linguistic structures - Professor Binkert's Webpage - Oakland ...

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example, students often think that it will be impossible to get a job in a specific discipline unless
they study that discipline in depth in college. They cannot, for instance, become a manager unless
they are a business major. Actually, careers often have little to do with specific majors in college.
The Employee Benefits Research Institute, reports that the average tenure for all wage and salary
workers age 25 or older was 5.2 years in 2010, compared with 5.0 years in 1983 (www.ebri.
org/publications, Vol 31, No 12, 2010). That means that in the United States for nearly three
decades workers generally stayed at the same job for about 5 years. As a result, if individuals work
for 50 years, they can expects to have about 10 different jobs during their working careers. Different
sources report slightly different statistics, but surfing the internet clearly shows that frequent job and
career change is the norm in today’s market.
Such change is in stark contrast to the situation in the past when individuals not only kept the same
job for their entire lives but also had the same job as their parents and grandparents whether they be
policemen, farmers, teachers, doctors, coal miners, etc. Nowadays, on the other hand, people can
expect to change not only the company they work for but actually the type of work they do, that is,
change their careers. Thus, one of the first things students should consider in choosing a program
of study is finding one that can provide them with the skills to be adaptable, flexible, and mobile in
a global and unpredictable economy. It is unlikely that the job a student finds after graduation will
be directly linked to the course content of a specific undergraduate major.
Problem Solving Skills Needed for the Workplace
What exactly are the skills that will prepare a student to be adaptable, flexible, and mobile? One
way to answer that question is to look at the kinds of skills that various employers look for. Again,
surfing the internet, one finds that employers across the board look for many of the same skills in
their employees. Chief among these skills is the ability to solve problems. For example, one survey
of 301 executives in Fortune 1000 companies found that 99% of the executives think that the ability
to solve problems and to think critically is either an absolutely essential or very important skill for
college and career readiness (The MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: Preparing Students for
College and Careers, 2011, p. 21).
Other studies also emphasize the importance of creative problem-solving skills. “Employers know
that in business, the chessboard changes daily. As soon as we think all is fine, the economy changes
or the competition makes a surprise move and the company’s own strategy must change,” said Mark
Stevens, author of Your Marketing Sucks (Crown Business, 2003) and CEO of MSCO, a global
marketing firm. “A person who gets locked into a set way of doing things finds it difficult or
impossible to adjust. They are a drag on the business as opposed to an asset for it. [An employee
must know] how to tackle challenges and opportunities in a way no one will find in a textbook.”
(CNN: Top 10 Reasons Employers Want to Hire You, Rachel Zupek, www.CareerBuilder.com,
2011).
A multitude of sources including magazine articles, newspapers, on-line reports, scholarly papers,
and books all suggest that critical thinking and problem solving skills are essential for success in