The New Education Debate: Are We Teaching – and Studying – STEM the Right Way?
Do we need to shift to more “practical education” programs to ensure students are prepared for what they’ll encounter, and need to do, in the real world?
“The university – all the faculty, as well as the students – is really interested in supplementing being ‘book smart’ by prioritizing real-world experience.”
That’s what Zebra’s Vice President of Engineering Victor Salmons relayed back to me and Zebra’s Chief Supply Chain Officer Tami Froese after speaking with Dr. Ken Christensen, who previously served as Illinois Institute of Technology's provost, senior vice president for academic affairs, and chief academic officer.
I can’t say I’m surprised considering that:
Critical thinking skills are declining.
“More than half of recent four-year college graduates (52%) are underemployed a year after they graduate,” and most remain underemployed a decade later.
Nearly every field of study – and every job in the workforce – is now interdisciplinary in some way.
Many organizations are now requiring 3-5 years of experience for entry level jobs.
If you’re a recent graduate who wants to qualify for a role in your field of study immediately after school, you need to gain that required real-world experience before you graduate.
If you’re a hiring manager that lists several years of experience as a prerequisite for entry level roles, then you need to help facilitate that early learning – particularly critical thinking.
It’s a real problem.
But it doesn’t have to be. As employers and educators, we need to understand:
The old ways of teaching – and studying – science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) do not best prepare students for today’s job opportunities.
The application of STEM is no longer as siloed as it once was.
Students excel faster when they gain experience, knowledge and skills in solving real-world problems to be capable of doing the job they’re being trained to do.
What is the solution to overcome these challenges?
Make the collaboration of industry and academia – and the cross-disciplinary nature of such collaboration – standard practice.
In schools. Not just the workplace.
And in early education environments. Not just higher education.
If we work together on this, talented people will have an easier time finding entry points into the workforce, and teams like yours and mine will find talent qualified to sustain the work we’re doing today.
What’s the Right Way to Approach STEM Education?
As Tami noted, the students of today are more ambitious and curious…they don't just want to learn, they want to apply, and they want to understand all the aspects of how they can do that.
Therefore, a key takeaway here (as Victor noted) is that you must “lead with action and authenticity” when supporting STEM education initiatives and preparing your future employees to enter the workforce as soon as they get that diploma in hand.
Victor shared that, at Zebra, “if we're engaged, we're truly engaged. We are leading, we're creating things, we're hand in hand with the educators. And I think that's a differentiator for us versus necessarily leading the thought process.”
Passive participation in the education of today’s students will not benefit your mission. It will make it more difficult for you to produce goods, provide services, or offer the type of support that makes life better for people or other living things on this planet. And people only spend money on things they believe will make their lives better.
So, find ways to actively engage in “practical education” programs like the ones Tami, Victor, and other Zebras are working on with the Illinois Tech team to build and facilitate. If practical education opportunities don’t exist in your field or locale, team up with the academic community to create them.
Give students the opportunity to experience the real world before they are paid to sustain it. Let them work through real-world problems.
Because if they can develop practical skills and gain useful knowledge before the burden falls to them to carry forth your mission, you can rest easier knowing that life will be better for everyone in the decades to come.
And if you are interested in how Tami and Victor are working with other Zebras and members of the Illinois Tech community to immerse students in real-world operations (outside of internships), this is a good place to start…
