Forced to Pick a Major in High School Debra Humphreys, a spokeswoman for the Association of American Colleges and Universities, called high-school majors “a colossally bad idea,” saying youngsters should instead concentrate on developing a broad range of critical thinking and communication skills. “Today’s economy requires people to be constantly learning and changing,” Ms. Humphreys said. “A lot of jobs that high school students are likely to have 10 years from now don’t yet exist, so preparing too narrowly will not serve them well.” Despite such naysayers, a number of school districts around the country are experimenting with high school majors, an outgrowth of the popular “career academies” that have become commonplace nationally, and in New York City, over the past decade. But while many career academies simply add a few courses to a broad core curriculum, majors require individual students to make a more serious commitment to a particular educational path.
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Forced to Pick a Major in High School

Debra Humphreys, a spokeswoman for the Association of American Colleges and Universities, called high-school majors “a colossally bad idea,” saying youngsters should instead concentrate on developing a broad range of critical thinking and communication skills.

“Today’s economy requires people to be constantly learning and changing,” Ms. Humphreys said. “A lot of jobs that high school students are likely to have 10 years from now don’t yet exist, so preparing too narrowly will not serve them well.”

Despite such naysayers, a number of school districts around the country are experimenting with high school majors, an outgrowth of the popular “career academies” that have become commonplace nationally, and in New York City, over the past decade. But while many career academies simply add a few courses to a broad core curriculum, majors require individual students to make a more serious commitment to a particular educational path.

If you can sustain your interest in what you’re doing, you’re an extremely fortunate person. What you see very frequently in people’s professional lives, and perhaps in their emotional life as well, is that they lose interest in the third act. You sort of get tired, and indifferent, and, sometimes, defensive. And you kind of lose your capacity for astonishment — and that’s a great loss, because the world is a very astonishing place.

What I feel fortunate about is that I’m still astonished, that things still amaze me. And I think that’s the great benefit of being in the arts, where the possibility for learning never disappears, where you basically have to admit you never learn it.

Milton Glaser, considered by many the greatest graphic designer alive and celebrating his 83rd birthday today, on art, purpose, and the capacity for astonishment. (via explore-blog)

(via npxquynh)

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Stay Employable: Manage Your Knowledge Portfolios for a 21st-Century Career

If you are entering the job market this summer as one of 1.7 million new U.S. graduates with a bachelor’s degree, your education is your best asset — one projected to earn a 12 percent to 22 percent return over your lifetime, even 40 percent or more in some fields. But like a high-performing stock portfolio, your educational investment needs managing. Just as you must continually adjust your portfolio to match personal goals and global changes, you must make a commitment to lifelong learning, starting now.

As you start your job search, you cannot afford to luxuriate very long in your college accomplishments. Now is the time to take a hard look at what you know and what you can do, and then set out to develop the skills you lack. Research shows that to be relevant and employable in the next 10 years, individuals must continually reassess the skills they need and quickly gather the right resources to develop and update these skills.[i]

Here are some ways to get started.

If you’re in college, or happen to be about to graduate, and you’ve been mocked for getting a liberal arts degree, here’s a piece of welcome news: You’re actually in more demand than those who are getting finance and accounting degrees. That’s one of the findings of a new survey of 225 employers issued today by Millennial Branding and Experience Inc. The main takeaway of the survey, at least according to the press release that went out with it, was that there’s a disconnect taking place with regard to internships. While 91 percent of employers think students should have one or two of the temporary, professionally focused positions before they graduate, 50 percent haven’t actually hired any interns in the last six months. Somehow, we don’t think this is going to change either the crush of students looking for internships or the stated desire of employers to hire those who have internships under their belts. More interesting, at least for those of us who got some parental grief over our college choice, was the apparent love being shown for liberal arts majors. Thirty percent of surveyed employers said they were recruiting liberal arts types, second only to the 34 percent who said they were going after engineering and computer information systems majors. Trailing were finance and accounting majors, as only 18 percent of employers said they were recruiting targets.
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If you’re in college, or happen to be about to graduate, and you’ve been mocked for getting a liberal arts degree, here’s a piece of welcome news: You’re actually in more demand than those who are getting finance and accounting degrees. That’s one of the findings of a new survey of 225 employers issued today by Millennial Branding and Experience Inc.

The main takeaway of the survey, at least according to the press release that went out with it, was that there’s a disconnect taking place with regard to internships. While 91 percent of employers think students should have one or two of the temporary, professionally focused positions before they graduate, 50 percent haven’t actually hired any interns in the last six months. Somehow, we don’t think this is going to change either the crush of students looking for internships or the stated desire of employers to hire those who have internships under their belts.

More interesting, at least for those of us who got some parental grief over our college choice, was the apparent love being shown for liberal arts majors. Thirty percent of surveyed employers said they were recruiting liberal arts types, second only to the 34 percent who said they were going after engineering and computer information systems majors. Trailing were finance and accounting majors, as only 18 percent of employers said they were recruiting targets.

theatlantic: Work Is Work: Why Free Internships Are Immoral The Labor Department’s guidelines require that internships must resemble an education rather than a job; that interns cannot work in the place of paid employees; that their their work not be of “immediate benefit” to an employer. If you’ve ever had an unpaid internship, you know that these rules are flouted more routinely than speed limits. But rather than hold up these rules as quixotic laws begging to be violated and laughed at, ask yourself three questions: Is there no overlap between paid and unpaid work at your company? Can you deny that unpaid internships deny to low-income students an experience that many employers consider mandatory? Would a minimum wage salary paid to a handful of students compromise your company’s financial position?  I cannot imagine an honest person with passing knowledge of unpaid internships in America answering any of those three questions “yes.” Work is work, no matter who does it. It ought to be paid. Read more. [Image: Reuters]
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theatlantic:

Work Is Work: Why Free Internships Are Immoral

The Labor Department’s guidelines require that internships must resemble an education rather than a job; that interns cannot work in the place of paid employees; that their their work not be of “immediate benefit” to an employer. If you’ve ever had an unpaid internship, you know that these rules are flouted more routinely than speed limits. But rather than hold up these rules as quixotic laws begging to be violated and laughed at, ask yourself three questions:

  1. Is there no overlap between paid and unpaid work at your company?
  2. Can you deny that unpaid internships deny to low-income students an experience that many employers consider mandatory?
  3. Would a minimum wage salary paid to a handful of students compromise your company’s financial position? 
I cannot imagine an honest person with passing knowledge of unpaid internships in America answering any of those three questions “yes.”

Work is work, no matter who does it. It ought to be paid.

Read more. [Image: Reuters]