Who's Most Responsible for the Employment Skill Gap?
SodaHead News
2012/01/02 12:00:00
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Slowly but surely, unemployment is dropping. Since its 10.1% peak in October of 2009, rates have dropped to 8.6% and continue to show signs of improvement. But there are still debates over how to better prepare the unemployed to enter the workforce, and a lot of the debate revolves around higher education. Many job-seekers are finding themselves lacking in the skills the market demands, and that gap needs to be addressed.
According to Good.is, the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools found that 45 percent of hiring managers think college students would benefit from a more workplace-oriented "trade school-like" higher education system that excludes or de-emphasizes liberal arts. However, the other 55% are fine with the education system that's in place now.
Obviously, the responsibility should be diversified to some extent, but who should take charge? Should colleges do a better job at preparing students for realistic job opportunities? Should businesses take responsibility in selecting the right employees and training them appropriately? Or is it all up to the individual who's in the unemployment bind to begin with?
According to Good.is, the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools found that 45 percent of hiring managers think college students would benefit from a more workplace-oriented "trade school-like" higher education system that excludes or de-emphasizes liberal arts. However, the other 55% are fine with the education system that's in place now.
Obviously, the responsibility should be diversified to some extent, but who should take charge? Should colleges do a better job at preparing students for realistic job opportunities? Should businesses take responsibility in selecting the right employees and training them appropriately? Or is it all up to the individual who's in the unemployment bind to begin with?
Top Opinion
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Rusty Shackleford 2012/01/02 21:03:38The unemployed
+16Each person is ultimately responsible for themselves, if you depend on government, you will be disappointed.
What we need is for the federal government to get out of schools, and allow schools and colleges to either be privately run or locally run.
I could go on, but the main problem is clearly that we have a fascist government putting its hands everywhere that it doesnt belong,and we do nothing about it.
"The U.S. focuses more on procedure ... other countries work on the concept."
To what can this education gap be attributed? Is the answer that we are not spending enough money on education? The majority of the data says no. The U.S. spends $11,152 per student per year. This ranks second internationally behind Switzerland, which spends $11,334. However, even though we have increased the amount we spend per student by about 30 percent over the last fine to 10 years, we have seen steady, sometimes even declining, international test scores. As a result, the last couple of decades have shown us the surfacing reality of a country having reached an intellectual “roadblock,” and a youth that is slowly being left behind as the members of its international community continue to excel.
But is this problem inherent in our system, or can it be fixed with good legislation? David Marsh, a professor at the USC Rossier School of Education, says, "The U.S. focuses more on procedure ... other countries work on the concept." All of us would agree that, throughout our educational careers, there have been moments where we have taken tests and done well on them, despite having replaced a solid understanding of the concepts with the easier k...
"The U.S. focuses more on procedure ... other countries work on the concept."
To what can this education gap be attributed? Is the answer that we are not spending enough money on education? The majority of the data says no. The U.S. spends $11,152 per student per year. This ranks second internationally behind Switzerland, which spends $11,334. However, even though we have increased the amount we spend per student by about 30 percent over the last fine to 10 years, we have seen steady, sometimes even declining, international test scores. As a result, the last couple of decades have shown us the surfacing reality of a country having reached an intellectual “roadblock,” and a youth that is slowly being left behind as the members of its international community continue to excel.
But is this problem inherent in our system, or can it be fixed with good legislation? David Marsh, a professor at the USC Rossier School of Education, says, "The U.S. focuses more on procedure ... other countries work on the concept." All of us would agree that, throughout our educational careers, there have been moments where we have taken tests and done well on them, despite having replaced a solid understanding of the concepts with the easier knowledge of how to get the right answer. Does an average American fourth-grader really know what fractions are, or just how to add and subtract them? A recent poll showed that more high school students know the dates associated with the Civil War than the reasons for which it was fought. Likewise, how can we go to war in Iraq when the average American cannot find the Middle East — much less Iraq or Afghanistan — on a map? These problems are inherent in our education system.
"The U.S. focuses more on procedure ... other countries work on the concept."
Where do these procedures originate?
http://www.insidevandy.com/dr...
Public education averages $12K/year. So everybody gets roughly a $150K scholarship. Some people do well and end up getting scholarships to MIT or Harvard School of Business. Others drop out and are lucky to get a job making french fries.
That is their decision, and they should have to live with the consequences.
I've done work on something similar for government. Look for a document called Threshold Limit Values that is published by the ACGIH.They run the numbers for hazardous materials and tell you how much can be absorbed for a square mm of skin surface.
Then you estimate surface area of fingertips, and how much time they are on the keyboard, and how much has been rubbed off. I replace my laptop every few years and rub the letters off. Even have an old dell keyboard I used when I was spending 8-10 hours a day writing code. Literally wore off the plastic on a few keys so there was a hole.
You have me going. Do the math and convince me, but don't point me to some quack site that speaks of generalities.
But better to learn for yourself then have somebody tell you ;) Plenty of bad stuff out there, but this isn't anything you need worry about.
So not all plastics are a problem. Just, it seems, some they use for food packaging.
Colleges can not begin to prepare people for the demands of every different job they may come across. All they can do is give the basics.