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Employer Perspectives on Preparing the Next Generation of Fish and Wildlife Professionals. Steve L. McMullin Department of Fish & Wildlife Conservation Virginia Tech smcmulli@vt.edu. Background and Objectives.
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Employer Perspectives on Preparing the Next Generation of Fish and Wildlife Professionals Steve L. McMullin Department of Fish & Wildlife Conservation Virginia Tech smcmulli@vt.edu
Background and Objectives • Frequent complaints: graduates not adequately prepared for jobs as F&W professionals • Employer, student & faculty perceptions: • What is important in determining career success? • Proficiency of recent entry-level hires • What to do & who should do it
“Too few schools offer good instruction in the field operations of wildlife management and administration; too many offer indifferent training in wildlife science and research.” Aldo Leopold, 1939
Recurring Themes • BS/BA inadequate to prepare students for professional work • Broad interdisciplinary undergraduate programs • Save specialization for graduate work • Focus on critical thinking, communication • “People” skills: human dimensions, policy, interpersonal communication, teams • Too much focus on research, not enough on job skills and management
A Plethora of Options • 526 North American institutions offer courses in wildlife or related fields (Wallace & Baydack 2009) • 430 schools offer fisheries or related courses, >200 more with environmental programs (AFS 2014)
Research Questions • Most important knowledge & skills for early career success as a professional? • Student and faculty perceptions of how well academic programs prepare young professionals • Employer perceptions of proficiency of recent entry-level hires • What to do & who should do it?
Surveys of TWS & AFS Members • TWS survey • State agencies (n=418) • Fed agencies (n=342) • NGOs (n=111) • Private (n=235) • Faculty (n=218) • AFS survey • State agencies (n=472) • Fed agencies (n=227) • NGOs (n=55) • Private (n=192) • Faculty (n=184) • Students (n=231) (Stauffer & McMullin 2009) (McMullin et al. in prep)
Importance to Early Career Success? • Critical thinking skills • Oral communication skills • Written communication skills • Working in teams • Fish/Wildlifecourses • Biological sciences • Physical sciences • Math & statistics • Human dimensions >> All topics rated at least somewhat important
Perceptions of Proficiency: Students, Faculty, Employers Undergraduates, Faculty & Employers Masters students, Faculty & Employers
Who should be most responsible for addressing deficiencies? Societies Universities Employers • Critical thinking • Writing skills • Speaking skills • Technical knowledge • Field skills • Working in teams • Nontechnical communication • Establish standards • Provide opportunities for education, communication, networking
Challenges for Academia • Faculty: • Curricular changes & limits on total credits • Costs of experiential learning • Time required to improve comm. Skills • Students/employees: • Gaining experience • Life-long learning
Challenges for Employers • Increased expectations must be consistent with educational requirements • Don’t expect finished products • Invest in employees • Work with universities on curricula, research
Challenges for Professional Societies • Keep certification requirements current • Offer low-cost training opportunities
Acknowledgements • TWS Ad-hoc Committee on Collegiate Wildlife Programs • AFS Special Committee on Education Requirements • TWS & AFS—funding support • Vic DiCenzo