HINDSIGHT - WRITE SOMETHING WORTH READING ABOUT OR DO SOMETHING WORTH WRITING ABOUT
Friday, January 17, 2020
Americans Rank A Google Internship Over A Harvard Degree
Americans
Rank A Google Internship Over A Harvard Degree
When asked what they
believe would be most helpful for a high school graduate to launch a career,
Americans overwhelmingly recommend an internship at Google (60%) over a degree
from Harvard (40%). This latest finding from research I led at Kaplan (conducted
by QuestResearch Group) is based on a survey of 2,000 U.S. adults conducted in
December. It says an awful lot about the state of affairs in higher education
today.
For many, it will be
hard to fathom that an internship from a highly admired global company wins out
over a full degree from a world-renowned university. But it comes as no
surprise when viewed through the lens of the many public opinion studies done
on higher education over the past several years. I’ve written article after article after article about this. Here’s the summary:
· The
#1 reason
Americans value higher education is to get a good job.
· There
are very few believers in the work readiness of college graduates. Only 13% of U.S. adults, 11% of C-level executives and 6% of college and university trustees strongly agree with
statements about the work readiness of graduates.
· The
poor perceptions about college graduates’ work readiness is backed up by real
evidence as this current generation of college students is the least working in U.S. history and less than 1/3 of grads had a job or internship during college where they
were able to apply what they were learning in the classroom.
· These
factors, along with growing concerns about the affordability of higher
education, have led to a precipitous decline in young Americans’ views about the importance of college which
has dropped by almost 50% in just six years.
In short, Americans
are seeing more value in work experience and on-the-job training and less value
in traditional higher education. They have good reasons behind these views. And
on top of it all, there is ample evidence that the future of work and careers
will require a constant process of life-long education and training in various
forms – putting even more pressure on the traditional four-year degree model.
The recently conducted
research provided some additional insights and nuances that are important to
note. Among those who are parents, when asked about what they prefer for their
own child, the answers were split with 52% preferring a Google internship
versus 48% a Harvard degree. (With an N of 642 parents who have children in the
household, this was not a significant difference.) While parents with children
are less likely to prefer a Google internship compared to the overall general
population, half still chose it over a Harvard degree.
In a separate survey
fielded in mid-November (N of 2,000 U.S. adults), a slightly different question
was asked: “If you had $50,000 to invest in helping your child get a good job,
how would you rather spend it?” Two-thirds would have their child do an
internship at Google for one year (68%) rather than attend Harvard for one year
(32%). This question compared a year’s experience at each rather than a full
degree at Harvard which is most likely why the results are more strongly in
favor of the Google internship. But the interesting insight here is that it
suggests many parents are willing to invest in an internship experience.
This opens a whole new dimension to the talent development marketplace where
one can imagine a world where employers and education partners team up to
provide tuition-based internship programs.
So, what does it mean
for higher education when Americans chose an internship over a degree from the
top-ranked university in the country? Many might see it as a major threat to
higher education. But it’s also a tremendous opportunity. It’s an opportunity
to create an innovative fusion between education and work where higher
education remains relevant but in very different forms. It’s an opportunity for
colleges and universities to go beyond the accredited degree model and expand
into the rapidly growing space of non-degree, certificate and certification
training. And it opens the possibility of new partnership models between
employers and universities that produce interesting variants of
apprenticeships, co-ops, and internships.
There are two ways
higher education can react to the rapidly declining views of the importance of
college. One is to ignore it, hoping it’s just a public opinion cycle that will
swing back. The other is to view it as a mandate and opportunity for change to
become even more relevant than ever before to a wider group of students.
Despite higher education’s historic reluctance to change, the first option of
staying the course is by far the more risky one. Few signals tell us that more
clearly than when Americans vote for internships over degrees.
Thursday, January 16, 2020
Wednesday, January 15, 2020
Tuesday, January 14, 2020
New INC. Magazine Blog Post by Howard Tullman
Starting a Business is Agony. Don't Forget to Enjoy
it.
Maybe
you'll succeed beyond your wildest dreams, or go down in flames. But take time
to appreciate the experience, and especially the people who are sharing it with
you.
General managing partner, G2T3V and Chicago High Tech Investors
Building a business takes quite a while; building one that
is valuable, self-sustaining, and likely to last takes even longer. The process
is always painful, with plenty of bumps in the road, skinned knees, hurt
feelings, and disappointments galore. But it's not without its charms, psychic
and economic rewards, and other satisfactions - not the least of which is that
you think you're working for yourself.
You're not. The truth is that, especially in a startup, you're
working for all kinds of other people as well. That daily reality is both the
amazing benefit and the agonizing burden of entrepreneurship. You're rolling
the dice every day for yourself, your family and friends, your investors, and
your team. That's a lot of responsibility and not something that you get to
"leave at the office" when and if you go home each evening.
But when you look back over the years and each of those
adventures, whether you met with great success or abject failure, there's one
thing that no one can take away from you -- the experience that you lived with,
lived through, and will remember for the rest of your life. It's the part of
the process that we never really value enough and appreciate while we're going
through it, because we're so focused on our immediate concerns --with head down
and tunnel vision. You need to take some time to share and savor the startup
experience while you're living it, because you're unlikely to get a second
chance.
A startup is all about those singular sensations, those
indelible sets of impressions and the often-overwhelming emotions that help to
create and form the lifelong connections that you make with the people who were
there at your side. The folks who weathered the storms and shared the
celebrations, and who became far more like a family than simply friends or
employees. Not your immediate family, and certainly not the current First
Family, but a tight-knit group bound by a shared purpose, a willingness to do
whatever it takes to succeed, and unbreakable cross-commitments.
Make time and room for these people.
They're the people who knew not just the pride of
hard-fought accomplishments, but also the sheer joy that is shared by a team of
talented individuals coming together to build something of beauty and value.
Something that eventually becomes bigger and more important than any of them,
but which would never have existed without the care, kindness, and sacrifices
of each and every one of them.
And when I say "joy", it's almost biblical -- not
merely happiness or "so fun" as the morons today are fond of
saying. I'm talking about a much more important feeling, which isn't
based on the day-to-day events, the immediate situation, or last week's big
"win." If you've been there, you'll know exactly what I'm
talking about and, if not, words alone will never do justice to the longevity
and the power of the experience. As they say in New Orleans about
jazz: if I have to explain it to you, you'll never understand.
This is a serious and purposeful joy -- not a playful one.
The kind of joy that's drawn from a longer-term view combining a substantial
sense of responsibility, some pride in what you're building, and some
expectation that what you build will matter and hopefully make a difference in
people's lives beyond your own. It's the exhilarating anticipation that you're
on the cusp of something great. That's the real joy: a combination of passion,
creation and enthusiasm.
And you know in your heart that these experiences would all
be largely meaningless without the ability to share them every day with your
peers and partners who are right there in the midst of the madness with you.
Say what you will, I assure you that you'll have feelings for these folks that
you'll never have for many others down the line. It's only your first time
once.
Years and even decades later, if you're fortunate enough to
remain in touch, to nourish and retain those early relationships, and to share
the sacred stories, the dim recollections, and the complete fabrications that
always creep into oral histories, you'll comprehend the persistent and magnetic
grasp and continued importance of the culture you built together as well as the
business itself. The war stories and tales of old - true or not - preserve the
culture and allow you to transfer it to new businesses and new people, and to
preserve and protect it for generations to come.
And, much like our real families, it's a powerful
force and feeling that we struggle to embrace and to escape at the same time
because of how it continues long after we leave the nest or the business. Far
too many people today waste their lives in jobs they tolerate or despise and in
joyless, toxic environments where no one smiles, energy and passion are sucked
away, and silent suffering is the order of the day. Every day is Mudville,
Casey isn't coming through, and there's no joy to be found.
So, as you set out on a new year, ask yourself whether
you're in a place you should be, surrounded by people you admire and respect,
doing something important to make a difference, in a supportive environment
where passion, initiative and excitement are valued rather than shunned or
regarded as embarrassing. If you're not, do yourself a big favor and find
something else to do.
We act as though comfort and luxury are the chief
requirements of life, when all that we need to make us really happy is
something to be enthusiastic about.
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