A Push for More Technical Workers
Date Posted: September 24, 2019
Posted In: Workforce,
From Inside Higher Ed: The National Science Board released a report Monday calling for, among other things, a cultural re-evaluation of America’s “skilled technical workforce” — people who use science and technology skills in their jobs, but don’t possess a bachelor’s degree.
While demand for professions like electricians, welders and autoworkers is projected to rapidly increase, the supply of labor for these jobs is estimated to fall short by nearly 3.4 million workers by 2022.
The federal report suggests that the shortage may be in part due to students lacking encouragement to pursue technical careers from parents and guidance counselors, and an overall culture that values bachelor’s degrees.
Victor McCrary, vice president for research and graduate programs at the University of the District of Columbia and chair of the board’s task force on the skilled technical workforce, cited stigma around technical jobs among parents and high school educators. “There are many opportunities for students coming out of high school,” he said. “There’s not just one path to the middle class which is a college education.”
Matt Sigelman, CEO of Burning Glass Technologies, which analyzes job market trends, agreed that a lack of knowledge around technical roles could be to blame for the shortage.
“We know there is also certainly an awareness gap where a lot of students proceed to college by default when … technical roles can often give them the kind of lifestyle and career profile that they’re aspiring to, perhaps more efficiently and effectively,” he said.
Other factors may also be part of the problem. Mary Alice McCarthy, director of the Center on Education and Skills at New America, said that while these technical jobs can be highly paid, parents might be worried these jobs won’t be around for very long. “Part of that concern around enrolling in these kinds of programs or having your children enroll in them is the rapid pace of automation,” she said. “It is important to be thinking about what comes next for these students and these workers.”
Sigelman and the report both noted that many students graduating high school have not been prepared by the K-12 system with the math and science skills technical programs and jobs require. “Our education system struggles to engage students’ interests in STEM to deliver graduates with sufficiently strong STEM skills,” he said.