Labor Markets, Preparation, and A Common Goal: Making a Successful Transition into the 21 st Century World

1. Labor Markets, Preparation, and A Common Goal: Making a Successful Transition into the 21st Century World Dr. Phil Gardner Collegiate Employment Research Institute at Michigan State University www.ceri.msu.edu

2. Current College Labor Market Situation • Improving: able to withstand inept politicians • 40% requesting “ALL MAJORS” • Sustainable: thank the Boomers and the little guys and gals • “This too will pass”: NOT • Not enough jobs • Alignment issue • Bottom line • It’s all about skills not the specific degree

3. The College to Work Transition Circa 1950 to 1988 21st Century

4. Setting Higher Expectations Initiative: The Holy Grail Build and sustain professional relationships Analyze, evaluate and interpret data Engage in continuous learning Communicate through persuasion and justification Plan and manage a project Create new knowledge Seek global understanding Mentor and develop others Build a team Paper is available at www.ceri.msu.edu (check under paper archives)

5. The Search for Balance • Continuum: very liberal to very specific • 48% Balance between liberal and technical • WE HAVE TWO CHOICES • Technically savvy liberal arts graduates • Liberally educated technical graduates

6. TODAY College graduates must come to the organizations as a STAR PERFORMER!

7. Employer Expectations: “Not What They Used To Be!” Yesterday’s Full-time Outcomes areToday’s Intern Expectations

8. What else counts?

9. An Ivy League Lament

10. The Challenge • All students, especially A&S, do not know how to date • Do not know how to tell their stories • It is a language problem • It is an integration problem

11. Employers’ Perception of A&S Students

12. Adaptive innovators: T-shaped Professionals ME With Jim Spohrer IBM Labs

13. The “Right” Purpose • Purpose • Make my university the best in the world for the growth of talent • Objective • Instilling in each undergraduate the capacity to succeed in the 21st century career Robert Kegan ‘s& Lisa L. Lahey’s, Immunity to Change (Cambridge: HBRP) helped frame these thoughts from earlier presentations.

14. MUST BE • Committed to promoting the development of comprehensive professional competencies, attitudes, and behaviors in each student • Committed to encouraging self-directed, active learning in our students as preparation for becoming life long learners • Committed to enhancing integration of liberal learning, disciplinary, interdisciplinary & co-curricular concepts into a professional foundation • Committed to expanding students’ ability to deal with unexpected, emerging issues Robert Kegan ‘s& Lisa L. Lahey’s, Immunity to Change (Cambridge: HBRP) helped frame these thoughts from earlier presentations.

15. The Options Technical: Staying the course Can be challenging – tools are known Do not necessarily help solve adaptive challenges Adaptive: Crossing the Rubicon Transform our mindset -- complexity Confronts our identity • Truisms from the past (assumptions that limit students, faculty, academic units, institutions) must be directly confronted – hold us hostage • Everyone’s responsibility Robert Kegan ‘s& Lisa L. Lahey’s, Immunity to Change (Cambridge: HBRP) helped frame these thoughts from earlier presentations. “One’s grasp exceeds one’s reach.” Robert Kegan