Higher Education, Stratification, and Workforce Development

Author(s):  
Sheena Copus Stewart ◽  
James E. Witte ◽  
Maria Martinez Witte

Workforce development and higher education can benefit from collaborative efforts that incorporate and apply teaching, learning, and research from a variety of environments. This chapter introduces the context of workforce development innovation and the impact on employees. Partnerships, in general, are defined and workforce development and higher education partnerships are examined that have influenced building collaborative relationships. Also included is a review of best practices and future trends related to workforce development and higher education partnerships.


Author(s):  
Kathleen P. King ◽  
Christina M. Partin ◽  
Hidelisa C. Manibusan ◽  
Gillian M. Sadhi

In this chapter, the authors propose examining online learning in higher education as a mechanism for promoting lifelong learning skills, and thus, as a way to provide capital to students. With that in mind, they provide a theoretical foundation to demonstrate the need for workforce development as well as interdisciplinary perspectives on the skills and requisites necessary for successful lifelong learning, and how both are important to the central mission of higher education. This chapter explores the literature and major issues surrounding the importance and use of capital and lifelong learning skills, and how both can be gained through online learning. The authors argue that lifelong learning skills can be generated through transformative leaning experiences and that facilitating these experiences should be a goal of online learning in higher education in order to ensure that students have the skills necessary to gain social, cultural, and economic capital in order to remain relevant through their lives in a 21st century, learning society. In this chapter, the authors discuss several relevant examples of “Tools for Lifelong Learning” including specific examples to demonstrate how online classes can serve as a mechanism to generate capital for students in higher education settings. They provide a model and build upon theory across higher education, sociology, adult learning, and educational psychology to provide a new perspective of the importance of lifelong learning as well as best practices for achieving these goals.


Author(s):  
Mark Allan Kinders ◽  
Adrienne D. Nobles

Higher education is criticized for failing to be nimble and flexible in meeting student professional development needs in a cost-effective and timely manner. This assessment is advanced through conservative policy agendas in which elected and social decision-makers argue the primary mission of higher education should be narrowly focused on workforce development to propel the American economy. Yet, many influencers misunderstand the efficiency and effectiveness of higher education in providing broad access to a quality education that meets students where they are at. An excellent illustration of this is the dramatic growth of institutions offering online academic programs. However, this highly popular delivery mechanism is still emerging in the higher education competitive marketplace. These trends already illustrate that the substantial fiscal risks require that institutions have absolute clarity in what and how they will invest in costly start-up programs.


Author(s):  
Hannah Rudstam ◽  
Thomas Golden ◽  
Susanne Bruyere ◽  
Sara Van Looy ◽  
Wendy Strobel Gower

Individuals with disabilities represent a substantial portion of the U.S. population and workforce. Yet, disability is often not meaningfully included in diversity and inclusion efforts in the workplace or in higher education. This chapter focuses on ten misperceptions that have fueled the marginalization of disability in diversity and inclusion efforts. These ten misperceptions revolve around a range of issues: Legal, human and practical. We provide an overview of each misperception and discuss implications for diversity and workforce development practitioners, with a focus on higher education settings. In conclusion, we urge readers to consider their own organizations in light of each of these ten misperceptions.


Author(s):  
Meghan Perdue

In the midst of the current technological revolution, there is a thriving conversation about how society should adapt to the future of work taking place in the national media, universities, policy organizations, think tanks, consulting firms and companies. One such model for work and education under consideration is that of the role of higher education in workforce development. How well does a bachelor’s degree prepare an individual for a career in this shifting landscape of work? What is the responsibility of the university to the student – to prepare them for a career? Or to help them build the intellectual framework to build a meaningful life Incorporating the practice and development of 21st century skills into the higher education classroom does not necessarily require a great rethinking of the education model or content delivery. Rather, it could be as simple as encouraging faculty to use proven educational principles such as active learning and group-based learning into the classroom. This would allow students to practice some of the necessary skills such as communication, respect, teamwork, and problem solving into their higher education curriculum.


2021 ◽  
Vol 250 ◽  
pp. 04002
Author(s):  
Larisa Gorina ◽  
Ekaterina Polyakova

The process of development of universities from the places where medieval elites met to conduct alliances and partnerships to the modern biotechnological and digital institutions of higher education, research and business took several centuries and went through four main stages. This paper describes the role and the place of the University 4.0 within the context of the sustainable development of higher education in the 21st century. We show that University 4.0 is designed to promote the technology industry through partnerships that support research, marketing, workforce development, as well as entrepreneurship. In keeping with the cooperative nature efforts directed and driven by the policy-makers and relevant stakeholders need to be dedicated to promoting modern universities as hub for the development of intelligent, connected technologies and services that would lead to the sustainable development of higher education that would reflect the challenges of our time.


2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 9-16
Author(s):  
Robert L. Caret

Throughout my 25 years in higher education leadership, overseeing two campuses and two university systems, I have maintained a strong connection to the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities (CUMU), both philosophically and in practical terms. Early on in my tenure as president of San Jose State University, I established the overarching goal of making San Jose State the Metropolitan University of Silicon Valley. Complementing the institution’s geographic location, size, and mission, all of which positioned it ideally for this role, I also saw a student population, a community role, and an ethos of service that spoke to the institution’s responsibility as an urban citizen. This same perspective was part and parcel of my approach at Towson University (TU). As president, I actively created a vision and an identity for the institution, focusing on its role as the Metropolitan University of Maryland. I established external partnerships with focuses on education, economic and workforce development, arts and culture, and social change. As president of the 5-campus University of Massachusetts System (UMass) I oversaw two CUMU member institutions, UMass Lowell and UMass Boston. The University System of Maryland (USM), where I currently serve as chancellor, is itself a CUMU member, as are several of its component institutions, with Towson and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) “founding members” of CUMU as a formal organization. Throughout these years, I also had a very direct connection to CUMU, serving on several committees, on the Board of Directors, as a vice president, and, from 2006-2011, as CUMU president. With this background, I know first-hand the distinctive perspective and unique tools that our comprehensive institutions can use to address social challenges and bring about meaningful change. In addition, I also recognize the special obligation our comprehensive metropolitan and urban universities have to be active and engaged in the communities they serve. These are the primary, 4-year, “access” institutions, not just in terms of the sheer numbers of students they educate, but also in terms of the composition of those students, serving as a vital higher education pathway for women, underrepresented minorities, and first-generation college students. Beyond that, our comprehensive universities stand as bridges, with numerous graduates going on to advanced degree programs at research universities.


2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-88
Author(s):  
Steven Keen ◽  
Jonathan Parker ◽  
Lynne Rutter ◽  
Sarah Williams ◽  
Keith Brown

The future of practice education in social work in England is under discussion. An integral part of this relates to those considered qualified and appropriate to assess student social workers and the qualification framework necessary to ensure their supply. A draft Practice Educator Framework for England was published in October 2009. Fifteen partnerships of employers and Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) were invited to deliver pilot Practice Educator programmes to test out the draft framework. This paper reports the formative and final evaluations from these pilot sites and lays the foundation for considerations of the future development of practice education in England. The evaluation and the pilot were commissioned by Skills for Care and funded by the Social Work Development Partnership. In total, 321 candidates had been or were in the process of being recruited to these pilot sites; whilst 24 candidates withdrew from or deferred their studies. The findings from the evaluation indicated that the vast majority of pilot sites had accredited their programmes academically, many at Master’s degree level. Candidate feedback was predominantly positive; however, about one in eight candidates disagreed that their programme had provided them with sufficient mentoring support. A third of pilot sites have realised they do not have the numbers of stage 2 Practice Educators that qualifying placements may require. Strong partnerships between employers and HEIs and targeted funding will be needed to ensure that future programmes meet workforce development needs.


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