Back to the Future

I am a huge fan of history. Reading, studying and learning about how our great country grew to where it is today is fascinating.  It’s inspiring to see how much has improved for the better, but I also think that in order to build the greatest future for our nation, we need to look back in to our past for some valuable lessons.  

Right now, our education system is failing students – but that wasn’t always the case.  If you look back, the education system in the United States was most effective when institutions, the government and the private sector worked together to educate students to think critically, expand their minds and learn the necessary skills to be successful in life and at work.

For hundreds of years, apprenticeship has been an integral part of a student’s learning experience by transferring skills, expanding the work force, creating a pipeline of smart, dedicated and skilled employees into every industry in America. These include politicians, artisans, researchers, craftsman, manufacturers and engineers, just to name a few. Some of our most important citizens, like Benjamin Franklin, started as apprentices. 

Over time, key disadvantaged groups have been able to benefit and grow from both formal and informal apprenticeships and mentoring opportunities. I was surprised to discover that the US has a Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training.

Students, especially today, need real world experience and a deeper understanding of what it takes to be successful in today’s rapidly changing industries.  They need the foundation their academic institution will provide, as well as real world experience that comes from professionals currently working in industries piquing their interest.  We need to forge a stronger partnership between schools and corporations so students can experience a more holistic approach to education and a more rapid and effective move into their chosen professions.

In the spirit of early America, where people like Paul Revere and Benjamin Franklin went from apprentice to leader, it is time we go back to the future.

Businesses need to work directly with local academic institutions to:

• Build a career and skills-based curriculum to be taught alongside critical thinking curriculum. 
• Invest people and time to create new courses with local colleges or universities that focus on success in the workplace.
• Offer paid internship opportunities to students who take those courses so they can learn, firsthand, the skills they need to be successful.

As we have seen through our history, if we do this, we will develop legions of smart, skilled and loyal citizens and employees who will make a faster and stronger impact on our economy.

I’d like to call on all companies to invest time, people and expertise as well as develop formal programs for mentorships and internships.  Start in your own backyard; reach out to academic institutions within a 50-mile radius of your business to help build the skills-based classes and formal internships to support the open positions in your company.   By doing this, you will create a pipeline for skilled interns and future employees.

Go beyond your local institutions and consider your alma mater or any college you have a relationship with and take the risk to help businesses and students thrive.  I am thrilled to announce a partnership my company, Chegg, is working on with Colgate University.  This year, Colgate will launch a new class that is a mix of computer science and entrepreneurship.  Colgate faculty will teach students during a 7-week course this spring on “technology and disruption.”  This course will be preparation for a variety of internships that Colgate students will complete over the summer in the Bay Area.   Students will be exposed to real life business issues, see what it is like to work at a growth company and receive a paid summer internship opportunity with a Silicon Valley company.  Through meetings over the summer at the Chegg headquarters and meetings with Silicon Valley executives, students will have the opportunity to integrate their classroom learning with their internship experiences in innovative companies.

It’s exciting for Chegg that a top ranked liberal arts institution like Colgate, located in upstate New York, is focused on adding computer science and entrepreneurship classes that prepare students for real world experience, paid internships and even a chance to raise seed capital for their students to start businesses in their local community.

It is this kind of forward thinking and risk taking on behalf of students that can make a huge impact on our economy quickly.

This country works best when individuals are critical thinkers, possess necessary workplace skills and have apprenticeship opportunities.   

We need to bring back that commitment.  

Let’s start paving that road locally to make an impact nationally.  We need to go back to the future.

Please send us the best ideas and examples you are seeing between public and private institutions and companies so we can spread the word.