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Creating a talent pipeline equipped to enter an innovative workforce will require education reform to channel students toward skill-building opportunities and employer buy-in to provide those opportunities, said panelists at the Indiana Technology & Innovation Association conference at Rally Tuesday.
State Rep. Bob Behning said Indiana is headed in that direction and the goal is to steer students toward hands-on, skills-focused training, which he calls “earn and learn,” compared to a traditional education track of “sit and get,” where students attend lectures in pursuit of a diploma.
He detailed that state’s recent efforts to “reinvent high school,” including a diploma overhaul and expansion of career technical education opportunities. This model is inspired by what Hoosier government, education and business leaders saw when visiting Switzerland to investigate its apprenticeship program, he said.
“Our structure is not like Switzerland,” he said. “So it’s going to take us a little bit longer, or maybe not longer, but we have to read and design it in a little bit different way.”
Overall, the state needs to do a better job of career coaching, Behning said. That could be expanded through apprenticeships and job shadowing.
Ivy Tech President Sue Ellspermann said the lines between earning a degree and establishing skill competencies need to blur so as to meet both the needs of traditional education and the modern (and future) workforce.
She called her college a “workforce engine” because of its swath of programs across the state and how Ivy Tech offers certifications that connect students and employers in career-focused relationships.
David Becker, First Internet Bank CEO and chairman, said apprenticeships increase students’ connectivity to the workforce as well as an awareness of how they can gear their education toward a career path.
“This is our shot, and we have to take it,” Becker said. “It’ll help Indiana. It’s going to help everybody. There’s no losers.”
Panelists noted that young people already have an understanding have of technology, giving them insights into the future economy. But they need work experience to turn those insights into a career.
“It doesn’t matter if they want to go into a tech job, their job is going to be a tech job,” Nextech President Karen Jung said. “There will be some element where they are going to be required to use technology.”
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Bob Behning, the one man wrecking ball of the Indiana educational system. We should all give him his flowers.
We are doing this in Grant County! Beginning this month, a local business is training high school juniors in different areas (coding, logistics, etc), the students are taking online college courses through Taylor University, and they will graduate high school WITH their associate’s degree and a job offer!