Reflections on a flat world

It’s my favorite time of year –graduation. The time of year when young career hopefuls walk across the stage, get kissed and hugged -- then reality sets in.  The numerous applications and hundreds of follow up phone calls go unanswered.  Many find employment at levels far below what they hoped for;  the college youth under-employment rate has been reported at 44% and I suspect it is higher for those in the protected class.

The challenge of developing graduating classes that are agile armed with both hard and soft skills for the dynamic changes in a global economy are daunting.  Yet our best and brightest across the globe, W. E. Dubois’s intellectual elite, are innovating, creating, and charting new paths.  But what about the hard-working, persistent, “will do anything for an opportunity” 90%?  Is meaningful employment just another dream deferred?  How will we as a society prepare our youth for a world that is more productive and in need of less human capital than ever before; how do we help our students change for a time we have not seen?

At Medgar Evers College School of Business, we have been on a Journey from good to great.  It is our goal to help our student’s dream of career readiness and access come true.  Earlier this year we held a retreat with our partners, Customers Bank, alumni, and other stakeholders.  The video below heralds the essence of our spirit, enthusiasm, and tireless fortitude of addressing this challenge.

Good to Great video.

Domestically and around the world, we have worked with scholars who have addressed these and other socio-economic issues.  In April we co-hosted with the Academy of Business and Retail Management a conference with participants from 36 countries. Topics were as varied as a forecast of disruption in higher education to the convergence of liberal arts and career education.  There were many lessons learned – the world is flat – but many will not benefit from changes, in fact, some are already lost.

The April Conference ended with inspiring testimonials from conference participants.  It felt like an old fashion revival-- where you vow to work smarter and engage in new thought leadership of how to make the world a better place for all.

While we have collaborated with many scholars from many countries, we were honored to be invited as keynote speakers to the 1st International SMI School of Business Conference in Karachi, Pakistan.  The theme of the conference was Management, Business, and Leadership.  Faculty, Industry leaders and young student scholars from the country, as well as other places in Europe and Asia, were invited to share research on topics from Social Entrepreneurship to the national brain drain in Pakistan.  As I listened to the eloquent, passionate, presentations of national and global challenges, I continue to marvel at an international academy that has so much work and so little time. 

My time sharing included reflections of global inequality.  The world is flat, but for many of the poor and working poor, it is not better.  I do believe that the “road less traveled” will eventually yield a more equitable and sustainable path for economic growth and -- humanity will thrive – not just survive. How?  It’s the children stupid; they cannot and will not accept the shackles of poverty and destitution. I believe the children will find the answer; in the words of Jesse, “Keep Hope Alive.”

#education #innovation #leadership #economy #global #labor #employment #Pakistan