Today’s Employers (Part 2 of 2)

In Part 1, a snapshot was provided of today’s student and their learning preferences. In this post, the focus will be what skills students need based on information provided by today’s employers. After these two parts, I’ll be writing about what language educators can do to foster learning environments that will help students succeed beyond graduation.

This post’s research was started in September 2013 and is ongoing as of April 2014. Resources were pulled mainly from internet sources using the social media tools Twitter and Yammer. The research was initiated due to a desire to

• communicate the value and relevancy of a liberal arts education
• build in activities in distance education courses that apply the skills students need in their personal, academic and professional lives

So, what are the qualities employers crave? What do their wish-lists look like?

After scouring articles and reviewing media sources that mentioned key qualities employers desire in their candidates and workforce, these are some highlights of what’s been bouncing around cyberspace.

April 2013

“It Takes More Than a Major” by AACU Hart Research Associates

• critical thinking
• analytical reasoning
• complex problem solving
• good oral and written communication

July 2013

In Sir Ken Robinson’s talk “How to Change Education from the Ground Up,” (02:30 – 5:41) he explains that employers seek to bring on board those who can respond quickly to change, to unexpected circumstances; individuals who think differently. He refers to a recent report by IBM that focused on interviews IBM had with 1800 leaders of companies in 80 countries and adaptability and creativity were the two most highly sought-after qualities in individuals. In a tweet back on August 22, 2013, he goes on to describe one of the many facets of creativity.

“Creativity is not a single ability that only some people have. It’s a process that draws on [a] wide array of aptitudes that we all have.”

August 2013

“The Stem Crisis Is a Myth” by Robert N. Sharette, IEEE Spectrum

“Emphasizing STEM at the expense of other disciplines carries other risks. Without a good grounding in the arts, literature, and history, STEM students narrow their worldview—and their career options. In a 2011 op-ed in The Wall Street Journal, Norman Augustine, former chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin, argued that point. ‘In my position as CEO of a firm employing over 80,000 engineers, I can testify that most were excellent engineers,’ he wrote. ‘But the factor that most distinguished those who advanced in the organization was the ability to think broadly and read and write clearly.'” [Thanks to Wayne Carlson, Ohio State’s vice provost for undergraduate studies, for pointing out this quote during the Discussion on Trends in Higher Education back in March 2014]

December 2013

“It’s the 4 C’s: Critical Thinking, Creativity, Communication, Collaboration” tweet by Tom Voller-Berdan @tvoller @SmartColleges @johntlawlor @thomas friedman shared at #nacac

February 07, 2014

“What I Look for in New Hires: PR Powerhouse Liz Kaplow” Interview with Liz Kaplow by Adrian Granzella Larssen on The Muse

February 22, 2014

“How to Get a Job at Google” Thomas L. Friedman, Op-Ed Columnist for The New York Times

“In an age when innovation is increasingly a group endeavor, it also cares about a lot of soft skills – [emergent] leadership, humility, collaboration, adaptability and loving to learn and re-learn.”

According to Laszlo Bock, senior vice president of people operations for Google, three of the…

“Five hiring attributes for every job at Google

• general cognitive (learning) ability – process on the fly; ability to pull together disparate bits of information; innately curious, will to learn.
• emergent leadership – When faced with a problem and you’re a member of a team, do you, at the appropriate time, step in and lead? Do you step back and stop leading? Do you let someone else lead? To be an effective leader, you have to be willing to relinquish power.
• humility and ownership – It’s feeling the sense of responsibility, the sense of ownership, to step in and to try to solve any problem, and the humility to step back and embrace the better ideas of others. Your end goal is what can we do together to problem solve.”

Google finds humility as a highly sought-after quality, and this is expected in many other fields as well. At his talk during “Discussion on Trends in Higher Education,” Wayne Carlson, Ohio State’s vice provost for undergraduate studies, mentioned that employers want candidates who are more humble. He included the following observation employers have made based on studies included in reports by CERI, IEEE Spectrum and The Atlantic.

“Students are coming, and this is their words, not mine, students are coming with an inflated sense of self. Students are coming and saying ‘which position should I take on?’ Which area of the company should I move into so that next year I can move up? They have unrealistic goals, and expectations, and a sense of entitlement.”

March 12, 2014

Help plant seeds of grit & perseverance students will need to graduate from #highered @ThisIsGrit #edpalooza video youtu.be/Ez8TR6OVr3A via @OfficeofEdTech

March 21, 2014 [original air date: November 01, 2013]

NPR Ted Radio Hour Podcast http://www.npr.org/2013/10/25/240777690/success

• Tony Robbins: How Can Drive Make You a Success?
• Angela Duckworth: Is Having Grit the Key to Success?
• Ron Gutman: Can You Smile Your Way to Success?
• Mike Rowe: Are People With Dirty Jobs the Most Successful?
• Alain de Botton: What’s a Kinder Way to Frame Success?

December 24, 2013 (approximately)

“The Long Game Part 1: Why Leonardo DaVinci was no genius” by Adam Westbrook

I am fascinated when I see drafts artists have made before finalizing masterpieces. I came across these video essays thanks to Randy Walk and James Burgoon at Ohio State (via Yammer). The essays discuss and show how masters and those we consider geniuses took years to perfect their art. These video essays made me think of Cervantes (1547 – 1616), who published the first volume of his classic Don Quixote (1605) when he was in his 50s.

“The Long Game Part 2: the missing chapter” by Adam Westbrook

In his second video essay, Adam Westbrook mentions “Robert Green in his book Mastery (2012), which studies the patterns of history’s biggest achievers, explains how many have ‘a largely self-directed apprenticeship that lasts some 5-10 years [and] receives little attention because it does not contain stories of great achievement or discovery.’” (03:00 – 03:15)

“[The Duke of Milan] asks [Leonardo] to create something really epic. A gigantic statue of a horse in bronze. Leonardo goes all out on this. He conducts countless studies, and sketches, he builds a full-size replica in plaster, he even invents a new kind of casting process to make it happen. Then, at the last minute, the duke decides he needs bronze cannons more than a massive bronze horse, and the project is cancelled. Months and months of work wasted. It was a time of set-back after set-back, but Leonardo keeps going. And all the time, every single chance he gets, he’s drawing, and studying, and sketching, and writing and prototyping. And he does this, day in, day out, for sixteen years.” [01:40 – 02:21]

DaVinci became a master through overcoming adversity by following his passions and doing meaningful work. He continually strove toward personal perfection.

As educators, to prepare students for life beyond graduation, we need to provide valuable and relevant learning opportunities that empower them. This may require us “every chance we get to draw, study, sketch, write and prototype.” A student needs to shape his or her experiences by building on strengths and to strengthen weaknesses. Are we, as educators, providing enough room for students to explore what their strengths are? Are we allowing enough wiggle room to strengthen their weaknesses? When a variety of traits are exercised, applied, and mastered, candidates are more qualified and individuals are better, more open-minded global citizens. For students to make necessary connections, they need guidance, rigor, community, freedom to explore, and models of professionalism that they can emulate. These are the building blocks of success.

A special thanks to all the instructors, conversation leaders, technology specialists, materials development personnel, native informants, and administrators for their contributions to our individualized instruction program.

I also want to recognize Ohio State’s ODEE, OCIO, ASCTech, UCAT, and the Future of The University Working Group at the Humanities Institute (David Staley et al.) for all their efforts to make an impact around campus and to build the future of the university.

Thanks to all the individuals out there striving to make students’ college experience valuable.

The Story Behind the Research

Make it Relevant. Make it Matter.

The discussions circulating about education reform, in particular, when Phi Beta Kappa launched a National Arts & Sciences Initiative in Autumn 2013, prompted me to get even more involved. It has motivated me to start changing how I do things directly with students, with my colleagues, around campus, and using social media. This past year I have made every effort -outside my regular professional duties- to reach out to others on campus on matters that mean the most to me in relation to the importance of a liberal arts education. Being an introvert, this was quite an undertaking. It has been easier to promote the benefits of humanities courses during one-on-one appointments I have with students in our individualized instruction program. The personalized approach our program offers allows us to talk directly to individuals about their studies, their work, and oftentimes, they talk about their personal lives. I encourage them to make connections, make their coursework relevant to them. Whenever the opportunity arises, especially at the end of each semester, I talk more with students about their future endeavors. Depending on what they tell me, I make suggestions to get involved in organizations, intern, volunteer, travel or study abroad whenever possible. For all students out there still doing soul searching about what they will major in or what they will do with their lives, I tell them what I do now did not exist 10 years ago. That they need to build on certain key qualities that will carry over into whatever career they pursue. I also offer the following anecdote. In college, I remember well my sophomore year when I had a conversation with my roommate’s mother-in-law, who was an advisor or guidance counselor, about my plan for the future. She was shocked I didn’t have a life plan all mapped out. No, I didn’t know what I wanted to do at that point in my life. I had ideas, but I was still exploring. I remember that when I needed to make the decision about my major(s) I had to focus on just Spanish because the archaeology major was eliminated due to budget cuts. I decided that whatever I did, I would make Spanish relevant in some way in my future career. I remember going to the career center on campus and not really getting the help I needed. In the end, that didn’t matter much because I knew I wanted to move back to the midwest. Although I loved living on the east coast with all its related benefits – proximity to New York and other urban centers – I was a midwest girl at heart. I chose to go to grad school at the University of Kansas. When I was a grad student, I discovered early on that research related to literature was not my cup of tea, but at the same time, my “aha” moment as a GTA came the first day I taught a Spanish language course. My first day of class is forever ingrained in my memory. How often I practiced with my fellow GTAs in pre-service micro-teaching sessions, how many times I worked through my lesson plan, how nervous I was right before class. And once I was in front of that class, interacting with students, getting students to connect with each other, I absolutely loved it. The time spent dedicated to the complicated art of teaching, in addition to my undergraduate and graduate experiences in the humanities have shaped who I am today.

Please share in the comments area, the most important skill that has helped you succeed.

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Example applying Adaptability + Creativity in World Language Education

My inspiration to map skills back to adaptability and creativity came from both Sir Ken Robinson’s talk about education reform and his tweet about creativity. Adapting and creating are messy exercises, evidenced by the following rough sketch (work in progress). This type of mapping has helped me conceptualize which student qualities and skills we want to focus on during our (re)design of blended and distance education language courses.

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Example applying Essential Skills to Readiness Exercise for Incoming Blended and Online Language Course Instructors

I’m currently revising readiness exercises for blended, distance and online language educators. These are the key qualities and skills I expect candidates to have who teach in our program.

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My experience in a cross-disciplinary course at Rutgers in 1994

STEAM* in action 20 years ago. For those of you who aren’t familiar with this: *STEM + A = STEAM Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics

• Course: Physics and Photography
• Professor: Terry Matilsky

Fast forward 20 years, and now I sometimes feel like I am explaining something like the theory of relativity when describing the basics of blended, distance and online course design.

Each change in a variable of space, time, pace, and delivery, affects how the instructor, student and content interact with each other.

Blended, Distance and Online Course Variables

• SPACE: The where. No longer is teaching and learning restricted to the walls of the brick-and-mortar classroom, but what learning spaces will be provided in the blended, distance or online course? LMS? Discussion Board? Wiki? Webconferencing? Where will the student be completing the course or calling in from?
• TIME: The when. Contact time. Time of day. Time of the week. Time of year. With a blended, distance, or online course there should be more flexibility. However, will there be fixed, synchronous lectures at certain hours that students can attend? Will the lectures be posted asynchronously? At what time are instructors available?
• PACE: The duration & frequency. Learning in a blended, distance, or online course is no longer restricted to the pace of an entire classroom of students. Pacing is more individualized -students can work longer if they need to review material or take more time to explore topics. They are not rushed by the brick-and-mortar classtime restrictions, which are set by an instructor’s lesson or timed group work. With asynchronous activities, if some students are more familiar with the material, they can work more quickly through that part of the course, and in turn, spend more time on whatever else they need or want to do. However, when planning, consider the following questions: What will their deadlines be? What type of deadlines? How frequent will they be? What happens if students miss the deadlines?
• DELIVERY: The how. How will teaching and learning happen? How will the student interact with the content, instructor(s) and other students? What types of media will students have access to (a)synchronously?

I applaud the folks who decided to put photos from around campus on the front page of our learning management system Carmen. This is an effective use of photography to create a sense of community for everyone accessing courses at Ohio State. It not only is a digital window, but in a sense, a way to travel to places we may not be able to visit physically on campus.

Photographic History

How did war photos get developed on location during World War II? Read on for how soldiers creatively adapted to their surroundings and available resources.

[update 04/21/14] One of the reasons I took the Physics & Photography class in college was my grandfather’s hobby. When I was growing up, he was the family photographer. He was always taking snapshots, always looking for that perfect angle and lighting for portraits or group shots. It wasn’t until I was older that I learned he was a photographer in World War II. The photo and accompanying article below are public domain. The photo is the work of an employee of the U.S. military taken as part of that person’s official duties. The man in the photo is my grandfather. The newspaper article was published in a local newspaper around 1943 (still investigating source and exact date). This is the first time the photo and article have been published side-by-side.

• Article Author: Ernie Pyle, 1944 Pulitzer Prize Winner
• Article Source: Sheboygan or Plymouth Local Press (still researching original clipping)
• Photo Source: WWII Photographer in U.S. Military (still researching photo’s history)
• Date: c.1942-1943 (still researching original photo & clipping dates)

 “I am mentioning these boys because they have built a photography darkroom that is unique in Africa. It is an underground dugout 10 feet deep. Most of it was dug through solid rock, and without any blasting equipment. It took the five boys 10 days to do it. 

You go down some steps, turn right along a deep, narrow ditch, and then right again, which brings you completely underground with a three foot roof of earth and rock over you for bomb protection. They’ve never had a raid at this field, but where they were previously stationed raids were frequent. 

Everything in the darkroom is homemade. Running water comes through some curved piping taken from the hydraulic system of a B-17. On the end of the pipe is a spigot from a wine barrel. All their photographic chemicals are kept in old champagne bottles. Their developing trays are gasoline tins cut in half the long way. Their film printing box was made from fragmentation bomb cases. Their red safety light is the reflector off a jeep. An electric switch from a bombardier’s control box lid is cushioned with rubber from the pilot’s seat of a Fortress. 

They all live in the same tent, and for such an international hodge-podge you never saw five men prouder of their joint accomplishments.” – Ernie Pyle

Thank you to my family who forwarded me the photo and article to include in this piece about adaptability + creativity.

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Christine Miller is Director of the Spanish & Portuguese Individualized Instruction Programs at the Ohio State University.

 

 

 

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Please excuse inconsistencies with citation formats – Currently under revision.

SOURCES

Association of American Colleges and Universities (2013). “It Takes More Than a Major: Employer Priorities for College Learning and Student Success” Hart Research Associates. Retrieved from http://www.aacu.org/leap/documents/2013_EmployerSurvey.pdf  via http://www.pbk.org/home/newsview.aspx?id=1012  National Arts & Sciences Initiative by Phi Beta Kappa

Robinson, Ken. R. (2013) RSA Presentation – Royal Society of the Encouragement of the Arts: Ideas & Actions for a 21st Century Enlightenment. July 1, 2013 2:30-5:41. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEsZOnyQzxQ

RobinsonKenR (2013, Aug 22). Creativity. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/SirKenRobinson/status/370603672893280256

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To Explore, if interested: 

Aguilar, Elena. “The Power of Introverts: An Essential Understanding for Teachers.” November 25, 2013. Retrieved via http://www.edutopia.org/blog/power-introverts-essential-understanding-teachers-elena-aguilar

Augustine, Norm (September 21, 2011). The Wall Street Journal. “The Education our Economy Needs”  Retrieved from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904265504576568351324914730.html

Bok, Derek. “We Must Prepare Ph.D. Students for the Complicated Art of Teaching.” November 11, 2013. Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from http://chronicle.com/article/We-Must-Prepare-PhD-Students/142893/

Bucher, Stefan G. (2012). 344 Questions: The Creative Person’s Do-It-Yourself Guide to Insight, Survival, and Artistic Fulfillment. New Riders, a division of Pearson Education. Retrieved from tweet by María Popova  http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2011/09/09/stefan-bucher-344-questions/

Collegiate Employment Research Institute. Michigan State University.  http://www.ceri.msu.edu “CERI Brief 2012 – 4: Liberally Educated Versus In-Depth Training” http://www.ceri.msu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/CERI-Research-Brief-2012-4-Liberally-Educated-Versus-In-Depth-Training.pdf

Dyer, Jeff, Gregersen, Hal, Christensen, Clayton M. The Innovator’s DNA: Mastering the 5 Skills of Disruptive Innovators. (2011) From book description: “5 Skills of Disruptive Innovators: Associating, Questioning, Observing, Networking, Experimenting”

Hernandez, Alex. “The future of education? It’s a love story” (June 18, 2012) retrieved from https://www.edsurge.com/n/the-future-of-education-it-s-a-love-story

Lucas, Henry C. (2013). Can the Current Model of Higher Education Survive MOOCs and Online Learning?. Educause Review Online: Why IT Matters to Higher Education. Educause Review, vol. 48, no.5. The text of the article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution (by) 3.0 Unported License. http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/can-current-model-higher-education-survive-moocs-and-online-learning?utm_source=Social+Media&utm_medium=Twitter&utm_content=article&utm_campaign=ERO

Wagner, Tony. Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World (2012). From book description: “nurturing creativity and sparking imagination by persevering and learning from failure; innovation cultures are those based on collaboration, interdisciplinary problem-solving, intrinsic motivation” “Play, passion, and purpose: These are the forces that drive young innovators.”

Westbrook, Adam. “The Long Game Part 1: Why Leonardo DaVinci was no genius” Video essay posted approx 12/24/13 by Delve on vimeo  http://vimeo.com/84022735 Retrieved via Yammar thanks to Randy Walk’s post. “The Long Game Part 2: the missing chapter” video essay posted 02/24/14 by Delve on vimeo  http://vimeo.com/87448006  Retrieved on Yammar thanks to James Burgoon.