J. Michael BrowningYou're an educated, experienced professional. You completed your bachelor's, and now you're working towards a master's. But now you're feeling like something isn't quite right, and nothing has prepared you for the real world of work. You're not alone! You're at college, paying exorbitant amounts of money to be taught how to pass an APA-style report—a skill virtually no one in the 'real world' uses or needs—and why?
Introduction
Marketing and public relations professionals are in high demand, and companies will pay top dollar for these positions. However, many graduates lack the necessary skills in this field because they were not adequately taught these subjects in college. To help combat this issue, schools should focus on teaching students about current marketing and public relations skills instead of just teaching them how to generate reports with APA formatting. Schools should also focus on teaching real-world applications that can be implemented immediately after graduation.
The Basic Problem
As the world around us changes, so do the needs of employers. Unfortunately, colleges and universities have been unable to keep pace with these shifting realities, and as a result, graduates have been left unprepared for the job market they're entering. A report by Deloitte found that only 41% of business leaders say new college grads are well-prepared or overprepared for the workplace. We need to teach skills immediately functional upon graduation, not skills that are never used or that will become outdated before they can be utilized in a professional environment.
Teaching to the Wrong Standard
In a recent study, researchers found that many of the skills employers said they most wanted their new hires to have were not things students typically learn in college, such as problem-solving and creativity. In fact, many of these skills aren't even taught in K-12 schools anymore because of the shift to standardized tests and curricula like Common Core Standards. So what's going on here? Why is there a gap between what employers want and what colleges teach?
Why Teaching to the Wrong Standard Matters for Marketing And Public Relations Professionals
The most popular college majors in the US and the percentage of graduates who graduate with that degree are as follows:
- Business Administration/Management 16%
- Applied Mathematics 14%
- Biology 13%
- Chemistry 12%
- Computer Science 11%
- Economics 10%
- English 9%
About half of the job market will not have these skills in marketing and public relations professionals. Furthermore, because these majors are so popular, they will be taught as required courses in many universities. This means that universities' public relations and marketing departments will be creating more content based on these required courses, which may not be relevant to their career path or interests.
Focus on Real World, not APA Reports
Here's the problem with a school-oriented focus on report writing: it's not applicable in real business. Report writing is only used in specific cases, like an evaluative or exploratory study, and takes a lot of time and effort to complete correctly. There is no reason to teach this skill when companies need professionals who can pitch their ideas creatively and have the skill set to create a compelling presentation that will convince investors or clients.
Closing Thoughts
Students are being set up for failure because they're not being taught the skills to help them succeed in the workforce. Today's graduates need to know how to solve problems, think critically, and make decisions with little direction from a supervisor or teacher. They need practical experience that can be gained through internships, career-shadowing opportunities, and experiential courses such as creative simulations and case competitions. We need a new model of higher education that prepares students for success in the workplace by teaching them what they'll actually be doing on the job every day.
