Solutions For Closing The Gap From Classroom To Career

I participated in a groundbreaking Business Education Jam back in Autumn 2014. This was a massive digital discussion on how to close the growing gap between classroom and career involving nearly 6000 thought leaders, academics, students, researchers and executives from 122 countries, over 40 industries and 350 academic institutions. 

Boston University School of Business in collaboration with IBM have just published a report summarising the key themes from over 6000 posts in 10 forums. Here are the 8 critical questions arising (the report summarises the common responses to each question):

1. How can business education enhance value for students, employers, and the world?
2. How can management research that originates in business schools drive insights for industry?
3. How will technology continue to challenge the model of business education?
4. How will policy, accreditation, and rankings influence the development of business education and business?
5. How can academia and industry collaborate to make sure that students develop critical leadership and management competencies?
6. How will industry and business education tap the potential of millennials?
7. How can ethical leadership be fostered across business education and industry?
8.  What roles should b-schools and industry play in developing the next generation of entrepreneurs and innovators?

Here's an overview of the high level solutions outlined in the report:

A Roadmap For Business Schools

There was consensus around three actions: 

• Value -  make the business school experience worth the time and the price tag
• Real-world relevance - knock down the ivory tower and extend b-schools’ reach
• Differentiation - stand out in order to stand strong amidst disruption

21st Century Competencies

How can students acquire the 21st Century competencies they need? Two approaches emerged:

• Broadening horizons through curriculum, including more academia-industry collaborations
• Increasing emphasis on experiential learning

Millennials

How can the challenges of educating, engaging and developing Millennials be addressed? Solutions included:

• Integrating digital technology with business curriculum
• Adopting reverse mentoring in business
• Trying intrapreneurship.

Tomorrow's Leaders

What should tomorrow's leaders look like? Solutions included:

• Integrating ethics
• Promoting entrepreneurial skills and thinking both inside and outside of the classroom
• Fostering leadership rather than teaching it

It's well worth downloading the report and exploring it in more detail. I think it will interest a far wider audience than business educators. It is a mine of fascinating ideas and thinking from a wide spectrum of stakeholders. They recognise that existing in complex and rapidly-changing contexts requires innovative and sometimes radical solutions. 

Do the solutions go far enough? Is it time for educational institutions to reinvent their organisations? Will this be driven by necessity, desire or a mix of both? The gauntlet has been laid down and the extent and speed of the response remains to be seen.

What are your ideas and thinking for closing the gap between classroom and career?

If you liked this post, please share it and click the FOLLOW button above to get more! Or consider subscribing to my mailing list at www.learningtoleap.co.uk

David (@David_Shindler) is an independent coach, blogger and speaker, associate with several consultancies, founder of The Employability Hub (free resources for students and graduates), author of Learning to Leap: a guide to being more employable, Digital Bad Hair Days and co-author with Mark Babbitt of 21 Century Internships. His commitment and energy is in promoting lifelong personal and professional development and in tackling youth unemployment. He works with young people and professionals in education and business.

To read more of his work - visit the Learning to Leap blog.

And check out his other published articles on LinkedIn:

The Multiplier Opportunity In The Generation Game

Culture: The Quantified Self And The Qualified Self

Purposeful Leadership To Create The Life Of Meaning

The Uber Effect: Opportunities For Job Seekers And Employers

Hierarchies are tumbling as Social soars

The Emergence of the Holistic Student

New Graduates: Following Is A Rehearsal For Leading

How Redefining Success Helps You Succeed

Why Developing Yourself Is A Matter Of Life And Death

Generation Now: The Imperative Of Intercultural Skills

#If I Were 22: Choose Insight Before Hindsight

How To Align Talent, Careers and Performance

Liberating The Talents Of All Your Employees

6 Professional Practices for Job And Career Searching