Here's the latest great reads from Beth on new developments with careers:

Education and Careers

• There have been a few articles on a state basis (here is one from Delaware) that advocate bringing back true vocational training to high schools.

The expectation that high school produces career-ready adults in a 21st-century economy is unrealistic and counterproductive…..How CTE must change:   We first have to recognize that the current vision is only working for half of our young adults. That is, less than half of young adults earn a bachelor’s degree, associate’s degree or industry-recognized certificate postsecondary credential – the current standard for career readiness – by the age of 30. 

• This WSJ article about the makeup of today’s college students may be more about higher ed than careers per se, but it is full of great data and graphics demonstrating the changing demographics, which might suggest alternative paths for our students.
• How long do you want to spend in school?  CNBC describes the ten best paying careers today.  Yes, most are in healthcare, and most require lots of years beyond a bachelor’s degree.  
• Do what you love, but don’t forget about the long term.  A Washington Post Lifestyles article describes the cautionary tale of a young woman who went into debt to get her master’s degree in order to get her dream job….a children’s librarian.  She has that dream job, but her debt balance is increasing as she is making income-based repayments, which don’t cover the interest.  She is holding out hope that the public service loan forgiveness program will save her in the end, but there are no guarantees.
• Considering an unpaid internship?  The rules have become more flexible again.  A Bloomberg article has made the rounds in papers this weekend explaining the latest about face that is worth reading and alerting our students so they are not exploited.  

Promoting STEM, CYBERSECURITY, and Robots?

• Think you need to move to Silicon Valley or Seattle or DC to land a good STEM job?  Think again.  Forbes talks about Tech’s New Hotbeds, and you might be surprised where Tech has been expanding recently.  While the traditional hotbeds aren’t about to shrink any time soon, there will be options in less expensive locations (which helps attract talent).  How about Orlando, Charlotte, or Grand Rapids?
  • Steve Case and other billionaires have teamed up to try and accelerate this process through their Rise of the Rest Fund. 
• How will we get enough students educated in STEM fields to fill a projected 2 million jobs? This US News and World Report Op-Ed examines this issue in detail.  Getting and keeping women and minorities in the field will be crucial. Micah Reid, 19, says she's been into engineering since she was a little kid. That's because her parents are scientists. Not everyone comes from that type of background.

"When I was in my high school robotics club, the first couple weeks were almost 50/50 in gender," she says. "But as time went by, girls were dropping out like flies." Reid says retention was an issue because the females in her class started learning STEM skills in high school, while her male peers started years before. That has been documented by the U.S. Department of Commerce, with data that suggests a lack of female role models and gender stereotyping have encouraged a culture where more than 75 percent of all STEM-related careers in the U.S. are occupied by men.

• Cybersecurity professionals are in high demand.  The field is looking to recruit students and working professionals into the field to fill the 1.8 million gap by 2022.  If you can work your way through it, there was a Twitter Chat recorded in October as part of the National Cybersecurity Awareness Month about careers in CyberSecurity.
• Will Robots Take Our Children’s Jobs?  How do we give them career guidance as even highly trained/paid professionals (like radiologists) could be replaced by robots in the not too distant future.  A New York Times Style article examines this issue.

Machine learning does not just give us new machines to replace old machines, pushing human workers from one industry to another. Rather, it gives us new machines to replace us, machines that can follow us to virtually any new industry we flee to.

Gender Issues

• Will gender masking techniques help women make inroads into male dominated fields?  Katharine Zaleski explains why she doesn’t think this will work in her New York Times Op-Ed.
• The Economist deals with the age-old issue of gender gap in the workplace.  It goes beyond to discuss a potential underlying problem: who does more work around the house, and the difference in each partner’s perception of the situation.  

Though it is unclear whether men or women are more accurate, many people are obviously ignorant about the reality of their partners’ lives. And even if men are open to doing more at home so their wives can do more at work, the necessity may not occur to them. Gender equality could be boosted by some frank kitchen-table conversations.

The article has statistics and graphs from around the world and might be a good conversation starter.  (Hint: Universal child care in other countries appears to make a huge difference.)

Here's a gargantuan Infographic that demonstrates the importance of keeping up with employment trends. That job in retail ain't what it used to be!

About the Author