The Next Generation for Manufacturing Competitiveness?: Investigating the Influence of Industry-Driven Outreach on Child
- PDF / 1,467,478 Bytes
- 27 Pages / 439.37 x 666.142 pts Page_size
- 61 Downloads / 161 Views
The Next Generation for Manufacturing Competitiveness?: Investigating the Influence of Industry-Driven Outreach on Children Career Perceptions Greg J. Strimel 1 Sascha Harrell 3
& Liesl
Krause 1 & Lisa Bosman 1 & Sydney Serban 2 &
# Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Abstract Manufacturing is considered one of the major economic drivers in the United States. However, a challenge for manufacturing competitiveness can be the negative perception of the industry held by children, and society as a whole, which may make them reluctant to pursue manufacturing careers and fulfill the projected workforce demands. Accordingly, there have been a number of talent pipeline initiatives to address the issues related to (1) the availability of a skilled workforce, (2) the preparation of students for the jobs of tomorrow, and (3) teacher access to the tools necessary to inspire children to pursue high-demand career pathways. While these industry-driven outreach initiatives are often developed with the best intentions, research attempts focused on better understanding the influences of these initiatives on children’s perceptions of manufacturing-related careers are necessary. Therefore, this study focused on investigating the career perceptions of children (Grades K-8) and the influence of an industry-led summer camp focused on robotics in manufacturing. To do so, data were collected from career-perception surveys and a “Draw-A-Manufacturer” test, which were administered before and after the camp experience. The influences of the summer camp on the participants’ career perceptions and interests are presented and used as a foundation for discussions and recommendations for developing outreach initiatives and preparing children for the future of work. Keywords Manufacturing education . STEM outreach . Career perceptions . Industry-
education partnerships
* Greg J. Strimel [email protected] Extended author information available on the last page of the article
Journal for STEM Education Research
Introduction Manufacturing continues to be considered the backbone of economic growth in the United States (Rosendin & Gielczyk, 2018). By the year 2025, due to retirements, economic expansion, and changes in skillsets needed for advanced manufacturing, it is projected that nearly 3.5 million manufacturing jobs will be open and available (The Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte 2015). However, based on an analysis of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte (2015) predict that approximately 2 million of these jobs will go unfilled, because of an insufficient supply of skilled workers. This concern is often touted as a result of a widening “skills gap” (National Association of Manufacturers 2019) which is connected to the belief that students leaving high school and/or college do not typically possess much, if any, of the experiences and skills necessary to qualify for employment in this sector (Adecco 2014; McMenamin 2015). Accordingly, there have been a number of education and/or talen
Data Loading...
