Prepare Students for the Workforce Today’s students want this involvement. McGraw-Hill Education recently surveyed 1000 college students to determine how prepared they felt to enter the workforce. McGraw-Hill Education found that although the majority of students surveyed thought their education should prepare them for careers, only 35% of them said college was effective in preparing them for a job. Sixty-seven percent of students surveyed reported they wanted more internships and on-the-job-training, and 61% of students said they wanted more classes that were designed to help them build career skills (Ref. 6). Final Thoughts Today’s students need access to high-quality CTE programs to receive the training and education that is necessary for success in high-demand careers, from welding and manufacturing to information technology and health care. These types of skilled trades are the hardest jobs to fill in the United States Recent data shows there are more than 700,000 open jobs in the trade, transportation, and utilities sector, and 256,000 open jobs in manufacturing, while health care occupations make up 12 of the 20 fastestgrowing occupations (Ref. 7). The training and education provided by high-quality CTE programs is vital to addressing the skills gap. To ensure that these programs meet the needs of industry, engage participants with both academic and technical skill development, and inspire participants to continue learning, industry experts must work with business and education leaders — Fig. 3. If business and education leaders can collaborate with industry experts to accomplish this, then more students will receive the education and training they need to succeed in highdemand careers like welding, and the jobs this country needs to remain globally competitive can be filled. References 1. What is welding? And what do welders do? http://www.welding.com/ welding.asp. 2. Harwig, Dennis. 2014. Welcome Address. ESC Conference. http://awo.aws.org/wp-content/uploads/ 2014/escconference/01-WelcomeAddressbyDennisHarwig. pdf. 3. HVAC industry jobs projected to increase between 2010-2020. August 29, 2014. LINC to Success Blog. Lincoln Electric Co. http://www.lincolnedu.com/ news/industry-news/hvac-jobs-projectedto grow. 4. Rowe, Mike. August 14, 2013. Why “work smart, not hard” is the worst advice in the world. Popular Mechanics. http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/ a9333/why-work-smart-not-hardis the-worst-advice-in-the-world- 15805614/. 5. Close the skills gap. The Manufacturing Institute. Washington, D.C. http://www.themanufacturinginstitute.org/ ~/media/56A3B4E9CA974B5C95BA9F325 7EBF918/Close_the_Skills_Gap.pdf. 6. Are today’s college graduates really prepared for the workforce? May 21, 2015. McGraw-Hill Education Blog. http://www.mheducation.com/ about/ blog/are-todays-college-graduates-reallyprepared workforce. 7. CTE Today Fact Sheet. Association for Career and Technical Education. Alexandria, Va. https://www.google.com/ url?q=http://www.acteonline.org/2014_C TE_Today/&sa=U&ved=0CAYQFjABahUKEwiB1_ K4mMnGAhVYXIgKHdcsDtQ& client=internal-udscse& usg=AFQjCNEmy8UKL_ QIW1dGY87SaCaOFdhpvg. 54 WELDING JOURNAL / SEPTEMBER 2015 WJ TIMM BOETTCHER (timm.boettcher@realityworks. com) is president and CEO of Realityworks, Inc., Eau Claire, Wis., and chair of the Industry Workforce Needs Coalition. Fig. 3 — Industry experts must work with business and education leaders to ensure that CTE programs meet the needs of industry, engage participants with both academic and technical skill development, and inspire participants to continue learning. For info, go to www.aws.org/adindex
Welding Journal | September 2015
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