NOTE: This research is a component of the Arkansas Department of
Education’s High School Redesign initiative. Research shows that
the level of readiness needed to enter jobs offering a livable wage is
not lower than that needed for college. High schools are failing to prepare
too many of our students for work and higher education. Arkansans needs
to demand that all high school students graduate on-time and ready for
college. It is important for the future of each and every student; it
is important for Arkansas to improve our economy; and it is important
for us as a nation to be competitive in today’s global economy.
Background
In May of 2006, the Arkansas Department of Education conducted two focus
groups, with the goal of exploring the needs of Arkansas business leaders
with regards to hiring Arkansas high school graduates. Some of the themes
explored in the research were skills perceived to be lacking in the recent
high school graduates, current workforce needs and overall perceptions
of recent high school graduates.
The first group of 10 participants was conducted in Little Rock, and
the second group of 12 participants was conducted in El Dorado. Participants
were human resource professionals and business leaders from the respective
communities. Additionally, participants came from both large and small
businesses, as well as privately owned and government organizations.
Results
55.5% of respondents stated that recent American public high school graduates
with no further education or formal training are either “not too
well prepared” or “not well prepared at all” to enter
the workforce.
The skills that Arkansas employers are looking for can be broken down
into two categories – hard skills and soft skills. Hard skills are
defined as specific skill sets useful for specific job types. In this
report the hard skills discussed are writing, math, science, computer
skills and reading comprehension. Soft skills are defined as everyday
life/social skills and in this report will include work ethic, verbal
and nonverbal communication, attendance, interview abilities and attitude,
among others.
If and when hard skills were discussed, they were talked about in terms
of the applied sense. The complaints of the business leaders were dominated
by soft skills. As one employer said, “We want somebody who shows
up on time, somebody who works hard and someone who’s trainable.”
In both focus groups, the complaints and concerns of employers were dominated
by soft skills. Many participants expressed extreme frustration with entry-level
employees’ lack of soft skills. Additionally, many participants
expressed the willingness to train employees in whatever hard skills necessary,
if only the graduates would exhibit most of the soft skills listed below.
For example, when participants were asked, “Which is more often
the cause when a recent high school graduate is struggling with work?”
57% of participants responded that the employee “lacks motivation/has
distractions/not applying themselves,” as compared to 10.5% who
responded that the graduate “lacks skills/was not
adequately prepared.”
Soft Skills: Attendance
Attendance was the number one soft skill brought up in the focus groups.
Employers expressed great frustration with getting employees to show up
to work on time or to even show up to work at all. A verbatim comment
representative of most of the participants’ attitudes towards the
soft skill of attendance is,
“They [employees with a high school degree and no further training]
can’t get to work on time, they won’t pick up the phone and
call their supervisor … I would say that 95% of the people who either
terminate themselves or get terminated, it’s because of attendance.”
Soft Skills: Decorum/Demeanor/Personal Presentation
Many of the participants were baffled at the behavior and lack of professionalism
in entry-level employees (including a lack of appropriate workplace behavior
and poor interview techniques). This was a frequent theme in the focus
groups. Some verbatim comments include:
· “We shouldn’t be teaching attitude. When we see
a lot of young people coming in, we just try to teach them to be nice.
That’s a challenge.”
· “They don’t know how to present themselves professionally
in speech or dress. And that’s a big problem for us now.”
· “I’ve talked to so many of my managers; and they
feel like they are parents, parenting kids, trying to reprimand them,
discipline them. If you are a supervisor, you spend a lot of time doing
that, instead of teaching them their job or helping them advance their
skills.”
Soft Skills: Work Ethic/Habits
78% of respondents stated that they are either somewhat dissatisfied or
very dissatisfied with the job that high schools are doing in preparing
students in the area of work habits.
Focus group participants communicated their strong opinion that recent
high school graduates have a poor work ethic and/or poor work habits.
Some verbatim comments include:
· “A lot of the problems we have focus on general work ethic
… staying focused and staying on task.”
· “They [recent high school graduates with no further education]
don’t come motivated. They want you to hand it to them on a silver
platter and not ask them to do a heck of a lot for it.”
· “These kids just don’t know what it’s like
to work, to be successful at work. They just don’t have a clue.”
· “If you [entry level employees] have that work ethic, you
have that basic skill, if you are trainable, I can do something with you.
I want you.”
Real World Experience: A Solution to the Soft Skill Problem?
When asked if providing real world experiences, such as internships and
service learning, would encourage students to work harder and be better
prepared for life after high school, 100% of the respondents stated that
this would greatly improve or somewhat improve students’ workforce
performance.
The ability to express one’s self on paper came up time and time
again in the focus groups. Many of the focus group participants expressed
dissatisfaction with recent high school applicants’ ability to express
thoughts and communicate in written form. In fact, 10 out of the 10 Little
Rock focus group participants agreed that the ability to read and write
is a major problem with recent high school graduates. The participants’
concerns regarding recent high school graduates’ writing skills
can be summed up by one participant’s comment, “I guess the
biggest factor I can see in preventing me from keeping these kids is they
just can’t flat read and write.”
Hard Skills: Math
76.3% of respondents stated that less than half of the recent high
school graduates who apply for jobs in their company have the ability
to do math.
Many of the employers sought stronger math skills, especially those employers
coming from industry and the technology sector. In particular, many of
the participants suggested that graduates need more skills in applying
math to real world situations. Some of the verbatim comments include:
· “Math skills, the kids need to learn how to apply that
[math skills] in real life situations.”
· “[They lack] basic math skills.”
Hard Skills: Science
47.3% of respondents stated that they were somewhat dissatisfied or
very dissatisfied with the science skills of recent high school graduates.
Science skills did not come up as frequently as reading, writing and math.
Though many employers acknowledged its importance, they also noted that
many of the applicable science skills could be taught on the job.
Hard Skills: Reading Comprehension
63.2% of respondents stated that they are either somewhat dissatisfied
or very dissatisfied with recent high school graduates’ preparedness
in the area of reading and understanding complicated materials.
According to the focus group participants, reading comprehension is perceived
as inadequate in many of the recent high school graduates. As with the
other hard skills, employers discussed the lack of reading comprehension
in the applied sense (e.g., the ability to read and comprehend technical
manuals and employee policy books).
One employer noted, “All of
our tech manuals are now written for the 11th grade and higher. If you
can’t read and comprehend, you are going to struggle advancing …
if you can’t read it and understand … you are limiting your
career.”
Hard Skills: Computer Literacy
79% of participants stated that they are either very satisfied or
somewhat satisfied with recent high school graudates’ preparedness
in the area of computer skills.
All of the participants were undeniably pleased with recent high school
graduates’ level of computer literacy. Many of the participants
expressed that the computer skills of recent graduates often exceeded
their older colleagues. As one employer put it, “These kids coming
out of high school know computers.”
Additional Hard Skills/Themes
In addition to the above areas, the participants suggested the following
hard skills as needed areas of improvement for high school education:
listening and communication skills, development of mechanical aptitude,
problem solving and analytical thinking and emerging technology.
Conclusions:
Many participants expressed the opinion that the problems with recent
high school graduates are not skills that can even be taught in school.
As one participant put it, “this is home training.”
One solution offered by many of the participants is early exposure to
the work environment. Many thought that mentoring or engaging young people
in the professional world would help to teach many of these soft skills.
In fact, 100% of respondents stated that providing opportunities for more
real-world learning, through internships or other opportunities, would
improve or greatly improve entry-level employees.
Additionally, these real-world experiences may promote growth in the area of some of the hard skills. Participants suggested that reading comprehension, applied math and listening and communication skills could all be improved by the early exposure to the work environment.
This research is a component of the Arkansas Department of Education’s
High School Redesign initiative.