Texas needs skilled, job-ready workers with two-year degrees say technical college educators, according to a Texas Tribune story in the New York Times.
“Houston, we have a problem, and it’s not that too few people are going to college,” said (Michael) Bettersworth, an associate vice chancellor at the Texas State Technical College System. “It’s that too many people are getting degrees with limited value in the job market.”
As skilled workers retire, employers are seeking new graduates with technical skills.
“It’s not that we don’t need engineers and Ph.D.’s and research scientists,” said Joe Arnold, a government affairs manager with B.A.S.F., a chemical company. “We do, but that’s not all we need. We need skilled craftsmen. We need operators.”
There’s “a misperception in the country that the worst bachelor’s degree is more valuable than the best associate’s degree,” said Mike Reeser, chancellor of the Texas State Technical Colleges.
Tom Pauken, chairman of the Texas Workforce Commission wants to change that idea. “We’ve gotten completely away from the idea that we’ve got different talents and there are different approaches in terms of education.”
Employers are willing to fund job training, said Arnold. “Community colleges are workhorses for us.” But not enough young people are enrolling in job-specific programs. “People know that we need more manufacturing, but they don’t think of those jobs as something they want to send their kids to go do — or to do themselves.”
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[...] Texas needs skilled workers with two-year technical degrees, say educators and employers. A bachelor’s isn’t always better. [...]