IHE: Survey finds employers want lib arts skills

[Wahoo Redux]

What Employers Want from IHE.

Ashely Finley, vice president for research and senior adviser at the AAC&U, and author of the report, said Monday that "the bottom line is that at a time when colleges and universities might be tempted to retrench resources, specifically to limit breadth of learning and skill development, they should not."

Employers continue to find high value in students developing a "broad skill base that can be applied across a range of contexts," Finley said. "Our results also point to how much fostering mind-sets -- like work ethic and persistence -- matter for workplace success," as far as employers are concerned.

Not necessarily related to the pandemic, Finley also said that the consistent differences of opinion expressed by employers under 40 and those over 50 suggest that liberal arts-related skills and civic and community mindedness are becoming more important to employers, not less.

Let the dogs loose.

[Hibush]

Woof!

[Mobius]

Employers say they want a lot of things. They won't be in favor of tax increases to pay for increased higher ed funding for liberal arts programs.

[mleok]

Yes, but don't we already have distribution and general education requirements?

[marshwiggle]

As I read through the original report, I'll see if I have more comments.

Here's one:

Employers value applied experiences, but internships lead the list of what makes
employers "much more likely to consider" hiring a candidate.

49% of employers were "much more likely" to hire candidates who had doe internships or apprenticeships.

How many programs have required, or even readily-available, internships?

[Wahoo Redux]

As I read through the original report, I'll see if I have more comments.

Here's one:

Employers value applied experiences, but internships lead the list of what makes
employers "much more likely to consider" hiring a candidate.

49% of employers were "much more likely" to hire candidates who had doe internships or apprenticeships.

How many programs have required, or even readily-available, internships?

Virtually all, Marshy. And every college I have ever been at since I was an undergrad has had a pipeline for internships through career services.

It is routine here and the report is referring to something written on stone tablets during the Mesolithic.

Do you not do this in Canada?

[mleok]

I'm curious as to the methodology for selecting their survey sample, in particular, technology seems to represent a disproportionately high fraction of the responses, is this a representative fraction of the job market for new college graduates?

[Morden]

And every college I have ever been at since I was an undergrad has had a pipeline for internships through career services.

It is routine here and the report is referring to something written on stone tablets during the Mesolithic.

Do you not do this in Canada?

It depends. At  my institution, we have internships/co-op placements, but unless they are a specific requirement of the degree, we have very few students applying for them (even when they are directly relevant to the students' majors) because students are reluctant to give up their regular part-time jobs to take on something for a term.

[marshwiggle]

As I read through the original report, I'll see if I have more comments.

Here's one:

Employers value applied experiences, but internships lead the list of what makes
employers "much more likely to consider" hiring a candidate.

49% of employers were "much more likely" to hire candidates who had doe internships or apprenticeships.

How many programs have required, or even readily-available, internships?

Virtually all, Marshy. And every college I have ever been at since I was an undergrad has had a pipeline for internships through career services.

It is routine here and the report is referring to something written on stone tablets during the Mesolithic.

Do you not do this in Canada?

In places I've seen, professional programs that require internships have lots of staff whose full-time job is to recruit employers. For programs where internships are optional, there isn't nearly the same level of staffing, so effectively students have to find their own jobs which, if they qualify, will count.

[Aster]

I was unaware that all of the criteria on Figure 4 of that report were intrinsic to getting a liberal arts degree. If the title of that figure wasn't trying to confuse me, my first impression is that Figure 4 would be highlighting the value of a STEM degree.

Or maybe I'm just being nitpickety.

[Durchlässigkeitsbeiwert]

Figure 4 in the original report  is indeed quite telling:
- most employers consider majority listed skills "very important". So, they clearly weren't asked to select top 3. This results in ideal candidate having skills in everything - including "Ability to work with numbers and statistics". So, term "liberal arts" in the report encompasses things like math (I recall a previous thread, where several people actively opposed this view).
- the top 3 skills (teamwork / critical thinking / data analysis) are not dissimilar my industry employer's promotional materials. I guess the responses were provided by PR or HR departments - not people making final hiring decision or working alongside fresh graduates. Alternatively, this may the case where people assume technical skills to do the work as given.

[marshwiggle]

From Figure 8:

Exposure to STEM fields- 45% Very Important
An emphasis on liberal arts disciplines - 36% Very Important

(The latter suggest that most employers don't consider "emphasis on liberal arts disciplines" as necessary for developing all of those skills like critical thinking, etc.)

[mleok]

I was unaware that all of the criteria on Figure 4 of that report were intrinsic to getting a liberal arts degree. If the title of that figure wasn't trying to confuse me, my first impression is that Figure 4 would be highlighting the value of a STEM degree.

Or maybe I'm just being nitpickety.

No, I don't think you are. I think the "executive summary" is colored more by the agenda of the organization that commissioned the survey, and does not follow from the survey results. In particular, the AACU is "A Voice and a Force for Liberal Education."

[marshwiggle]

From Figure 12:

Employers do not believe most graduates possess the level of preparedness needed for workforce success.

the "preparedness gap" is the difference between
Share of employers who deem a skilll to be "very important"
and
Share of employers who report that recent graduates are "very well prepared" on a particular skill

The four items with the BIGGEST preparedness gap were:

• Critical thinking skills (21%)
• Application of knowledge/skills in real-world settings (17%)
• Analyze and interpret data (16%)
• Demonstrate complex problem-solving skills (15%)

What were those supposed things liberal arts education was best at developing?

[mleok]

What were those supposed things liberal arts education was best at developing?

Well the liberal arts is supposed to consist of the trivium of grammar, logic, and rhetoric, and the quadrivium of arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy. So, of the seven liberal arts, at least three, and arguably four of them are in math and science. I think we tend to forget that a liberal arts education is not synonymous with a humanities education. Most of the US system is based on a liberal arts tradition, and even professional programs like engineering have far more non-STEM requirements than anywhere else in the world.