEAP Essential Learning Outcomes • Knowledge of Human Cultures and the Physical and Natural World • Focused on engagement with big questions, enduring and contemporary • Intellectual and Practical Skills • Practiced extensively across the curriculum, in the context of progressively more challenging problems, projects, and standards for performance • Personal and Social Responsibility • Anchored through active involvement with diverse communities and real-world challenges • Integrative and Applied Learning • Demonstrated through the application of knowledge, skills, and responsibilities to new settings and complex problems
The Degree Qualifications Profile (DQP) • See handout. • The DQP includes all the learning outcomes that LEAP recommends—and further shows how these outcomes can be developed and demonstrated at the associates’, bachelors’ and masters’ degree levels.
The LEAP Dialogue with Employers -Employer Advisors -Employer Forums -Employer Focus Groups-Employer Research
What Employers Told AAC&U Informally… • We DON’T Want Graduates Who are Locked Into Mental Cubicles • We Are Changing Rapidly and if Our Employees Can’t Adapt, They Will Be Left Behind • We DO Want Graduates Who Have That 360° Perspective • We Especially Need Graduates Who Can Apply Their Learning to Complex Problems and New Contexts
AAC&U commissioned Hart Research Associates (in 2006, 2007, 2009, and 2013) to interview employers (C-level suite executives and, in 2009 additional human resource professionals) whose companies report that hiring relatively large numbers of college graduates How Should Colleges Prepare Students to Succeed in Today’s Global Economy? (AAC&U, 2007) How Should Colleges Assess and Improve Student Learning? Employers’ Views on the Accountability Challenge (AAC&U, 2008) Raising the Bar: Employers’ Views on College Learning in the Wake of the Economic Downturn (AAC&U, 2010) It Takes More Than a Major: Employer Priorities for College Learning and Student Success (AAC&U, 2013) See: www.aacu.org/leap/public_opinion_research National Surveys of Employers on College Learning and Graduates’ Work Readiness
HART RESEARCH A S S O C I A T E S It Takes More Than A Major: Employer Priorities for College Learning and Student Success Key findings from survey among 318 employersConducted January 9 – 13, 2013for
Employers Are Raising the Bar 92% of employers say that “innovation is essential to our company’s continued success.” 91% of employers say that “the challenges their employees face are more complex than they were in the past.” 93% of employers say that they are “asking employees to take on more responsibilities and to use a broader set of skills than in the past.”Source: “It Takes More than a Major: Employer Priorities for College Learning and Student Success” (AAC&U and Hart Research Associates, 2013)
Employers Say Innovation, Critical Thinking, and a Broad Skill Set are Key for Meeting Challenges in the Workplace 95% of employers agree that their companies put a priority on hiring people with the intellectual and interpersonal skills to help them contribute to innovation in the workplace 93% of employers say that candidates’ demonstrated capacity to think critically, communicate clearly, and solve complex problems is more important than their undergraduate major 91% of employers say that, whatever their major, all students should have experiences in solving problems with colleagues whose views are different from their ownSource: “It Takes More than a Major: Employer Priorities for College Learning and Student Success” (AAC&U and Hart Research Associates, 2013)
Employers Value Cross-Cutting Capacities When Making Hiring Decisions “Very important/fairly important that our employees have this quality/skill” Ethical judgment and integrity – 96% Comfortable working with colleagues, customers, and/or clients from diverse cultural backgrounds – 96% Demonstrated capacity for professional development and continued new learning – 94% Interest in giving back to the communities in which their companies are located or those that they serve – 71% Source: “It Takes More than a Major: Employer Priorities for College Learning and Student Success” (AAC&U and Hart Research Associates, 2013)
Key Capabilities Open the Door for Career Success and Earnings “Irrespective of college major or institutional selectivity, what matters to career success is students’ development of a broad set of cross-cutting capacities…”Anthony Carnevale, Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce
Majorities of Employers Want Colleges to Place MORE EMPHASIS on Broad, Cross-Cutting Skills and Applications Critical thinking/analytical reasoning 82% Ability to analyze/solve complex problems 81% Effective oral communication 80% Effective written communication 80% Apply knowledge/skills to real-world settings 78% Locate, organize, evaluate info from multiple sources 72% Innovation/creativity 71% Teamwork/collaboration in diverse group settings 67% Ethical decision-making 64%Source: “It Takes More than a Major: Employer Priorities for College Learning and Student Success” (AAC&U and Hart Research Associates, 2013)
Employers endorse several high-impact practices Percentage of Employers Who Say Practice Will Help Students A Lot or A Fair Amount to Succeed in the Workplace Research and Evidence-Based Analysis 83% Expecting students to develop the skills to research questions in their field and develop evidence-based analyses Senior Projects 79% Students complete significant project before graduation, demonstrating knowledge in major & analytical, problem-solving, communication skills Internships and Community-Based Work 78% Students complete internship or community-based field project to connect classroom learning with real-world experiences Collaborative Research 74% Expecting students to develop the skills to conduct research collaboratively with their peers
Narrow Learning is Rejected Which is more important for recent college graduates who want to pursue advancement and long-term career success at your company? Having both field-specific knowledge and skills AND a broad range of skills and knowledge Having a range of skills and knowledge that apply to a range of fields or positions Having knowledge and skills that apply to a specific field or position
Broad Learning is Expected – 80% Say All Students Should Have Broad Learning in the Liberal Arts and Sciences
“This approach to a college education provides both broad knowledge in a variety of areas of study and knowledge in a specific major or field of interest. It also helps students develop a sense of social responsibility, as well as intellectual and practical skills that span all areas of study, such as communication, analytical, and problem-solving skills, and a demonstrated ability to apply knowledge and skills in real-world settings." Three in four employers would recommend the concept of a liberal education to their own child or a young person they know If you were advising your child or a young person you know about the type of college education they should seek to achieve in order to achieve professional and career success in today's global economy, would you recommend they pursue an education like the one described below? I would advise a young person to pursue [a liberal education] Depends Would not
BUT, As We Know from Earlier Hart Research Surveys and Myriad Other Studies, Many Employers Report that Too Many Graduates Fall Short on Key Learning Outcomes, such as… Critical Thinking Writing Teamwork and Collaboration Global Knowledge STEM Knowledge
In Other Words, Employers Seek and Reward the LEAP Essential Learning Outcomes – But Often Find Them in Short Supply
Making Quality a Shared Priority • The Employer-Educator Compact
-Helps Students Understand the Learning Needed for Career Success-Creates Strong Connections Among the Curriculum, the Economy, and the Community
Our Shared Goal is Wider Understanding that Increases in Access and Completion are Necessary, but Far From Sufficient
The Ultimate Goal is World-Class College Learning – for All Students, for a Flourishing Economy, and for Our Globally Engaged Democracy
New Ecology of Learning…As Higher Ed Rises to the Challenge • Does Not Mean… • Focusing Higher Education on Career and Technical Education • Preparing Students for Only ‘Employers’ • Ceding Education to Business • Abandoning Tradition of ‘Liberal Education’
As Higher Ed Rises to the Challenge… • Does Mean… • Higher Education Establishing Single ‘Track’ System with Multiple Learning Options • Enriching Curriculum to Reflect Broader, Technical, Economic, Scientific, Ethical, and Global Applications • Preparing Students With ‘Adaptive Skills’ to Succeed in a Constantly Changing Environment • Integrating Applied Learning in Every Degree
“T” Shaped Professionals Refers to an individual with a deep knowledge of his/her discipline… …but also the breadth of skills and knowledge that allow the individual to understand how one discipline interacts with others and contributes to multiple dimensions and institutional operations. In contrast to the “I”-shaped professional who specializes in one field and whose skills may come to be devalued following changes in technology, application, or market conditions.
Requires New Quality Assurance…Continuous Improvement Content and Standards for Every Academic Field Will Continue to Evolve at Accelerated Rates The Need for Constant Change in Curriculum, Achievement Standards, Assessments, Remediation, and Faculty Will Be Permanent Institutions Must Develop a Culture and a Process for Continuous Improvement
…Requires New Quality Assurance…External Partnerships Formal Linkages with Professional/Industrial Associations Exchange of Professors and Executives Formal Scheduled Surveys of Academic, Technical, and Citizenship Standards Feedback on Graduate Proficiencies from Employers and Alumni Transparent Communication with Public and Policy Makers
Evolving Model: University-Employer Partnerships • AAC&U Employer-Educator Compact • 270 University and Business Leaders Formally Partner On: • Curriculum • Student Research • Applied Learning • Internships • Business Roundtable • US Chamber of Commerce • Committee for Economic Development • Competitiveness Council • Northrop Grumman/University of Maryland • IBM/Ohio State • Cal State Northridge/Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne • Drake University/Meredith Corp. • Eastern Connecticut State University/Cigna Corp.