Future of Higher Ed

The Millennial Preparedness Survey questioned 3,000 respondents across nine audiences and examined skills, traits, use of technology, workplace attitudes and expectations, along with opinions of executives about millennials and vice versa, and much more. The survey identified a number of solutions to alleviate the preparedness problem and found high levels of agreement among different stakeholders on those solutions. But the study also highlights a lack of consensus in how stakeholders actually define preparedness and views vary on which skills are needed.

It’s no secret that the rising cost of student debt is a growing national crisis: the latest numbers suggest that seven of 10 college seniors last year graduated in debt; the total student loan burden in America today currently tops $1.2 trillion, a number that has tripled in the last decade, and at an interest rate of up to 12 percent.

Ensuring that bright, promising, talented women and minorities are able to live up to their career potential is a serious issue that one might say borders on a movement. And removing any obstacles or barriers that might be in their way, from student to CEO, has been proven to be in the best interest of the businesses that hire them after graduation — diversity does wonders for a bottom line.

But, what about before those students even reach college?

For most college students, “market demand” is a term reserved for business courses. At Bentley University, it took on a different role, informing two new majors — Professional Sales and Creative Industries — that answer employer demand for skilled professionals. The move marks Bentley as the only major university in the northeast U.S. offering an undergraduate major in the field of professional sales.

Higher education has taken a hit lately for not preparing graduates for a successful career. Arguments are flying that graduates walk across the stage with degrees that have left them ill-equipped for today’s complex workplace. In particular, employers are disillusioned by their inability to relate to and manage millennials. It would be easy to dismiss this as a generational gap, or millennials not understanding the realities of the workplace, but the story is more complicated.

Respondents to the PreparedU Project research study identified four top initiatives that, along with a commitment to lifelong learning, can help millennials prepare for workplace success. As a result, we now launch a seven-week series on Careers of the Future and how millennial students can prepare for them. We begin with an overview by Susan Brennan, executive director of career services.