A new eBook, “Plan Your Career Now!” clearly addresses the problem facing employers and employees in the search for talent for present and future jobs. It not only provides insight into the problems, it also presents many solutions to help the future workforce become “employable.”
A report, issued by America’s Promise Alliance, in 2008, found that seventeen of the nation’s 50 largest cities had high school graduation rates lower than 50 percent. Nationally, about1.2 million students drop out annually with only 70 percent of U.S. students graduating on time with a regular diploma.
For the young people who drop out of high school, college is an unlikely option. The vast majority of these individuals will also be stuck in minimum wage jobs most if not all of their lives. But the problem in our high schools goes even deeper than those who drop out of our present public education system.
Employers are discovering increasing numbers of high school graduates who cannot do “applied” math, perform basic measurements and fill out job applications. In other words, “they are graduates who are not employable.” Fifty percent of high school graduates who go on to college must take remedial English or Math to graduate from college. On the job, many college graduates are having difficulty writing clear concise reports. Although computer skills are generally good with the young generation of new workers, many rely on spell-check, not realizing the difference between words such as “there” and “their.” Even text messaging spelling is cropping up in both high school and college papers.
According to one study 60 percent of employers question whether a diploma means students have learned applied academic basics.” Many employers put relatively low priority on candidates’ years of schooling and grade-point average. Employers are more concerned about the applicants’ attitude and work ethic and their ability to work in knowledge based work environments. Do they have the ability to be flexible, continually learn new processes and equipment, and possess the desire to apply what they have learned? American employers need employees who can have a positive impact on the organizations ability to survive, grow and remain competitive.
As a society we have overrated grade-point average and obtaining a degree, rather than focusing on the ability to learn for a lifetime and the acquisition and understanding of “relevant knowledge, which can be applied in the real world”. Many students avoid taking the hard courses so they can keep up a higher grade-point average. They have been misinformed about the attainment of a high grade-point, rather than the virtues learning well those subjects which will prove useful where they are going to live the rest of their life, in the workplace. With few exceptions, a high grade-point and a degree are valuable only if they are received for subjects which are in demand.
Quoting Tom Vander Ark, director of education for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, “Today we have reached a crisis; we are virtually at a tipping point! Our culture and our education system are only producing a small percentage of individuals who are taking a “challenging curriculum” so they are truly prepared for the rigors of college or a knowledge-based workplace.”
As an example, we presently have almost 400 thousand foreign engineers, scientists and chemists, working under the H1B visa program to fill shortages in American companies. The US has another 600 thousand foreign students attending our universities, most of which are enrolled in engineering and business programs. Bottom line, the US can’t produce enough citizens who will take the difficult program subjects to support our knowledge-based economy.
At a time when we need to be preparing individuals for a “knowledge-based workplace” the average school year is 180 days or less, and little more than five hours a day of actual teacher – student classroom subject time is the norm. Compare this to the six day school week in most Asian countries. Add to this the high school drop out rate, failing test scores in core subjects, lack of “real world” career counseling and the millions of retiring baby boomers; it quickly becomes apparent the number of “employable” workers is shrinking. “We are truly becoming a Nation at Risk.”
This subject of high school drop out rates should be major headlines, and a continual discussion point by all the media, but it is treated at best, casually. In fact our failure to educate and lack of student and parent/guardian involvement should be the subject of ongoing debate by all segments of our society, seeking resolution, because it is directly tied to the future of virtually every American community.
It is interesting that the housing “crisis” receives so much coverage while only effecting seven percent of the home owners. Healthcare is also constantly discussed by politicians and the media while more than 80% of the population receives medical care. Another constant drumbeat is jobs going overseas and unemployment. All of this concern is understandable but pales in comparison to the present disaster of not educating and preparing our young people in meaningful subject matter, which can be applied for a productive and successful work life. Why is basic education a topic virtually avoided by politicians and the media?
Testing and assessment of students is a subject which receives the wrong kind of attention. Many say the tests are unfair or to hard, and put undue stress on teachers and students. In fact, there should be more rigorous testing so students are better prepared to meet the challenges they will face after graduation. Life itself is a test.
There is a great saying or more appropriately a truth, which is well understood in business and sports, “You get what you measure.” Communities need to set and measure very high academic standards. Our education standards must be based on “relevant knowledge age standards.” We simply cannot be satisfied applying “industrial age” standards in today’s world. A passing grade in basic skills is no longer sufficient. In addition, excellence in critical thinking, personal responsibility and life-long learning abilities must be the goal.
Calls for true educational reforms are infrequent. Their focus has been primarily on the content – what should be learned: the context – the circumstances the students should be learning in and the outcomes – the knowledge and skills that should be acquired. This addresses only part of the problem.
The image of our future must be of a country of people engaged in lifelong learning. Our local communities must develop systems that address current, emerging and transitional education/workforce issues in a spirit of collaboration. Picture if you will communities in which all citizens are “continually learning relevant skills” so that they are capable of meeting their personal and collective needs.
Collectively we must understand that the cost of mediocrity is disappointment, disillusionment and lost dreams. The benefits of excellence are both the personal and collective achievement and fulfillment by our greatest natural resource… the people of our communities.
Total federal, state, and local spending for education, both public and private, climbed to over 900 billion in 2007. Over sixty percent of that amount (600 billion) was spent on K-12 education. Even with this expenditure, our young students do not rank at the top with their peers in other countries. In the important subjects of reading, math and science, only 30 percent of 4th graders are performing at grade level on assessment tests. Should we not expect more from this vast expenditure?
Money alone is not the answer. Washington D.C. is the third highest in expenditure per student and ranks last in achievement. Montana ranks twenty-fifth out of fifty-one states in expenditures and ranks second highest in achievement of its student population. This data points to the fact that the total system (educators, parents, students, policy makers) can look in the mirror and take the blame or the credit for failure or success for their local or state system.
The real world doesn’t care who is to blame for a workforce unprepared for the knowledge age. The world is too complex to expect one segment of our society to inform and prepare the workforce to meet the demands of the marketplace. Because of the complexity we face, it will require everyone including you the individual to take a serious role in the process of preparing yourself and those dear to you to compete in our complex and rapidly changing environment.
If Americans wants to generate a high or at least maintain a good standard of living for all citizens, we must ensure that our current and future generation of workers has the required skills and knowledge. It is an absolute given that technological literacy – the ability to use computers and other technology to improve learning, productivity and performance – is a must. Interpersonal work skills – the ability to work in teams, please the customer, having personal accountability and effectively dealing with change and ambiguity – are also as fundamental to a person’s ability to obtain a good job, just as traditional skills such as reading, writing and arithmetic.
Make no mistake, technological literacy; interpersonal skills and solid basic skills alone are not the total solution for our country’s success. Effective leadership and a genuine commitment by all those involved – parents, students, teachers and leaders – will be required if we are to beat the competitive forces of a global economy. In addition to commitment, it will take everyone continually working in a concerted and sustained effort to close the gap between education, workforce requirements and workforce capability. We must understand that our new concern is not unemployment but “employability!”
For more information on this important subject go to www.planyourcareernowebook.com
Roger M. Ingbretsen is president of Ingbretsen Consulting LLC www.ingbretsen.com specializing in leadership and organizational development. He has been involved in workforce research and development issues for more than a decade.
