Promising Practices for Strengthening the Regional STEM Workforce Development Ecosystem (2016) / Chapter Skim
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5 Findings and Recommendations
5 Findings and Recommendations
Pages 61-82
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From page 61... ...
In addition to these findings and recommendations, we include Box 5-1 (at the end of this chapter) , which identifies specific actions that key stakeholders within regional STEM workforce development ecosystems can take to build, strengthen, and sustain partnerships.
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From page 62... ...
Effective boards should engage employers more directly in the design and adaptation of curricula and programs to give students hands-on, experiential learning opportunities that will develop both technical and employability skills. Finding A8 – Obligations and requirements of universities, departments, and individual faculty members can potentially pose systemic constraints on efforts to build stronger partnerships with the regional employer community.
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From page 63... ...
For example: • Deans and faculty from STEM departments should organize regular meetings that bring employers to campus to meet with faculty and students; discuss current and pro spective workforce needs using real-time labor market data; gather the business com munity's input into curricula and lab experiences; review and adapt to local needs ex isting standardized curricula and training programs such as those developed by scientific and professional societies; and provide forums for discussion of opportuni ties for formal student and faculty engagement in local businesses and other local em ployers through internships, apprenticeships, and faculty exchanges. • Local employer executives should designate at least one individual to serve as a liai son to local universities; that person should maintain a high profile on campuses -- regularly engaging with deans, department heads, and faculty to identify specific strat egies for formal alliances.
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Recommendation A4 – Applying Lessons Learned from Community Colleges: Drawing on successful employer engagement and partnership models used at community colleges, we recommend that more 4-year colleges and universities, including research universities, pursue formal partnerships with local/regional employers to create opportunities for education and training experiences on the ground at worksites. Such initiatives can have the dual benefit of better aligning university curricula and labs with regional workforce needs and simultaneously contributing to productivity and efficiency in employer operations, which can enhance the economic strength of the employers and the health of the local economy.
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Institutions should explore the development of "early warning" systems to monitor student progress and alert faculty to challenges that minority students and female students are facing and may have difficulty addressing themselves without some kind of intervention and support. THEME B INFORMATION AND DATA NEEDS Findings Finding B1 – Many institutions of higher education struggle to identify real-time STEM workforce needs in their local and regional communities.
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2 THEME C APPLIED LEARNING: APPRENTICESHIPS, INTERNSHIPS, COOPERATIVE EDUCATION, AND EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES Findings Finding C1 – Internship and cooperative programs can provide authentic, problem-based learning experiences that benefit both students and future employers. The importance of internships and cooperatives for strong STEM workforce development partnerships was noted by participants at all five regional workshops.
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Recommendation C2 – Sponsorships of Internship Opportunities: Building upon the above recommendation, we urge universities and businesses to investigate the efficacy of adapting the model successfully used by many universities to create donor-sponsored athletic scholarships -- and apply that model to apprenticeships and internships for students. When they understand the value of internships and apprenticeships, alumni, local businesses, local community foundations, and perhaps other prospective donors may be motivated to sponsor programs that can give students the work-based experiential learning they need for future workplace success and incentivize their persistence in important STEM pursuits.
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From page 68... ...
better understand how employability skills are best measured and assessed, by both educators and employers. In particular, we recommend further research that investigates the importance of the following skills in the STEM workforce and identifies potential strategies for helping students become proficient in these areas: • Ethical behavior and trustworthiness • Self-confidence, a positive outlook, sincerity, civility, and accepting responsibility • Perseverance and "grit" • Effective communication, including advocacy and persuasion • Effective collaboration, including leadership, teamwork, and consensus building • Entrepreneurial mindset and associated business acumen • Interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary thinking • Creativity, curiosity, and design • Empathy and social responsibility • Global awareness and perspective 3 Recommendation D2 – Cultivating Employability Skills in Students: We recommend that universities and employers work together to create regionally focused, applied learning activities that draw on real-world workplace challenges and can only be solved using a combination of technical and employability skills.
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• State legislatures or governors should focus on initiatives that encourage local col lege/university-employer partnerships, including providing better real-time labor mar ket information. • County commissioners or city councils should consider designating a local govern ment official charged with fostering local partnerships by serving as a broker between college/university leaders and business leaders, and by encouraging the initiatives cit ed above, such as scholarships for internships/apprenticeships, stronger mentoring op portunities, and faculty exchanges.
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BOX 5-1 Specific Steps for Each Key Actor in Regional STEM Workforce Development Ecosystems BUSINESS LEADERS • Foster a spirit of collaboration with local and regional higher education institutions so that employees are empowered to engage in collaborative workforce-building activities. • Reach out to university presidents and deans and offer to build over time a university business partnership that strengthens the local economy, enhances business opera tions, and creates more learning opportunities for students -- many of whom will be the future employees of the business.
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From page 71... ...
to support stronger collaboration among partners -- with the dual goals of enhancing the local economy and strengthening student preparation for success in the regional workforce. Make this a high-profile exercise to work with local business leaders and others to "take stock" of local employer workforce needs, and make a public commitment to better aligning the university's education programs, labs, curricula, and applied learning experiences to future STEM workforce projections.
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From page 72... ...
Create an early warning system to monitor student progress and alert faculty to chal lenges that students are facing and may have difficulty addressing themselves without some kind of intervention and support. • Track enrollment and attrition in STEM courses and majors in the first 2 years of under graduate education, and create a plan for increasing completion rates in STEM majors, especially for female and underrepresented minority students.
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Collection, analysis, and sharing of data on projected workforce needs (and identification of the competitive economic advantages in the region) to map out an action plan involv ing local employers, universities, government agencies, and intermediaries to undertake a local economic development strategy.
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Partnership Activity IV: Employer Input into the Development and Design/Redesign of University STEM Curricula and Labs Strong Connections Regular meetings of a formal body composed of department or college faculty and local employers with deep knowledge of currency in the STEM fields to examine and evaluate the course curricula and labs. Focused on updating and enhancing the curricula and labs to reflect current knowledge and research.
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Moderate Connections Ad hoc relationships with employers that enable faculty to gain some experiences in in dustry settings, for example, for a day, a few weeks, or a summer. Occasional exchanges between faculty and local employers whereby the faculty spends a day or two in a local business setting (or lab)
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From page 76... ...
Even on those occasions in which there are not enough slots for paid internships and fellowships among local employers, university faculty and admin istrators can engage with employers to create simulated work-based learning experiences on campus -- giving students exposure to real work challenges even without spending time in an employer setting. Partnership Activity VII: Joint University/Industry Focus on the Development of Employ ability Skills or Professional Skills of Students and Workers Strong Connections Active efforts to involve local employers in campus-based project learning and real-world problem solving that encourages students to work collaboratively and that fosters creativ ity, strong communication skills, and critical thinking.
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Appointed to Serve as an Initial and Sustained Point of Contact with Local Universities Strong Connections Designated senior executive within the company or organization who has direct ties to the CEO and is an active partner with university administrators, faculty, and students. The designee has a high-profile, highly visible role within the STEM (and other)
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Partnership Activity III: Employer Input into the Development and Design/Redesign of University STEM Curricula and Labs Strong Connections Regular meetings of a formal body composed of local employer officers and line workers (including mainly STEM workers and managers) as well as department or college faculty.
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From page 79... ...
Partnership Activity VI: Joint University/Industry Focus on the Development of Employability Skills or Professional Skills of Students and Workers Strong Connections Active efforts by local employers to create and implement campus-based project learning and real-world problem solving that encourages students to work collaboratively and that fosters creativity, strong communication skills, and critical thinking. Sponsorship of programs or competitions (e.g., such as robotics contest or "Maker Movement" activities whereby students are invited to work as teams to solve real-world problems in the workplace and present their findings to panels of employer managers and staff.
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Appendixes
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Key Terms
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