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Skills Gap
Community colleges have a variety of purposes. For some people, they are a stepping stone to a four-year degree, especially those that do not have the academic qualifications to join a four-year degree. To others, community colleges are a good alternative to have professional credentials or associate’s degree. Others view community colleges as a place of post-career enrichment after their work lives. Despite all these purposes, companies find it difficult to fill their positions with qualified candidates. A Business round table survey found that 94% of CEOs reported concerning skills gaps ranging from entry-level jobs to top advanced technical positions. All these, questions the role the community colleges play in Texas.
Community colleges are supposed to be places where the students get skills training that allow them to match with the job market requirements and therefore secure good-paying jobs. However, this is not the case because these colleges have focused on technical skills and overlooked the importance of other skills such as communication, critical thinking, teamwork, and problem-solving skills (Buonora). The leadership should come up with a way to combine both. These skills training should be added to the curriculum to have full baked students not only to equip with technical skills and to prepare them to get an associate degree or transfer to a four-year degree.
Businesses have hiring needs and students have job needs. In the long term, companies want employees who can be flexible and adapt to changes in the business. On the other hand, employees want job security and a chance to grow in their careers. This is a good chance for leaders to bring together community colleges and local companies to work together. They can come up with development programs to produce skilled workers who have both technical and interpersonal skills make them relevant and adapt to long term changes. (Buonora)
One way to achieve this is putting in place a modern model of apprenticeship that not only focuses on the present but also the future. The leaders can consider having courses that focus on technical skills and specific fields of knowledge combined with programs that teach on time management, verbal and written communication, and critical thinking (Buonora). When both of these are well merged they will equip the students with knowledge that will help them fit in the workforce not only initially but have the background to move forward steadily.
In support of this, there is an expert opinion from Andre Williams. He is a business owner as well as a welding instructor. In the last twenty years, he has been in the construction fields as well as helping to foster economic empowerment through trades work. He says that offering supplementary courses to students pursuing technical training and certification is important. He suggests supplementary courses such as project management, communication, AutoCAD training, and blueprint reading and drafting. He says these courses are not only professionally enriching, but they also empower young people without social capital to develop business insight, strategic communication skills, and dynamic networks.
To successfully implement these strategies costs will be incurred on equipment and hiring the expert professors. To overcome this challenge, leaders can consider creating partnerships between community colleges and local companies. The companies can work with the colleges and help them design these courses according to the job market requirements and also help them foot costs that come with new technology requirements or other resources needed. In exchange, the students can work as interns in these companies, and when they graduate they provide a pool of skilled employees that these companies can recruit from. (Myran, Gunder, and Curtis L. Ivery, 45)
The leaders should also come up with executive mentoring programs where successful career persons come and interact with the students. The mentors give their real-world work experiences to the students and advice the students on making informed career decisions. They also give them insights on issues such as; preparing resumes, time management, handling interviews, dressing codes, communication, and work-life balance. ( Myran .et al, 47)
The legislators together with the community college management should come up with career service centers. These centers are usually designated areas in the colleges that provide job readiness training to students, students engage with employers who provide real-time work experiences to them through internships, co-ops, and service-learning opportunities ( Myran .et al, 50). These centers help empower them throughout their career development journey while in college and turn increase their chances of being hired.
Another issue with community colleges is that they subscribe to a universal mission that is so focused on addressing the needs of the diverse population and the changing needs of the students. They focus on increasing the number of students being enrolled and later transition to the four-year degree universities (Mullin). They fail to consider the cultural, academic, occupation, and technological changes that are taking place. The leaders and management should redesign the vision and missions of these colleges and have strategic plans that align the colleges with workforce needs. This may mean having outdated programs and programs with low enrollment eliminated and having new ones that meet the current workforce needs.
In addition to ensuring that community colleges are offering programs that are in line with job market needs, they should also assess if the students are learning the skills that they are teaching. They should carry out program reviews through annual assessments and get to know if the students are learning beyond the course assignments. They also get feedback about the performance of the instructors. This will help them understand the learning experiences that prepare the students well for the job markets.
The legislators should also come up with policies to ensure that community colleges get enough finances from the government. This will help hire qualified instructors, have modern equipment that adapts to change in technology, and enough resources to carry out research. These will help produce skilled students that fit the job market.
In conclusion, community colleges need to partner with companies to come up with programs that are marketable in the job market. They also help to offer on-job training through internships. The colleges should have strategic plans, missions, and visions that focus on well-skilled students. They should also regularly review their programs and eliminated those that are outdated and have low enrollment and come up with new marketable programs. The legislators also have a part to play in ensuring that these colleges get enough finances to be able to adapt to technological, occupational, and academic changes. This issue of the skills gap between community college students’ skills and what the job market requires is a major issue that should be put into consideration. It is of no use to train students that cannot get employed therefore the student leaders should consider the issue as a legislative agenda.
Work Cited
Buonora, David Anthony. The community college and stakeholder engagement in workforce education and training: A case study. Northeastern University, 2016.
Mullin, Christopher M. “Rebalancing the Mission: The Community College Completion Challenge. AACC Policy Brief 2010-02PBL.” American Association of Community Colleges (NJ1) (2010).
Myran, Gunder, and Curtis L. Ivery. “The employability gap and the community college role in workforce development.” New Directions for Community Colleges 2013.162 (2013): 45-53.
