The Research Base for McGraw-Hill Exploring Careers Preparing the 21st Century Workforce
Preparing the 21 st Century Workforce The 21 st Century Workforce... Page E-3 College and Career Readiness... Page E-4 Developing 21st Century Skills... Page E-6 Exploring Careers... Page E-8 Workplace Readiness... Page E-9 Ethics in the Workplace.... Page E-9 E-2
The 21st Century Workforce Today s students are entering a workforce that is substantially different than that of a generation ago (Business Roundtable, 2009; The Conference Board, 2006). Just as the agricultural economy gave way to the industrial economy in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, we have now shifted to a knowledgebased economy in which highly skilled services now comprise a higher proportion of our GDP than hard manufactured goods (Trilling & Fadel, 2009). The jobs that are available now require, on average, a higher level of skill than entry level jobs did just 10 or 20 years ago and this trend is accelerating (Gordon, 2009; Business Roundtable, 2009). A couple of key factors are driving these trends: µ Students are now competing in a global economy in which many companies are finding cheaper labor sources overseas for low-skilled jobs, such as manufacturing or telephone customer service (Gordon, 2009; The Conference Board, 2006). µ Technology advances in computer science, communications and robotics have also eliminated many lower-skilled jobs (Business Roundtable, 2009). 63% of jobs will require postsecondary education by 2018. Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce Workers who will thrive in this economy must demonstrate a high level of critical thinking, creativity and judgment in addition to solid academic and technical skills (Trilling & Fadel, 2009). While not all knowledge-based jobs require a traditional four-year college degree, the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce estimates that 63% of jobs will require some form of postsecondary education by 2018 (Carnevale, Smith, & Strohl, 2010). Furthermore, students entering the workforce today must be prepared for much more mobility and much less stability than in generations past. Students who graduated in 2010 can expect to hold an average of 11 different jobs over the course of their careers. Thirty percent of them will be independently employed at some point in their working lives (Business Roundtable, 2009). Successful workers will be flexible and open to lifelong learning opportunities. How can effective career education help prepare students for this rapidly changing economy? The Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE), The Partnership for 21st Century Skills and the U.S. Department of Education have all recognized the potential for well-designed career education programs to help prepare the next generation of highly skilled workers. In this section, we ll look at how can help prepare students for success in the 21st century workplace. E-3
Career and College Readiness What do we mean by college and career ready? More and more, experts tell us the skills students need for success in college and the skills they need for success in the workplace are one and the same (Association for Career and Technical Education, Partnership for 21st Century Skills, & National Association of State Directors of Career and Technical Education Consortium, 2010). The ACTE and the Partnership for 21st Century Skills emphasize that students need a combination of knowledge and applied skills in order to succeed (ACTE, 2010). µ Academic Knowledge and Skills: Both college-bound and non-collegebound students need a shared base of core subject area knowledge in Math, English/Language Arts, Science and Social Studies, including economics. They also need academic skills, including research and writing skills and applied math skills. µ Employability Skills: Beyond academics, employers are looking for such applied skills as critical thinking, written and oral communications, business etiquette and ethics. Many of these skills can and should be explicitly taught and reinforced in a Career and Technical Education (CTE) environment. µ Technical Skills: New workers will need to have specific technical knowledge and skills for the work area they plan to enter. In some cases, students must earn a certificate or credential to demonstrate their competence in these areas. More than 90% of high school seniors report that they expect to attend some kind of college. However, only 32% of our students are prepared for the rigors of postsecondary education (Klekotka, 2005). This means the 68% of students who are not prepared for college are most likely not ready to enter the workforce, either. What can we do to improve students chances of success? ACTE and the U.S. Department of Education emphasize the critical role CTE programs can have in preparing students for both career success and higherlevel coursework (ACTE et al., 2010; U.S. Department of Education, 2004). Exploring Careers uses effective research-based strategies to help students rise to the challenge. E-4
Integrating Academic Skills with Career Education ACTE and the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act both recommend integrating academic skills within CTE courses. Many students perform better academically when learning experiences are authentic and linked to their career interests and goals (Southern Regional Education Board, 2009). In Exploring Careers, µ Each Exploration includes Connect to Academics activities that require students to apply English language arts, math, science, social studies and technology skills as they learn about career clusters and workplace skills. These activities help students understand how academic skills are used in the context of real-world careers. µ Portfolio Projects involve extensive research, writing and presentation skills. µ Students have ample opportunities for formal and informal writing through activities such as Ethics in Action, My Dream Job, and other online and offline assignments. µ Many of the Skills Activities and other ancillary assignments require students to apply core academic skills, especially reading, writing and math. For example, students must build a budget based on their lifestyle goals. You can find additional information about how academic skills are supported in Exploring Careers in Section G ( Meeting Academic Standards ) and Section C ( Research-Based Instructional Strategies ) of this paper. Students use formal and informal writing activities, including online blogs, to build English language arts skills. E-5
Skills Explorations Self-Awareness Work and Society Researching Careers Making Career Decisions Planning Your Career Finding a Job Résumés and Cover Letters The Job Interview On the Job Working With Others Communication Skills Technology Skills Workplace Health and Safety Entrepreneurship Basic Financial Literacy Managing Your Money Work and Life Balance Time Management Citizenship and Community Your Future Building Workplace Skills Workplace skills, including soft skills such as professionalism, accountability and ethical thinking, need to be explicitly taught and reinforced (The Conference Board, 2006). Exploring Careers is a comprehensive careers program that introduces middle school students to the skills employers expect in the contemporary workplace. Students access twenty Skills Explorations. These Explorations introduce key ideas through engaging online content and activities. Teacher Lesson Plans and ancillary assignments provide opportunities to practice, apply and reinforce these skills. Developing 21 st Century Skills In 2002 the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21) was founded to ensure that students acquire the knowledge, skills and expertise they need to function successfully in 21st century communities and workplaces. To accomplish this goal, P21 created the Framework for 21st Century Learning. This framework fosters a practical synthesis of learning and innovation skills; information, media and technology skills; and life and career skills. The complete framework can be downloaded from The Partnership for 21st Century Skills at http://www.p21.org. Exploring Careers includes activities and assignments to help prepare students for the demands of high-skill, high-wage occupations. Exploring Careers helps students to develop 21st Century Skills. Learning and Innovation Skills 21st Century Skills emphasize creativity, critical thinking, problem solving and communication skills (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2009). These skills are emphasized throughout the program, in the online activities and in the ancillary worksheets and assignments. Critical Thinking Activities and Cooperative Learning Activities are explicitly designed to develop these learning and innovation skills. Students will also need to demonstrate higher-order thinking and problems solving as they complete the Portfolio Projects. Communication skills are explicitly taught in one of the Skills Explorations. E-6
Information, Media and Technology Skills Most jobs now require extensive information management and technology skills (The Conference Board, 2006; Casner-Lotto, Rosenblum, & Wright, 2009), including the ability to research and analyze sources online, use and create information in a variety of media types, and utilize common business productivity tools such as word processing documents, spreadsheets, databases and presentation software (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2009). Students will use many of these tools, including word processing, spreadsheet and presentation software, to complete the Portfolio Projects and other extended assignments. In addition, students explore some of these skills in the Technology Skills Exploration. For more information on how Exploring Careers supports technology literacy, see Using Technology to Support Student Learning (Section D). Life and Career Skills Life and Career Skills include interpersonal skills and cooperative teamwork, time and project management, leadership skills, and self-directed learning (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2009). These skills are taught throughout the program in Skills Explorations including Communication Skills, Teamwork, Entrepreneurship, Health and Safety, Time Management, and Work and Life Balance. The Cooperative Learning Activities in Exploring Careers allow students to practice and apply teamwork and communication skills while tackling real-world problems. Students also learn, practice and apply skills such as Financial Literacy and Money Management. E-7
Career Clusters Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources Architecture and Construction Arts, Audio Visual Technology, and Communication Business, Management, and Administration Education and Training Finance Government and Public Administration Health Science Hospitality and Tourism Human Services Information Technology Law, Public Safety, Corrections, and Security Manufacturing Marketing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics Exploring Careers One of the best ways to demonstrate relevance for students is to let them see connections between what they are learning and potential career paths that may interest them (Daggett, 2005; Bridgeland, DiIuliom, & Morison, 2006). Exploring career options in high school is linked to higher rates of high school graduation, higher completion rates for core academic subjects and higher rates of advancement to postsecondary education, particularly for at-risk students (Kemple, 2008). Exploring Careers introduces students to the 16 career clusters identified by the States Career Clusters Initiative (SCCI) (States Career Cluster Initiative, 2010). Students explore the clusters through highly engaging, travel-themed Career Explorations. These online Explorations provide an in-depth look at the career pathways, educational requirements and job outlook within each of the clusters. Students explore a broad range of diverse opportunities and perform more in-depth research on the jobs that interest them most. In addition, students take interest inventories and learn how to evaluate career choices based on their individual interests, skills and values. This combination of self-reflection and Career Cluster research gives students a head start in determining a suitable career path. For more information on how Exploring Careers can be used to develop individualized Student Learning Plans (SLPs) based on career goals, see Section B ( Why Study Careers ). Career Cluster Explorations introduce students to many different career options. E-8
Workplace Readiness In addition to identifying career options and developing essential academic and career skills, Exploring Careers explicitly addresses fundamental workplace readiness skills that students will need to find and keep a job. Explicitly teaching employability skills such as communication and teamwork, along with expected workplace norms and behaviors, has been shown to increase wages and career success, especially for disadvantaged students (Lerman, 2007). Students explore issues such as: µ communication and teamwork; µ health and safety; µ career planning; µ job search techniques; µ creating cover letters and résumés; µ interviewing; and µ workplace behavioral expectations. Understanding these issues is important for students as they navigate their entry into the adult workforce. Explicitly teaching these foundational, but often unstated, workplace norms and expectations will help students of all backgrounds be better prepared for success on the job. Ethics in Business and Finance As educators focus on preparing students for the challenges of rigorous higher education, increasingly complex career challenges and an internationally competitive labor force, schools must align classroom challenges with those of real-world environments. Helping students learn ethical behavior is essential preparation for the business environment (Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics, 2007). Surveys of managers and employers have shown a strong link between the perceived level of integrity of management and peers and the level of engagement, motivation and productivity of employees demonstrating that a culture of integrity has a direct impact on a company s bottom line (Ethics Resource Center, 2009). On a larger scale, companies build public trust and customer loyalty by building a corporate culture based in ethical practices and social responsibility (Margolis, Walsh, & Krehmeyer, 2006). Preparing students to make ethical decisions is not about teaching values. Instead, thoughtful instruction enables students to clarify their own ethics and learn how to evaluate ethical situations (Piper, Gentile, & Parks, 1993). E-9
Exploring Careers emphasizes ethical workplace behavior throughout the program. The On the Job Skills Exploration includes explicit discussion of ethical issues. This Exploration helps students explore: µ expected workplace behaviors; µ honesty, respect and fairness; µ issues of confidentiality; and µ how to handle unethical practices. Teachers will also find Ethics in Action discussion questions and writing activities in the Lesson Plans for each Career Cluster Exploration. These questions offer real-world ethical challenges and provide a stimulus for lively classroom discussion, cooperative learning opportunities and formal debates. Name Date Class Career Cluster Exploration 2 Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources Ethics in Action What would you do? Scenario You are very excited about your summer job helping a local farmer sell his produce at the farmer s market. He advertises all of his produce as certified organic. His customers pay more for his vegetables than they would at the grocery store because they want produce that is chemical-free. As you and your coworker are setting up, some equipment falls and damages a whole case of organic tomatoes. Your coworker says you should run to the local grocery and pick up some cheaper tomatoes to substitute for the ones that were damaged. You don t think your customers will be able to tell the difference. What would you do? Write one or more paragraphs about how you would respond to this scenario. Ethical decision making is an important part of preparing students for the workplace. E-10
Bibliography Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE). (2010). What is career ready? Retrieved from www.acteonline.org/uploadedfiles/...and.../career_readiness_paper.pdf Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE), Partnership for 21st Century Skills, & National Association of State Directors of Career and Technical Education Consortium. (2010). Up to the challenge: The role of career and technical education and 21st century skills in college and career readiness. Retrieved from http://www.p21.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=986&itemid=64 Bridgeland, J., Dilulio, J., & Burke Morison, K. (2006). The silent epidemic: Perspectives of high school dropouts. A report by Civic Enterprises in association with Peter D. Hart Research Associates for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Seattle, WA: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Business Roundtable. (2009). Getting ahead staying ahead: Helping America s workforce succeed in the 21st Century. Retrieved from businessroundtable.org/.../brt_getting_ahead_online_version_1.pdf Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics. (2007). Shaping tomorrow s business leaders: Principles and practices for a model business ethics program. Retrieved from www.corporate-ethics.org/pdf/mbep.pdf Carnevale, A.P., Smith, N., & Strohl, J. (2010). Help wanted: Projections of jobs and education requirements through 2018. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. Casner-Lotto, J., Rosenblum, E., & Wright, M. (2009). The ill-prepared U.S. workforce: exploring the challenges of employer-provided workforce readiness training. The Conference Board, Corporate Voices for Working Families, American Society for Training and Development, & Society for Human Resource Management. Retrieved from http://store.astd.org/default.aspx?tabid=167&productid=20397 The Conference Board. (2006). Are they really ready to work? Employers perspectives on the basic knowledge and applied skills of new entrants to the 21st century workforce. Prepared with The Partnership for 21st Century Skills, Corporate Voices for Working Families, & the Society for Human Resources Management. Retrieved from http://www.p21.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=250&itemid=64 Daggett, W. R. (2005). Achieving academic excellence through rigor and relevance. Rexford, NY: International Center for Leadership in Education. Ethics Resource Center. (2009). Ethics and employee engagement. Arlington, VA: Ethics Resource Center. Gordon, E.E. (2009, September). The future of jobs and careers. Association for Career and Technical Education: Techniques. Retrieved from http:// www.acteonline.org/tech_sep09.future.html Kemple, J.J. (2008). Career academies: Long-term impacts on labor market outcomes, educational attainment, and transitions to adulthood. New York, NY: MDRC. Klekotka, P. (2005, June). Beyond high school: Improving transition programs for postsecondary education. Policy Issues, 18. Washington, DC: Learning Points Associates/North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (NCREL). Lerman, R. (2007). Career-focused education and training for youth. In H. Holzerand & D. Nightingale (Eds.), Reshaping the American Workforce in a Changing Economy. Washington, DC: Urban Institute Press. Margolis, M., Walsh, J., & Krehmeyer, D. (2006). Building the business case for ethics business. Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics. Retrieved from: www.corporate-ethics.org/publications.html Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (2009). Framework for 21st century learning. Retrieved from http://www.p21.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=504&itemid=185#guides Piper, T., Gentile, M., & Parks, S.D. (1993). Can ethics be taught? Perspectives, challenges, and approaches at the Harvard Business School. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. Southern Regional Educational Board (SREB). (2009). The next step for career/technical programs: Project Lead the Way and the merging of academic and career/technical studies. Atlanta, GA: Southern Regional Education Board. Retrieved from http://www.sreb.org/page/1219/project_lead_the_way.html States Career Clusters Initiative. (2010). A project of the National Career Technical Education Foundation (NCTEF). www.careerclusters.org. Trilling, B., & Fadel, C. (2009). 21st Century Skills: Learning for life in our times. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley and Sons. U.S. Department of Education, Office of the Undersecretary, Policy, and Program Studies Service. (2004). National assessment of vocational education: Final report to Congress. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Education Publications Center. E-11