The Cultural Nature of Valued Skills: A Qualitative Investigation of Postsecondary Science Education and the "Skills Gap" in Wisconsin. WCER Working Paper No. 2016-06

Autor/inn/en	Benbow, Ross J.; Hora, Matthew T.
Institution	University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER)
Titel	The Cultural Nature of Valued Skills: A Qualitative Investigation of Postsecondary Science Education and the "Skills Gap" in Wisconsin. WCER Working Paper No. 2016-06
Quelle	(2016), (46 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Monographie
Schlagwörter	Job Skills; Employment Qualifications; Higher Education; STEM Education; Postsecondary Education; Financial Support; Educational Finance; Employers; Work Ethic; Communication Skills; College Faculty; Interpersonal Competence; Self Management; Technological Literacy; Personality Traits; Industry; Qualitative Research; Case Studies; Labor Force Development; Interviews; Cultural Capital; Problem Solving; Lifelong Learning; Geographic Location; Organizational Culture; Family Characteristics; Wisconsin + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Produktive Fertigkeit; Employment qualification; Vocational qualification; Vocational qualifications; Berufliche Qualifikation; Hochschulbildung; Hochschulsystem; Hochschulwesen; STEM; Post-secondary education; Tertiäre Bildung; Finanzielle Förderung; Bildungsfonds; Arbeitsethos; Kommunikationsstil; Fakultät; Interpersonale Kompetenz; Selbstmanagement; Technisches Wissen; Individual characteristics; Personality characteristic; Persönlichkeitsmerkmal; Industrie; Qualitative Forschung; Case study; Fallstudie; Case Study; Arbeitskräftebestand; Interviewing; Interviewtechnik; Problemlösen; Life-long learning; Lebenslanges Lernen; Unternehmenskultur
Abstract	The narrative of the "skills gap," or the notion that the United States economy suffers because employers are not able to find job applicants with workplace-ready skills (e.g., American Society for Training and Development 2012), has become an influential rallying cry in higher education funding circles in recent years. It is with these gaps in mind that this paper uses a qualitative case study of STEM-related Wisconsin postsecondary institutions and businesses, based on interviews with employer and educator respondents, to explore the following questions: (1) What skills are most highly valued by employers and college educators?; and (2) According to respondents, what social, organizational, or other contextual factors, if any, influence the value and prevalence of these skills? The findings, which were conceptualized with a field theoretical framework from relational sociology (Bourdieu 1998; Martin 2003), suggest not only that employers value noncognitive competencies like work ethic and communication that students internalize through family, friends, education, and work experiences, but also that many postsecondary educators understand how such cultural currency can influence students' future success in a variety of social spheres. Furthermore, employers and educators often discussed these competencies not as singular, isolated "skills," but as multifaceted and situated "habits of mind," inextricably linked as dispositional practices and states of being. (ERIC).
Anmerkungen	Wisconsin Center for Education Research. School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1025 West Johnson Street Suite 785, Madison, WI 53706. Tel: 608-263-4200; Fax: 608-263-6448; e-mail: uw-wcer@education.wisc.edu; Web site: https://www.wcer.wisc.edu/
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01