Title: Utah Association of Career and Technical Education
1Utah Association of Career and Technical
Education
- Getting Real
- Counseling Teens in Uncertain Times
- Kenneth Gray
- Professor emeritus of Workforce Education and
Development - Penn State University
- gty_at_psu.edu
2Uncertain Times
- National high school dropout rate 30
- Unemployment rate (16-19 yrs old) 21
- At best 50 of college students graduate 30
never make to the sophomore year - The average student loan debt is 20K
- Inflation adjusted earnings for 4-year college
graduates are less today than in 1972. - Growth of Gray Collar workers
- 30 of highest income do not have a degree
3Uncertainty of Employment for Youth in the
information age.
-
- Growth of High skill/low wage employment
- Most likely to be off-shored
- Less than fulltime employment, telecommuting,
volunteerisms - Certifications more important than degrees
- Globally more than a million 4 yr college degrees
awarded annually in computer science, math, and
electrical engineering.
4Part of the ProblemWidespread Career
Immaturity
- The Need to Help Teens
- Get Real
5The fact is that large numbers of CA college
graduates leave school as unsure of what they
will do when they grow up (except perhaps
continue to go to school) as they were when they
started.How CA Postsecondary Education Systems
Address Workforce Development (2007). CA
Postsecondary Education commission
6Today Success Requires
- Appropriate Academic skills
-
- Career Direction
- Few Graduate with Both
7All my life Ive always wanted to be somebody,
but I see now I should have been more
specific.
Wagner, 1986
Other Ways to Win
8Women and Career Choice
9Men and Career Choice
10Old Advice that is Now Bad Advice
- Postpone career choices as long as possible - You
dont want to close any doors. - Do not worry about career/college major
indecision - you will decide that in college.
11Creating Other Ways to Win Career Guidance
- By the tenth grade all students will have
participated in activities designed to help them
identify several career options. - In the eleventh and twelfth grades all students
will participate in activities that allow them to
verify these choices, using the results to
develop postsecondary plans.
12Student Outcomes Goals of Career Development
Programs
- Help teens make the best career decision they can
based on what they know now about themselves
and the world of work. - If this is a good decision, the next decision
will be even better.
13 Six Steps to Postsecondary
Success
- Step One
- Focus on the Goal
- College or Success?
14Six Steps to PostsecondarySuccess
- Step Two
- Have a Back-up Plan
-
- Plan A Plan B
15Six Steps to PostsecondarySuccess
- Step Three
- Reach a Shared Decision
16Six Steps to PostsecondarySuccess
- Step Four
- Develop at least a
- tentative
- career plan
17Six Steps to PostsecondarySuccess
- Step Five
- Be willing to consider all
- the options!
- Prep year
- One Year Technical Certificate
- Two Year Technology Degree
- Four Year College
- Military, Apprenticeship, Employment
18Six Steps to PostsecondarySuccess
- Step Six
- Be Realistic
- Revisit Plan A B
19The High Skills/High Wage Workplace
40
30
Ratio 1-3-2-4
20What Types of Employees are Expected to Be in
Short Supply Over the Next Years?
Source 2005 Skills Gap Report A Survey of the
American Manufacturing Workforce by National
Association of Manufacturing
21Summary
- For this generation career maturity is as
important as academic maturity - Tentative career plans is the first step.
Avoidance is a decision to do nothing. - All students should have a plan A B
22A Final Thought
- Career and Technical Education
- Is an excellent resource for helping teens get
real.