Apprenticeships for Growth

Nicholas Wyman

Edge Annual Lecture 2015 – Keynote Speaker Nicholas Wyman

The Edge Annual Lecture 2015 will take place on Tuesday 13th November at Glaziers Hall, London.

The keynote speaker will be Nicholas Wyman, whose phrase “people without jobs and jobs without people” sums up the skills gap conundrum: at a time of growing skills shortages, there are still high levels of youth unemployment and graduate under-employment in many parts of the English-speaking world.

After delivering his lecture, Nicholas will join a guest panel to debate the issues with the audience.

The Edge Foundation is an independent education charity raising the status of technical, practical and vocational learning.

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They believe all young people should have the opportunity to achieve their potential and that the UK’s future workforce needs to be equipped with the skills to be successful in the modern, global economy.

The Edge Foundation aims to help young people develop the skills and expertise vital to a successful career and thus meet the needs of the future economy.

This is an excerpt taken from The Edge Foundation website.

For more detail, including how to attend The Edge Annual Lecture 2015,  please visit:
http://www.edge.co.uk/news/2015/september/edge-annual-lecture-2015

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To read about The Edge Foundation:
http://www.edge.co.uk/about-edge

To Launch a Successful High-Tech Career, Go to Work in a Factory

By Nicholas Wyman  |  Forbes  |  September 21, 2015  |

“Ain’t gonna work in the factory
greasy up my clothes
Ain’t gonna work in the factory
get splinters in my toes”
– from The Factory Girl Song.

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F-35 Lightning II assembly line workers work on a cockpit at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company in Fort Worth, Texas. (AP Photo/Tom Pennington, file)

Americans believe in factories. According to a study by the Manufacturing Institute, 90% of Americans think a robust manufacturing base is vital to the U.S. economy and many would welcome a manufacturing facility in their community.

But only if someone else is working there, apparently. The same study reveals that very few Americans want to work in manufacturing themselves, and only one in three would encourage their children to pursue manufacturing careers. The younger the respondent, the less attractive manufacturing becomes, with people between the ages of 19 and 33 ranking it dead last as a career choice.
Why this disconnect? Why, if Americans think manufacturing is so important, do so few want to work in the industry or encourage their children to do so?
The main problem is image. Many Americans cling to the outdated notion of manufacturing as low-skilled, menial work. A poll conducted by the Fabricators and Manufacturers Association (FMA) found that 61% of teenagers have no interest in manufacturing because they prefer to pursue a “professional” career. They don’t think manufacturing jobs are intellectually rewarding and they don’t see opportunities for career development or advancement in the factory.
Many people also think – incorrectly – of manufacturing as dirty or dangerous, picturing huge, clanking machines on dusty shop floors. With that image in mind, its no surprise that young women, in particular, do not see a future for themselves in that kind of workplace. In fact, women make up only 24% of manufacturing jobs, though they constitute around 50% of the overall U.S. workforce.
These perceptions are reinforced and perpetrated constantly by the media, popular culture, and even the national community of college counselsors that largely refuses to acknowledge – let alone encourage – careers in manufacturing as a viable and attractive option for an ambitious young person.

The problem is, these perceptions are all wrong.

The technological advances of the last few decades have transformed manufacturing workplaces into gleaning, modern state of the art hubs of innovation and industry that bear no resemblance to the factories of yore. Manufacturing today is “smart” and it requires smart people. Modern factories are high-tech and fully networked, relying on complex computers and machines. And factory workers need both production skills and technical knowledge to run them, completely redefining what was once considered “blue-collar” work.
Modern factory workers specialize in engineering, electronics, information technology, robotics, mechatronics, design, and research and development. They understand and repair complex machines and computers, analyze data, and manage production systems in real time. These are challenging, sophisticated jobs that require thought and creativity and problem- solving skill.
Modern manufacturing jobs are not only challenging, but also well-paying. In fact, they pay around 20 percent more than work in other industries, with the average manufacturing worker earning over $77,000 in 2013. Manufacturing executives are willing to pay top dollar for skilled workers precisely because the work is not low-skill or menial.

Due in large part to the unfavorable impression many Americans have of manufacturing careers,  there is a profound shortage of skilled workers in the field. The greatest shortages are in technology and computer skills.  In other words, in order to stay globally competitive, and keep factories and jobs on our shores, companies desperately need people with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) skills, as well as strong foundation skills like problem-solving and critical thinking.
The good news is that if you have these skills, you will find plenty of well-paying manufacturing jobs practically at your fingertips. In fact, 80 percent of manufacturing executives say they are willing to pay above market rates to hire qualified people because they are in such short supply. And if you are a woman you may fare even better; the industry is making a particular effort to welcome young women, by taking measures to make them aware of the variety of career options available in manufacturing, and publically recognizing women who currently hold leadership positions in the field.
How does one get the skills for this brave new world of high-tech factory work? Many of the jobs in manufacturing require some post-secondary education, but not necessarily a bachelor’s degree. You can get the requisite in-demand skills through apprenticeship, which combines structured, paid, on-the-job training with classroom learning. You can complete a certification program, and gain a recognized, portable, industry-wide credential. Or you can get an associate’s degree that mixes practical experience with relevant academic study.
The jobs are there, the pay is high, and the opportunities are abundant. It’s a good time to work in the factory.

 

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Raed this and more articles by Nicholas Wyman on Forbes

http://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholaswyman/2015/09/21/to-launch-a-successful-high-tech-career-go-to-work-in-a-factory/

Architectures for Apprenticeships

Associations between adaptation of German style vocational education models and impact on apprenticeship pathways in regional American labour markets. 

Nicholas M Wyman and Joanne B Gedge  |  Institute for Workplace Skills and Innovation  |  

Summary: Developed economies have, for a generation, battled endemic skills gaps and high youth unemployment. Yet these employment market failures do not afflict Germany: it remains a high-value export oriented economy, with high wages and low youth unemployment. What impact could the adaptation of features of the German training model in a foreign market have in addressing these twin problems? The authors applied a qualitative research design to investigate a strategy initiated by a group of German industrial firms operating in the American south, to address local training quality and workforce participation issues. The findings indicate that, through establishing a multi-sector partnership that redesigns training packages consistent with German accreditation standards, stakeholders were able to devise collaborative programs that changed perceptions and local market demand for apprenticeship programs. In determining the key features of the initiative, the authors identified transferable lessons for policymakers seeking to address skills gaps and elevate vocational training career pathways.

Keywords: German VET system, system adaptation, dual certification, qualitative research,

 

Introduction

Skilled workforce development continues to be a crucial issue affecting jobs and growth in major industrial economies, which perennially battle two endemic workforce participation problems: youth unemployment and the middle-skills gap. Harvard’s U.S. Competitiveness Project estimates American manufacturing has 650,000 skill-based jobs that it cannot fill (Pankratz 2014), with projections that this number could grow to over 2 million in the next decade, led by demographic trends.

This constitutes a major missing investment and employment market, which creates significant social and economic opportunity costs. This skills gap manifests as a vicious circle for both employers and prospective employees. Unable to fill entry-level positions, firms cannot confidently make long-term production capacity investments. Potential future employees, faced with uncertain employment pathways are also reluctant to pre-commit to training for a career in a specialised trade.

The U.S. apprenticeship training pathway is highly successful in raising earnings for workers, and productivity for firms (Lerman 2009). However, whilst offering a clear path to a stable career, the operating scale of formal apprenticeship programs in the U.S., at 0.3% of the workforce, is small in comparison with German (and Australian) rates of 4.0% (Lerman 2013).

At a time of widening wage growth and work insecurity concerns, why do skills gaps, unfilled positions and structurally high unemployment persist? What is limiting the expansion of the apprenticeship training pathway, and what can be done to increase it?

The authors analysed the impact that adaptation of the German certification standards has had on the interest in apprentice positions, key features of this process, and the transferable learnings for employers.

 

Methods and Research Design

The methodology applied throughout this research utilises a combination of qualitative methods. This research evolved from a fellowship granted to the lead author to investigate new approaches to addressing youth unemployment in Australia.

During the exploratory phase, narrative inquiry and expert sampling techniques were undertaken, including interviews with German and American vocational education thought leaders. As the research question and design was determined, the research was initially executed using critical case sampling techniques and semi-structured interviews with key informants within academic and policy spheres in Germany and the U.S. The insights and examples provided led to a second stage of qualitative interviews with key informants: executives within major German industrial firms, industry advocacy bodies, and educational partnerships operating in Tennessee and North Carolina.

The sample consisted of a dozen interviews with information rich informants. Informants were interviewed once, for a duration of one to three hours. Finally, field research was undertaken in both locations. Data relating to this research was thematically analysed using a conventional content analysis approach, and codified into the solutions and conclusions documented.

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The German VET System

Throughout the last 20 years, industrial economies have been transformed from manufacturing to service based economies. Yet in Germany, industrial manufacturing remains central to its economy. Germany trains and retains the world’s most skilled workforce, and has led the UNIDO Competitive Industrial Performance Ranking since 2000. Its youth unemployment rate, at 7.2%, is the lowest in the industrialised world (Eurostat, 2015), one-third of the U.S. rate and half that of Australia. Importantly, the country’s education system esteems formal apprenticeship qualifications: 55% of German high school students chose a vocational training pathway upon graduation (OECD, 2014)

Germany’s superior economic and employment outcomes are significantly attributed to the integrated dual vocational training model, which combines on the job practical training (usually paid) with a theoretical vocational school education. The Duales Ausbildungssystem delivers consistently superior results for training program completion, employee retention and productivity.

To understand the extent to which key features driving these superior outcomes are transferable to foreign educational systems, the authors surveyed skills programs in the U.S initiated by German industrial firms, seeking to respond to skilled labour and training quality concerns by developing multi-sector partnerships to adapt and implement German-standard vocational training programs.

 

Role of the German American Chambers of Commerce (GACC)

In Germany, the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DIHK) has the regulatory responsibility to set VET training and certification standards. It plays an active role in market facilitation and mediating training markets to ensure programs reflect projected future labour needs. Membership of a Chamber is mandated, and a board of representative stakeholders, who act together in the common interest, makes operational decisions.

The German American Chambers of Commerce (GACC) fulfills a similar role for U.S. subsidiaries of German firms in advocacy and certifying training and apprenticeship programs. Through regular surveying, the GACC was aware that persistent skills availability and hiring problems had become its members’ primary business continuity risk. In 2010, when a group of member firms approached the GACC with a proposal to redress skills issues, the response was immediate.

Members sought help establishing a program to train workers to quality standards identical to the German VET network requirements. On behalf of members, the GACC quickly initiated discussions with educational authorities in multiple U.S. states to establish or adapt training programs to meet DIHK accreditation standards.

Since 2011, under its ‘Skills Initiative’ program, GACC has been establishing multi-sector partnerships across the U.S., following a three-stage strategy to improve training and recruitment outcomes:

  1. Bring together a multi-sector geographic cluster of firms which recognizes that they have a skills problem.
  2. Work through a structured process with member firms, to determine skills gaps in the local labour market profile, and skill areas of the curriculum needing further quality improvements for accreditation.
  3. Build collaborative alliances between the companies and local community colleges that can deliver the quality academic training employers’ want and need in their employees.

A GACC representative interviewed indicated the most difficult part of this process was building collaborative alliances with local community colleges: “Community college leaders don’t always ‘get it.’ They don’t always think that serving the training needs of local businesses is part of their educational mission.” This strategy provided the GACC with a comprehensive understanding of the skills gaps and employment needs of local firms, enabling the presentation of an accurate, compelling case to educational authorities about the size of the partnership opportunity.

 

Partnerships in Operation

In 2013 the authors conducted granular field research at the first two GACC-facilitated collaborative alliances in Chattanooga, Tennessee and Charlotte, North Carolina. Its purpose was to: observe the training programs in operation; investigate how the recalibrated curriculum was being marketed to prospective students; and determine the impact this concerted focus to attract young people in apprentice programs was having on local enrolment numbers, and the prestige of the apprenticeship career pathway.

As a sign of commitment to the partnership, the GACC seconded representatives from Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit to North Carolina to work with stakeholders in developing implementation strategies to manage the qualification adaptation and revision process.

Both partnerships have both been successful in fostering advanced skills development in their local areas. Employer confidence and certainty in local training quality resulted in firms previously reluctant to engage in promoting apprenticeship pathways devising and executing a range of marketing activities in order to inform school leavers and potential employees of available skilled career pathways. To screen and attract qualified candidates into study, many employers included a conditional job offer upon graduation, and a clear pathway towards a bachelor’s degree in engineering or business administration.

The key components of the marketing outreach include open days and tours of high school groups and access to pre-apprenticeship summer internships. Benefits included access to student scholarships and tuition reimbursement upon subject completion, paid training during the programs’ second half. Specific program features and individual benefits for the apprentices include regular attitudinal performance reviews, mentoring over the course of studies and, upon graduation, receipt of a qualification from the GACC and local authorities.

 

Lessons and Results

Having the GACC initiate discussions was significant. Advocating collectively about the size of the problem and impetus to act, it was able to engage policymakers and educators, and encourage them to act systemically to revise a training package, and support its agenda through facilitating DIHK qualification accreditation, in a way an individual firm may not be able to achieve.

Methodically clarifying the scope and size of skills needs, and obtaining upfront commitment from employers to offer apprenticeships pathways to employment was also crucial. With the quality issue addressed firms, reluctant to offer employment pathways before the partnership, reported an increased willingness to hire and train apprentices, and an increased willingness to expand promotion of career pathways available through apprenticeship programs to school leavers.

The GACC initiative, in building partnerships to encourage the establishment of U.S. Programs meeting German DIHK standards, have, where operating, had a significant impact on improving enrolment in vocational training programs and reducing middle skills gaps and youth unemployment rates, and provided participant firms with a powerful pipeline for filling workforce needs across a spectrum of specialties and positions.

 

Literature

Eurostat, Unemployment Statistic Explained: Youth Unemployment Trends   <http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Unemployment_statistics#Youth_unemployment_trends> [8 May 2015]

Lerman, R. (2009): “Training Tomorrow’s Workforce: Community College and Apprenticeship as Collaborative Routes to Rewarding Careers.” Center for American Progress. Washington, DC.

Lerman, R. (2012): Can the United States Expand Apprenticeship? Lessons from Experience. URL: <https://www.american.edu/cas/economics/research/upload/2012-18.pdf> [29 Apr 2015].

Lerman, R. (2013): Skill Development in Middle Level Occupations: The Role of Apprenticeship Training, IZA Policy Paper No. 61. Bonn: IZA.

OECD, (2014): Education at a Glance 2014: Country note for Germany. URL:

<http://www.oecd.org/edu/Germany-EAG2014-Country-Note.pdf >[8 May 2015]

Why We Desperately Need To Bring Back Vocational Training In Schools

By Nicholas Wyman  |  Forbes  |  September 2, 2015 

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Throughout most of U.S. history, American high school students were routinely taught vocational and job-ready skills along with the 3s: reading, writing and arithmetic. Indeed readers of a certain age are likely to have fond memories of huddling over wooden workbenches learning a craft such as woodwork or maybe metal work, or any one of the hands-on projects that characterized the once-ubiquitous shop class.

But in the 1950s, a different philosophy emerged: the theory that students should follow separate educational tracks according to ability. The idea was that the college-bound would take traditional academic courses (Latin, creative writing, science, math) and received no vocational training. Those students not headed for college would take basic academic courses, along with vocational training, or “shop.”

Ability tracking did not sit well with educators or parents, who believed students were assigned to tracks not by aptitude, but by socio-economic status and race. The result being that by the end of the 1950s, what was once a perfectly respectable, even mainstream educational path came to be viewed as a remedial track that restricted minority and working-class students.

Image: Instructor helps a student participating in a woodworking manufacturing training program in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. Photographer: Tim Boyle/Bloomberg Charlie Negron
Image:
Instructor helps a student participating in a woodworking manufacturing training program in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. Photographer: Tim Boyle/Bloomberg Charlie Negron

The backlash against tracking, however, did not bring vocational education back to the academic core. Instead, the focus shifted to preparing all students for college, and college prep is still the center of the U.S. high school curriculum.

So what’s the harm in prepping kids for college? Won’t all students benefit from a high-level, four-year academic degree program? As it turns out, not really. For one thing, people have a huge and diverse range of different skills and learning styles. Not everyone is good at math, biology, history and other traditional subjects that characterize college-level work. Not everyone is fascinated by Greek mythology, or enamored with Victorian literature, or enraptured by classical music. Some students are mechanical; others are artistic. Some focus best in a lecture hall or classroom; still others learn best by doing, and would thrive in the studio, workshop or shop floor.

And not everyone goes to college. The latest figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) show that about 68% of high students attend college. That means over 30% graduate with neither academic nor job skills.

But even the 68% aren’t doing so well. Almost 40% of students who begin four-year college programs don’t complete them, which translates into a whole lot of wasted time, wasted money, and burdensome student loan debt. Of those who do finish college, one-third or more will end up in jobs they could have had without a four-year degree. The BLS found that 37% of currently employed college grads are doing work for which only a high school degree is required.

It is true that earnings studies show college graduates earn more over a lifetime than high school graduates. However, these studies have some weaknesses. For example, over 53% of recent college graduates are unemployed or under-employed. And income for college graduates varies widely by major – philosophy graduates don’t nearly earn what business studies graduates do. Finally, earnings studies compare college graduates to all high school graduates. But the subset of high school students who graduate with vocational training – those who go into well-paying, skilled jobs – the picture for non-college graduates looks much rosier.

Yet despite the growing evidence that four-year college programs serve fewer and fewer of our students, states continue to cut vocational programs. In 2013, for example, the Los Angeles Unified School District, with more than 600,000 students, made plans to cut almost all of its CTE programs by the end of the year. The justification, of course, is budgetary; these programs (which include auto body technology, aviation maintenance, audio production, real estate and photography) are expensive to operate. But in a situation where 70% of high school students do not go to college, nearly half of those who do go fail to graduate, and over half of the graduates are unemployed or underemployed, is vocational education really expendable? Or is it the smartest investment we could make in our children, our businesses, and our country’s economic future?

The U.S. economy has changed. The manufacturing sector is growing and modernizing, creating a wealth of challenging, well-paying, highly skilled jobs for those with the skills to do them. The demise of vocational education at the high school level has bred a skills shortage in manufacturing today, and with it a wealth of career opportunities for both under-employed college grads and high school students looking for direct pathways to interesting, lucrative careers. Many of the jobs in manufacturing are attainable through apprenticeships, on-the-job training, and vocational programs offered at community colleges. They don’t require expensive, four-year degrees for which many students are not suited.

And contrary to what many parents believe, students who get job specific skills in high school and choose vocational careers often go on to get additional education. The modern workplace favors those with solid, transferable skills who are open to continued learning. Most young people today will have many jobs over the course of their lifetime, and a good number will have multiple careers that require new and more sophisticated skills.

Just a few decades ago, our public education system provided able opportunities for young people to learn about careers in manufacturing and other vocational trades. Yet, today, high-schoolers hear barely a whisper about the many doors that the vocational education path can open. The “college-for-everyone” mentality has pushed awareness of other possible career paths to the margins. The cost to the individuals and the economy as a whole is high. If we want everyone’s kid to succeed, we need to bring vocational education back to the core of high school learning.

Source:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholaswyman/2015/09/01/why-we-desperately-need-to-bring-back-vocational-training-in-schools/

What are San Diego’s most-needed jobs and skills?

Morning News – 21 August 2015 – Newsradio 600 KOGO  |

Employment expert Nicholas Wyman discusses the important issues of our time around local & national unemployment, and its solutions, the revival of skilled based careers, unconventional tips for recent grads, and the role of college today.

Nicholas is the CEO of The Institute For Workplace Skills and Innovation and Author of ‘Job U – How to find wealth and success by developing the skills companies actually need.

Listen Here:

 

http://www.kogo.com/onair/morning-news-55380/