Advancements in technology and new innovations are driving the creation of millions of new jobs, resulting in a demand for workers with high-tech skills. Matching business needs with skilled workers requires solutions that include rethinking education and promoting nontraditional education paths, ultimately helping to address the skills gap.
Career and technical education (CTE) is among the solutions and opportunities available to prepare students for careers in fast-growing fields, integrating core academics with technical skills and real-life examples within specific career pathways.
Cheryl Carrier, executive director at Ford Next Generation Learning (Ford NGL) and vice chair of the Consumer Technology Association (CTA)® 21st Century Workforce Council, says CTE was the foundation for her career.
Carrier spoke to us about her experience with CTE and her insights about how this type of education develops transferable skills needed in any career pathway.
CTE taught me to take responsibility for my future. It taught me that, whatever the situation, I must be prepared to learn and adapt. I learned invaluable life lessons like how important it is to have initiative and be curious. That helped me grow in my career.
In turn, I became more valuable to my leadership and to my direct reports. I learned to always aim high and go beyond expectations.
Whatever one’s goals, CTE can be valuable to every student. It brings relevance to learning and provides a glimpse of what the future might look like. It helps develop those workplace and life skills that are needed in college, career and life, including critical thinking, problem solving, and working in teams. You learn how to research, synthesize and make solid recommendations. You learn how to defend your position, take critical feedback, present to the C-suite and value diverse opinions.
Employers want to be part of a transformational model — something they can invest in and co-own. Further, their investment also results in employment.
Employers want to engage in something bigger. You see them donating equipment; offering teacher externships, so that teachers can learn about the field; and allowing employees to come into the schools and teach or support classroom projects and activities. They ask students to develop apps, solve problems and be part of the solution.
When I was in high school, we certainly did not have that level of engagement from employers. Today, employers can not only engage face-to-face, but, with the use of technology, can also reach more students.
Students of the 1990s are now parents — they are stealth-fighter parents. They don’t want their daughter or son completing college and left still wondering what they want to do. They cannot afford that type of experience. They want their children to get career exposure early and often, so that they make better decisions about their future.
CTE and career-themed academies are a big movement. We are seeing communities all over the country decide that CTE is good for ALL students. Career academies are accepted as a way to transform schools so that all students have access to a high-quality, rigorous education that is grounded in reality.
Young people are going to grow up wanting and demand even more technology. So, what does that mean for the future?
We have to provide CTA members with a roadmap and the tools to engage with educators and students. We can build a robust, inspired group of young people who want to work in technology fields.
Everything today is affected by technology — everything. There isn’t a single industry that I can think of that doesn’t require technology, and people who are ready to be challenged by the plethora of opportunities in this field.
Think about how hard meeting that challenge is going to continue to be if we don’t help employers get connected to districts, teachers, and students. There are so many ways to engage from low- to high-intensity levels.