Universities play a large role in creating a skilled workforce, according to speakers at ‘The Forum for the 21st Century: Shaping Boston’s Future’ yesterday at the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum.
Collaboration among local universities, government officials, businesses and communities is crucial to developing the kind of workforce that can meet the needs of Boston’s rapidly accelerating economy, the expert panel said to an audience made up mostly of CEOs, educators and policy makers.
The guest of honor, Dr. Martha Kanter, president of De Anza College in Cupetino, Calif., shared her story of success, which included preparing the college’s 26,000 students for careers in information technology, engineering and the arts and sciences.
‘Workforce development is a core shared mission of community colleges, universities, business, labor and community-based organizations,’ Kanter said, attributing California’s success in generating a skilled workforce to collaboration. ‘Community colleges and adult education has worked out partnerships there over a long period of time.’
Applying Kanter’s collaboration theory to Boston, Massachusetts AFL-CIO President Robert Haynes said, ‘We need to focus on long-term skills training people for good jobs with living wages by improving adult education. It should be a right.’
It is essential to begin designing curriculums within the industries they serve, added Janice Bourque, executive director of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council.
‘It is important to maintain a flexibility of approaches that can meet the needs for different types of training,’ she said.
Bourque also said schools should collaborate with one another as they adjust their curricula and training programs to correspond with the changing job market.
‘Different schools at different levels should be excelling at different areas of expertise,’ she said. ‘We need to match the demand and the supply and build on the curriculum within the industry.’
Employers and industry leaders must approach schools and work with them to keep students aware of what career opportunities are available in the area, she added.
CEO of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts Darnell Williams noted CEOs and other business leaders are fundamental partners in this call for collaboration because they are ‘on the front line.’
‘We deal with the first rung of the career ladder,’ he said. ‘We have a critical responsibility within the industry because we deal day to day with the values of the community.’
Speaking as the representative of the legislature, Rep. Peter Larkin, house chairman of the Joint Committee on Education, Arts and Humanities for the Massachusetts Legislature, said all employers, residents and future employees need to engage in ‘life learning.’ Emphasizing the need for adult education, he noted curricula within many community colleges do not match workforce needs.
‘Our society’s way of life is underpinned by our education system,’ Larkin said.
According to Haynes, the bottom line is the need for leadership someone to take issues by the reins and find the resources and support necessary to create a community prepared for the future. The business community should be at the forefront of this effort, he suggested.
‘If we don’t step up to the plate, we’re going to be in a third-world state of another generation,’ he said.
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