Should all high school students be encouraged to go to college or would some benefit more from on-the-job training? According to recommendations from researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, preparing people for the jobs of the future will require a mix of education, training and experience, based on the talents and interests of the job seekers.
Should all high school students be encouraged to go to college or would some benefit more from on-the-job training? According to recommendations from researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, preparing people for the jobs of the future will require a mix of education, training and experience, based on the talents and interests of the job seekers.
In a discussion paper published online today, “Moving Beyond Plato Versus Plumbing: Toward Individualized Education and Career Passways for All North Carolinians,” Daniel P. Gitterman and Peter A. Coclanis conclude that a more complex job market will require more diversified preparation of jobseekers.
“Recent forecasts regarding future occupational opportunities in North Carolina predict job growth in a variety of areas, only some of which call for post-secondary education,” said Gitterman, associate professor of public policy and a senior fellow at the Global Research Institute. “North Carolina’s policy and educational leaders therefore need to continue to invest in our people’s acquisition of knowledge, skills and experience from kindergarten through adult career and technical education.”
While positions for workers with college educations are likely to grow at a faster rate in coming years, in sheer numbers, most future jobs in the state won’t require a college degree. However, some post-secondary education will give job seekers the flexibility they will need in a still evolving post-recession economy, the authors said.
The authors recommend these steps to encourage the state’s future economic prosperity:
- foster individual educational and career plans and build multiple passways;
- support various types of certificate programs as viable alternatives to college degrees;
- invest in “middle-skill” jobs and “globally competitive and competent” workers;
- build a stronger and better marked bridge from community college to a four-year degree;
- institutionalize assessment of future fits among education, training and labor market; and
- explore the viability of new insurance products that guard against future economic uncertainty.
“What is needed is a new bipartisan consensus, acknowledging the value of four-year college degrees for some people and aiming for the goal of some form of postsecondary education for all,” said Coclanis, director of UNC’s Global Research Institute.
Coclanis will comment further on the brief at “The South and Presidential Politics 2012: Red States and Purple States,” a UNC-sponsored panel discussion Sunday for media representatives covering the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte.
Link to policy brief and accompanying data snapshot: gri.unc.edu
News Services contact: Susan Hudson, (919) 962-8415, susan_hudson@unc.edu