“Nearly 80% of current college students say they’re “very” or “completely” prepared to put their organization skills to work, while just 54% of hiring managers who’ve interviewed recent grads would agree, according to a survey of 2,000 U.S. college students and 1,000 hiring managers, conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of education company Chegg.
Students overestimate their abilities by at least 10 percentage points on each of the 11 criteria measured in the survey, according to the findings.”
From the study:
Assessment characteristic
Students view
Recruiters’ view
Making decisions without all the facts
47%
37%
Ability to communicate with bosses and clients
70%
44%
The study also found that collaboration, managing up (i.e., managing your manager(s)), making persuasive arguments, and critical thinking in general, were unprepared for. The feeling that more hands-on and applied learning would be supportive to both students and employers.
Methinks starting more ‘hands-on and applied learning’ in middle- and high-school would also be supportive.
“I had plenty of great resources and educators,” said Zak Malamed of his Long Island high school. “My dissatisfaction came from the lack of ability to be an individual.”
Zak noticed how #EdChat had quickly become a community that gave teachers a voice. He thought students needed the same and launched #StuVoice Twitter chats last May. During Teacher Appreciation Week, the first chat was “What makes a great teacher?”
His #StuVoice Twitter chats (Mondays, 8:30 EDT) grew quickly, “A few months after launching I was connecting with renowned educators.” He knew he was onto something and has started the process for Student Voice(Check it out!) to become a nonprofit.
During his freshman year at the University of Maryland, Zak said he probably spent more time on Student Voice than his school work but he “learned more from that than anything.” Zak said, “I learned how to work with and manage people, formed relationships, and had an incredible experience.”
Student Voice has expanded beyond Twitter to bimonthly Google hangouts. “We recognized the value of face-to-face interaction–it’s often less about the topics and more about the relationships formed.”
Lisa Nielsen (The Innovative Educator) introduced us to Zak. She noted that “He recently put together their first conference (sponsored by Dell) which was a terrific success.”
An added benefit of promoting student voice is that it “helps develop entrepreneurial mindset,” said Zak. He was frustrated with the limitation of his political science major
so he created his own major in social engagements–a study of social, media, business, civic engagement.
The young organization is supported by dozens of volunteer students like Zak. Like Zak, they are convinced that the “idea of student voice, as individual and organizational level, needs to be promoted.” He noted that “plenty of teachers inspired me, but I recognize how much work needs to be done.”
Back in March, Ex-Governor Gary Carruthers being interviewed on Public Radio about ethics in life, business and government was asked, “So, what would your advice be for the good of the state of New Mexico in general?”
He said his answer was very simple: create a world-class job force. And the interviewer and he both agreed that the path to that was education. Education!
Governor Caruthers went on to say that while a Masters Degree or four-year degree would be nice, recent studies of employer/society job market needs say there probably is a greater need for excellent technical and two-year training and education.
So ,,, how would you go about making this happen? What do you think would work?
ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) – A new plan to cut crime in New Mexico looks at getting more kids to graduate from high school.
One economist estimates if five percent more young men graduated in New Mexico, It could save the state $38 million in prison and jail costs.
Nobel Prize winning economist James Heckman says kids who graduate are less likely to be arrested and sent to jail.
Heckman also adds if that same five percent of high school grads also went to college, their combined income would be $20 million higher than if they hadn’t gone to college.
Here are two articles that seemed to me to go towards explaining what we are reading about, experiencing, and trying to come to grips with in education today:
What are employers and society in general finding problems with? National Association of Manufacturers surveys of “Skills Gap” notes some problems coming out of high schools and colleges that may shed some light:
Work ethics, timeliness and attendance are as important as verbal, math and technical skills – and are not being taught
High school and college grads’ general “sense of entitlement” causes problems
Grads don’t understand what hard work really is
A belief that multi-tasking is effective actually diminishes focus on task at hand
American culture (see the next article for some possible explanations) and lack of focus in general, combined with high school grade inflation, causes problems in the workplace
The main incentive seem to involve just moving kids through a system
But … a bad worker/employee jeopardizes an entire unit, division or company
“As employers and government officials put more pressure on colleges to produce employable graduates, this message should reach students before they collect their diploma.”
According to the latest Ernst & Young survey of employees, boards of directors and top managers in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and India, the following systemic cultural problems were noted:
1 in 5 employees are aware of their company’s financial manipulations
42% of board members are aware of their company’s financial manipulations
These activities undermine U.S. parent companies and markets
3 major banks have been fined for manipulating LIBOR; 13 others are under investigation
In general, anti-bribery/anti-corruption policies are not being implemented or enforced
These activities lead to “Wild West” attitudes and cultures, a general sense of entitlement and invitation/incentive to take increased financial, managerial, societal, moral risk.
