By Susan Smith Nash, Ph.D.
Conventional wisdom holds that college enrollments surge during economic downturns because there is a low opportunity cost for the student and diversification/skill building.
In addition, the belief has held steady that as the structure of economies change, individuals return to college in order to retool and diversity to meld themselves into the new economy. Case in point: during the 1970s, the U.S. suffered from stagflation. Economic change resulted in industrial decline and factories closed. Individuals fled the Rust Belt and moved to Texas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and other petroleum-producing areas to oil fields. During the mid 1980s, the same individuals who had moved from the Rust Belt had to retool and re-educate themselves as the oil boom turned to bust.
Many diversified into service economy jobs or environmental science. Now, thanks to technological change, structural change in the economy, globalization, and an economic downturn, colleges and universities are facing new challenges as they seek to create programs, courses, and curricula.
Recession-Proofing Oneself Through Education:
From a student's point of view, the key to recession-proofing oneself through education is finding programs where there is more demand than supply of practitioners. At the same time, it is useful to look at ways to use one's work experience as a platform for competency, and the degree as a door-opener and proof of a well-rounded education.
From the university administrator's perspective, the challenge is slightly different. One has to accommodate demand for courses and curriculum, rally the resources and subject matter experts, and hope that the demand lasts a long time so that the program is sustainable (unlike certain programs in the past such as women's study programs at some universities). Ethically, it is important to provide students with solid, well-rounded educations that will equip them to maneuver in a rapidly changing world.
Question: What should students diversity into now in order to have secure jobs in the near future? Health? Computers? CJ? Business?
Obviously, it can be hard to predict where the new jobs will be. Perhaps the best answer to the question of what degrees will land good jobs is not to try to be a fortune-teller or a Greek oracle, but to build the following items:
- 1. Provide a solid academic foundation that includes communication skills useful for the future (writing, reading, Web-based communication).
- 2. Require students to develop analytical skills, which includes math courses as well as ones that involve problem-solving and case studies.
- 3. Give support to students who need to develop study skills and success strategies (goal-setting, time management).
- 4. Create student social networks and support.
- 5. Make library resources easily available, with on-demand support.
- 6. Set up work-study, internship, and virtual internship/job placement programs and linkages.
- 7. Create courses and programs that encourage students to develop adaptive mindsets and to have a community-building perspective to allow one to feel a part of a larger group, cause, and mission.
- 8. Give useful and relevant academic advice, and make much of the academic advising process an online experience.
- 9. Connect to real-life examples and situations.
- 10. Encourage students to take psychological and intellectual risks.
Tuition and Cost Increases:
In order to help students manage the costs of education, it is important to find ways to help cut costs.
- * Offer hybrid or 100 percent online courses (save gas, time, transportation costs)
- * Make content accessible through mobile devices
- * Create low-speed/dial-up connection-accessible course content
- * Use a single textbook and supplement with readings and Web-based content
- * Allow transfer credits to apply toward one's degree requirements
- * Allow a certain number of credit by examination opportunities (CLEP, DANTES, etc.)
- * Encourage prospective high school students to take AP courses
The Future:
An effective education program that has the best chance of creating recession-proof individuals includes core competencies, diversification, inculcation of a positive attitude, positive beliefs about oneself, a willingness to engage with the world and the world's peoples, and a "win-win"/"we can do it together" approach to life. Colleges and universities that manage to bring this together will serve their students well.
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