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Employer Quotes
The quotes below are from employers in this industry: Engineering
They are talking about this topic: Educational Partnerships
The quotes below are about this issue:
Industry leaders state it is important for businesses and higher education to create K-12 partnerships, which ensure children are educated about the engineering industry and engineering careers. Many employers are already participating in K-12 outreach; this includes working with the program Project Lead the Way, offering classroom presentations, and creating job-shadowing opportunities.
| "That kind of worries me—when you have this data, how does that get back to the high schools? 'Well, it looks like there's not going to be such-and-such—it's gloom and doom for the mechanical engineers.' Well, if I thought that were true, I wouldn't choose that as a career, so I'd move to software development. But where's that going to leave the companies that still need mechanical engineers? I don't know how that data gets communicated to the future graduates of the high schools." | Central |
| "We've decided in the industry that we have to be more involved. [Professor] from [MnSCU college] and I did a presentation for the Willmar school about three weeks ago, letting them know about these jobs that are available and aren't being filled." | Central |
| "Fifth grade would be a really good time to start teaching about the life of work." | Central |
| "Is there an issue with the Baby Boomers? I really think so. There are many, many very skilled people in the industry and in manufacturing that are going to be retiring over the next five to ten years. We're wondering who is really looking at that? Who is really encouraging our young to go into these fields? I'm not sure how that's working. When I was talking to the high school—I was talking to the principal over at Willmar—and I asked him what the counselors teach. What do the counselors tell students about what's going on? His answer was, 'Our counselors are so busy with discipline that they don't have any time at all to help someone that is interested in advancing their career.' It's a very difficult situation. How do we get the message out to the young?" | Central |
| "Our engineering staff works with the robotics teams at the high schools." | Central |
| "I think one component that doesn't get discussed enough is training the trainers. What I mean by that is, 'Where are the teachers?' The teacher is standing up in front of a class saying, 'This is why you need to know math.' Do teachers, after they graduate and get that teaching degree, do they ever go into a business and see how it actually works beyond the textbook? I think they could be great advocates to our students if they're standing up and saying, 'You know what, I remember what a welder used to do. You should see what a welder does these days—it's really cool! They work with these gizmos and these different machines.' I don't see that part happening." | Central |
| "If we could start reaching out to some of these students earlier—I always made it a point with my own sons to make sure that they started focusing on things when they were in junior high or sooner on what they wanted to do." | Central |
| "You were talking about students not knowing what's in their own communities. Students don't know that there are careers that they can come back to after they go to school. How do we get that information to schools? I worked in a school in another region, and they had a STEM-type conference where they brought in all the local businesses so the kids in high school could actually see, 'Oh, wow, this is what this business does in my community.' To give them the idea that they may not have to leave their communities. Or that they can come back and there are good jobs within those communities. The other thing that might change is some of the data where it shows that there's going to be a decrease in those engineers, and businesses are saying, 'No, we don't see that decrease.' That data may dissuade young people from going into those careers if they say, 'Well, by the time I get out, they're not going to be hiring.' How do we balance that data with reality in some of the areas?" | Central |