Talent & Education

Priming the pump: Corporate involvement in the classroom

March 25, 2013

Global

March 25, 2013

Global

Critical skills shortages drive increased corporate involvement in the classroom

                                 

When Northwestern University launched its new Master of Science in Analytics degree in early 2012, university leadership envisaged a small programme—a tight community of 20 students.  Northwestern received more than 200 applications during the programme’s inaugural year. This year, they have increased the size of the programme by 50% to 30 students and have received over 380 applications

A recent study by global consulting firm Accenture concluded that, between 2010 and 2015, employers will create nearly 39,000 analytics jobs in the US alone. The same number globally is about 118,000. “We looked across the horizon,” says Dr Julio Ottino, dean of the McCormick School of Engineering at Northwestern University, “and we saw where the world is going. We saw analytics as an increasingly important tool to make sense of the data-rich world we live in.” What made Northwestern’s new analytics degree programmes even more appealing to applicants is that the university teamed up with multinational technology company IBM to develop the curriculum. IBM provided teaching materials and hands-on, project-focused case studies as well as access to a wide spectrum of software solutions, thought leaders and guest speakers.

Businesses and universities have often collaborated in pursuit of their respective strategic goals—be it producing ground-breaking scientific research, developing marketable solutions to complex problems or educating skilled professionals. Internships, externships and recruiting programmes have been common for some time. However, as corporations continue to face critical skill shortages at the same time as graduates struggle to find jobs, collaborative educational programmes—such as the Master of Science in Analytics by Northwestern University and IBM—are emerging as a new and powerful form of partnership between business and academia.

These collaborative programmes are most common in advanced fields of science and technology, where corporate demand for specialised expertise is far outpacing the supply of adequately qualified professionals. The new business analytics degree programmes at Northwestern are part of a much larger effort by IBM to shape higher-education curricula.  The company aims to build a pipeline of highly skilled and readily employable graduates across a number of disciplines it deems strategic. IBM’s Academic Initiative has a staff of 400 and works with 6,000 universities worldwide. Its programmes offer teaching and research software as well as curriculum-building materials in a host of IT disciplines—from security and information assurance to mobile development.

There are many reasons for academic institutions and employers to work together in developing curricula and delivering new educational courses. Today, in many advanced fields, such as data analytics and cyber-security, technology and business practices are evolving so quickly that curricula can become obsolete within a few years of its introduction. Academic institutions often lack the resources to revisit and update their curricula frequently. Partnering with leading companies allows educational institutions to keep their course materials fresh and relevant, to infuse them with real-world knowledge derived from practical experience and to have instruction delivered by leading industry practitioners. By inviting business professionals into their classrooms, universities can create an invaluable opportunity for their students to gain access to and build relationships with the companies they aspire to join upon graduation.

The trend is evident even beyond  the high-tech areas of the private-sector economy. University of Arkansas has collaborated with White Commercial Corporation, a leading grain advisory company, to develop an online program in Grain Basis Trading―the science of utilizing futures markets to manage price risk and profit from merchandising grain. Offered through the University of Arkansas Global Campus, the program grants a professional certificate in Basis Trading Administration and is jointly taught by university faculty and 30-year industry veterans. It provides learning and practical knowledge extracted from daily real-life basis transactions, and affords students the opportunity to enrol alongside―and network with―experienced industry professionals.

The collaborative curriculum trend is not limited to the US.  Having witnessed a shortage of applicants with appropriate practical skills in the pharmaceutical space, the UK’s University of Hertfordshire teamed up with leading life sciences company Melbourn Scientific to create a new part-time Master of Science degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences, geared to meet the most pressing talent needs of pharmaceutical and biotech employers. “The real gap we see is not so much in technical skills, but rather applied knowledge,” says Dr. Darragh Murnane, Associate Dean of the School of Life and Medical Sciences at the University of Hertfordshire. “This programme aims to help science graduates develop the practical knowledge to apply their technical skills in a real-world business setting.”

For their part, by partnering with leading universities to develop educational programmes, private and public employers can gain first-hand access to top talent and tailor academic courses to meet the specific needs of their business by focusing the curriculum on what they believe are the most critical skills. “There is often a strong focus on hard, technical skills in these programmes,” says Michael Haberman of PENCIL, a New York City-based non-profit whose mission is to develop and support long-term partnerships between businesses and public schools. “But businesses are realising that soft skills—such as critical thinking and the ability to work in teams—are even more important, and often underdeveloped among recent graduates.” The hands-on involvement and immersion in real-life business situations entailed by collaborative educational programmes are helping students develop these soft skills, and preparing them to be effective and successful in the professional world.

Such collaborative educational efforts are not entirely new. In the 1950s and 60s, when vocational schools played a key role in preparing graduates for a successful career, corporations  were heavily involved in the design and delivery of the curriculum. Today’s trend shows a return to the past, as educational reforms shift to acknowledge the importance of vocational learning alongside traditional academic training.  A critical element of this current wave is the realization that in order to succeed professionally, graduates must be equipped with technical skills and scientific knowledge as well as intellectual ability. At the same time, however, schools and businesses acknowledge that ‘soft’ skills such as emotional intelligence, teamwork, and the ability to lead and influence peers are just as crucial in a work environment.

Ultimately, for these collaborative efforts to succeed and scale, it is important that they continue to develop in depth and breadth.  Joint programmes will need to move from experimental, one-off initiatives to becoming an integral part of the ongoing recruiting and innovation processes. Successful programmes will be built into the strategy and mission pursued by both corporations and academic institutions, and closely linked to human resources, research and development, and business development organisations within firms.  Performance metrics will need to be instituted to ensure that such programmes are meeting strategic objectives.

The future goal of such programmes will be less about addressing individual skill shortages and more about growing the pool of talent for all employers to tap into, thereby preparing the next generation of employees.

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