Raising the Bar: Employers' Views on College Learning

If a person could design an education to look like that described in this study. It would look a lot like IRE!

Raising the Bar: Employers' Views on College Learning in the Wake of
the Economic Downturn

On behalf of the Association of American Colleges and Universities,
Hart Research Associates interviewed 302 employers whose organizations
have at least 25 employees and report that 25% or more of their new
hires hold either an associate's degree from a two-year college or a
bachelor's degree from a four-year college. The interviews were
conducted from October 27 to November 17, 2009, Respondents were
executives at private sector and non-profit organizations, including
owners, CEOs, presidents, C-suite level executives, and vice
presidents.


Employers want their employees to use a broader set of skills and have
higher levels of learning and knowledge than in the past to meet the
increasingly complex demands they will face in the workplace. Within
this context, to the degree that employers' emphasis on hiring will be
affected by the economic downturn, the shift will be toward greater
emphasis on hiring four-year college graduates.

● Only one in four employers thinks that two-year and four-year
colleges are doing a good job in preparing students for the challenges
of the global economy. A majority of respondents think that both two-
and four-year colleges need to make at least some improvements to
prepare students for the global economy, including one in five who
thinks that significant changes are needed.

● Employers endorse learning outcomes for college graduates that
are developed through a blend of liberal and applied learning.

● Employers believe that colleges can best prepare graduates for
long-term career success by helping them develop both a broad range of
skills and knowledge and in-depth skills and knowledge in a specific
field or major.

● Employers endorse several emerging educational practices that
two-and four-year colleges are implementing to ensure that students
graduate with the knowledge and skills needed to succeed after
graduation. They are most supportive of practices that demonstrate a)
students' acquisition of both depth of knowledge in their major and
broad skills; b) students' ability to apply their college learning in
real-world settings; and c) their development of ability to conduct
research and develop evidence-based analysis. They also see potential in
practices that require focus on ethical decision-making and require
direct experience with methods of science to understand how scientific
judgments are made.

● A majority of employers believe that colleges should place
greater emphasis on a variety of learning outcomes developed through a
liberal education, which include the following:

Knowledge of human cultures and the physical and natural world
Concepts and new developments in science and technology (70%)
The ability to understand the global context of situations and
decisions (67%)
Global issues and developments and their implications for the
future (65%)

The role of the United States in the world
Cultural diversity in America and other countries (57%)

Intellectual and practical skills
The ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing
(89%)
Critical thinking and analytical reasoning skills (81%)
The ability to analyze and solve complex problems (75%)
Teamwork skills and the ability to collaborate with others in
diverse group settings (71%)
The ability to innovate and be creative (70%)
The ability to locate, organize, and evaluate information from
multiple sources (68%)
The ability to work with numbers and understand statistics (63%)

Personal
and social responsibility
The ability to connect choices and actions to ethical decisions
(75%)
Civic knowledge, civic participation, and community engagement
(52%)

Integrative learning
The ability to apply knowledge and skills to real-world settings
through internships or other hands-on experiences (79%)


Employers indicate that, just as the challenges facing their employees
are more complex today than in the past, their expectations of employees
also have increased. The vast majority of employers say their
organizations are looking for employees to use a broader set of skills
and have higher levels of learning and knowledge than in the past.
Nearly 88% of employers agree that the challenges their employees face
within their organization are more complex today than they were before,
and a similar proportion say that to succeed in their organization,
employees need higher levels of learning and knowledge today than they
did in the past.


In thinking about what they ask of their employees today compared with
in the past, nine in 10 (91%) employers acknowledge that they are asking
their employees to take on more responsibilities and to use a broader
range of skills. A similar proportion (90%) expect their employees to
work harder to coordinate with other departments. This more complex
environment and resulting increased expectations are reported by
employers across the board-regardless of the number of employees and
whether they experienced layoffs over the past year.


Hart Research Associates for the Association of American Colleges and
Universities
January 10, 2010
http://www.aacu.org/leap/documents/2009_EmployerSurvey.pdf