1. 800. 973.1177
CAREER CORNER
Training provides the esteem driving today’s workers [By Michael Kinsman] For the past few years, work force development experts have been batting around the phrase “lifelong learning.”
Simply put, that is the belief that no matter
accomplishment, and 78 percent believed
to pay into a government-run fund that would
how smart you are today, or what great skills
education would help them better develop
provide training to workers who wanted it.
and expertise you have developed during
their talents or pursue their interests.” “A well-trained work force is a competitive
your work history, it might not be enough for This is an extremely healthy attitude.
advantage,” Reich said at the time. “But
Anything workers can do to improve
companies, by and large, are not living up to
I’ve heard people scoff at the idea,
themselves means their employers will be
their responsibility to train workers.”
suggesting that their careers would be just
better off.
tomorrow’s work world.
fine without taking remedial steps to expand their horizons. But a new study shows that attitudes are shifting. More than half of adults ages 25 to 60 want to obtain more education, according to a study of more than 1,100 people. The study was conducted for Capella University, a Minneapolis-based online university. That’s a whopping group of about 70 million people.
Reich’s belief was that companies need to Additional education hurts no one, but
invest in the education and training of their
Capella’s study shows it is being embraced
workers to maintain a competitive advantage.
by people we don’t typically think of as college students.
“The smart companies know that,” he said.
Most of us think of college students as being
Now, the Capella study seems to indicate
18 to 22 years old. That’s the traditional view.
that smart adults know that, too.
But those individuals really only comprise 16 percent of the U.S. college population. Since 1970, the number of college students over the age of 25 has nearly tripled. Today,
The study reports that two of the five top
38 percent of the 17.6 million students
motivators to pursue more education are
enrolled in colleges and universities today
focused on career goals: find a new career or
are older than 25.
make more money. Apparently, the message of the work force “One of the big surprises was the mix of
development experts is sinking through.
reasons why people thought it would be beneficial to get more education,” says
In the mid-’90s, former Secretary of Labor
Lyungai Mbilinyi, who authored the study.
Robert Reich tried to put an emphasis on
“We thought that the prospect of a higher
lifelong learning by floating the idea that
income would come out on top - and
the federal government spend an amount
although 71 percent did think additional
equivalent to 1.5 percent of their payroll on
education would help them earn more,
employee training and education.
several intangibles were rated even higher. “Eighty-one percent associated higher education with a personal sense of
PAGE
Companies would receive tax breaks for that investment and any company that didn’t want to train its own work force would be required