Employers are Raising the Bar:What They Need and Expect in a Well-

Prepared College Graduate

WASC Academic Resource ConferenceAs Others See Us: Education 360

April 23-25, 2014Dr. Carol Geary Schneider

Mr. 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

• Population Developing Nations 9 Times Developed World by 2025

• Younger

• Increased Literacy

• Growth in P/S Education

• Growth in Higher Education

#1 World Population is Changing

US Population is Changing

World and US Population Are Changing…

2000 2020 2040Age0-19 28.5% 26.4% 25.9%

20-64 59.0% 57.2% 53.6%

65+ 12.4% 16.3% 20.4%

2008 2022Potential 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… 1994 2007– 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 1996 2010 201635-44 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 Transportation Government Manufacturing Geospatial

DOL/BLS

Employer Expectations…

Students are Underprepared

What Employers Need from Today’s College Graduates

•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

Overview

About LEAPLaunched 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.

LEAP Promotes

Essential Learning OutcomesA Guiding Vision and National Benchmarks for College Learning and Liberal Education in the 21st Century

High Impact PracticesHelping Students Achieve the Essential Learning Outcomes

Authentic Assessments of Student LearningProbing Whether Students Can APPLY Their Learning – to Complex Problems and Real-World Challenges

Inclusive ExcellenceDiversity, Equity, Quality of Learning for All Students

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

• 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

What Employers Told AAC&U Informally…

National Surveys of Employers on College Learning and Graduates’ Work Readiness

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

HARTRESEARCHA S S O T E SC I A

It Takes More Than A Major:Employer Priorities for College Learning

and Student Success

Key findings from survey among 318 employersConducted January 9 – 13, 2013

for

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 own

Source: “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)

It Takes More Than A Major – January 2013 – Hart Research for

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

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

It Takes More Than A Major – January 2013 – Hart Research for

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

Narrow Learning is Rejected

16%

29%

55%

Which is more important for recent college graduates who want to pursue advancement and long-term career success at your company?

Broad Learning is Expected – 80% Say All Students Should Have Broad Learning in the

Liberal Arts and Sciences

It Takes More Than A Major – January 2013 – Hart Research for

74%

7%

19%

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]

Would not

Depends

Three in four employers would recommend the concept of a liberal education to their own child or a

young person they know

“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."

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 ThinkingWritingTeamwork and CollaborationGlobal KnowledgeSTEM 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 ExecutivesFormal Scheduled Surveys of Academic, Technical,

and Citizenship StandardsFeedback on Graduate Proficiencies from Employers

and AlumniTransparent 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.