Workforce Preparedness
Future Work Skills 2020: Design Mindset
May 8, 2012 -As discoveries in neuroscience have highlighted how profoundly our physical environments shape cognition, people are learning to represent and develop tasks and work processes for desired outcomes, providing new opportunities to design our world on micro and macro scales, and granting humans unprecedented control over workspaces and the environment. Discover the significance of a design mindset, a key workforce skill.
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Workforce Preparedness
Future Work Skills 2020: New Media Literacy
Apr 30, 2012 -The next generation of workers will use innovative technologies and tools to create new media literacies beyond reading and writing text. As the need to critically comprehend these new modes of communication increases, and the tools for creating them become accessible to all, workers must learn to master the latest techniques for producing content, choose the right medium for their message and audience, and build their online reputation as a provider of trustworthy information. Learn how new media literacy will rewrite the rules for corporate communications.
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Workforce Preparedness
Future Work Skills 2020: Novel and Adaptive Thinking
Apr 20, 2012 -Routine tasks will be increasingly automated and outsourced. Increasing global connectivity and the rise of smart machines and systems will put a premium on skills that allow workers to respond quickly and adaptively to unfamiliar circumstances. Because computers cannot easily learn insight, creativity. and situational adaptability, workers will need to develop these skills to be successful in a volatile, unpredictable future. Learn how novel and adaptive thinking will help workers solve crises without resorting to rote, rule-based responses.
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Metro Area Studies
Life in the 21st-Century Workforce: Metro-Area Studies
Apr 13, 2012 -The Life in the 21st-Century Workforce study, a multi-city research study conducted by Apollo Research Institute, explores employer and worker perceptions across a range of business, career, and work-related topics. Significant common themes emerge in each metro-area report. For example, both workers and employers affirm that the workplace today demands a complementary set of skills, with higher and more sophisticated levels of educational attainment and technical expertise balanced by strong interpersonal communication and teamwork skills. Find out what this multi-city study says about the role of education and skills in today’s workplace.
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Workforce Preparedness
Future Work Skills 2020: Cognitive Load Management
Apr 2, 2012 -As ubiquitous sensors and massive processing power channels ever more data into workers' lives, they will need the ability to filter this information for importance. Managing cognitive capacity via a variety of tools and techniques will help ensure this influx of data is an asset rather than a hindrance. Skilled use of social networks, data visualization tools, and behavioral training applications will keep the workplace from succumbing to a culture of interruption. Learn how cognitive load management, a key future workforce skill, will keep data-swamped workers afloat.
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Workforce Preparedness
Future of Work
Mar 29, 2012 -Work is becoming more volatile and unpredictable. Value increasingly flows between individuals rather than centralized institutions. Individuals are moving toward a world of rapidly shifting ad hoc working arrangements. Much like Hollywood movie productions, work projects will increasingly involve a diverse cross-section of people brought together for the purposes of a project and then dispersed again at its completion. The changes to the work environment are dramatic. To prepare for the future, individuals and organizations must understand these changes. Understand seven key forces that are reshaping the landscape of work.
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Workforce Preparedness
Future Work Skills 2020: Cross-Cultural Competency
Mar 5, 2012 -In a globally connected world where skill sets can be accessed in many environments and locations, future workers will need the ability to operate in a wide variety of cultural settings. This demands more than specific content knowledge, but also adaptability to changing circumstances . Managing diversity will become a core competency for organizations over the next decade, and successful employees must be able to build relationships with workgroups comprising members of different origins, ages, and work practices. Learn how cross-cultural competency makes diversity into a driver of innovation.
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Workforce Preparedness
Future Work Skills 2020: Sense-Making
Feb 15, 2012 -Smart machines will take over routine manufacturing and service jobs, but demand will rise for workers with the higher-level thinking skills computers have yet to master. The ability to determine the deeper meaning or significance of what is being expressed will help these workers create unique insights that are critical to decision making, and understand human systems well enough to project the impact of changes in underlying motivations or approach. Learn how sense-making will become a key trait for a successful career.
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Workforce Preparedness
Future Work Skills 2020: Social Intelligence
Feb 8, 2012 -The mainstreaming of social networking platforms has invited people to think in new ways about their relationships and how to cultivate them. The ability to connect with others in a deep and direct way, to sense and stimulate reactions and desired interactions, will prepare people for careers in which virtual workgroups collaborate and create without ever having met, interpersonal skills and empathy become key traits, and cultural divides are crossed with ease. Learn how social intelligence will become a basic component of a successful career.
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Healthcare Education and Careers
Critical Conditions: Preparing the 21st-Century Nursing Workforce
Feb 2, 2012 -Healthcare reform, the aging American population, advances in medical technology, and the need for more nurses with advanced degrees have led the profession to a crossroads. In response, Apollo Research Institute convened nursing thought leaders for a panel discussion hosted by The Chronicle of Higher Education. Learn what solutions nurse executives, industry advocates, educators, and researchers offer for the current nursing shortage and crisis in nursing education.
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Workforce Preparedness
Future Work Skills 2020: Virtual Collaboration
Jan 27, 2012 -Virtual collaboration, the ability to work productively, drive engagement, and demonstrate presence as a member of a virtual team, is becoming an essential workforce skill. One reason is the changing nature of work itself. Many work tasks require contributions from multiple people, often located in different places, some overseas. Technologies are also enabling division of work into micro-tasks that can be performed by an ad hoc team that can be easily assembled “in the cloud.” In response, many Fortune 500 companies are already partially or entirely eliminating traditional office spaces. Find out how virtual collaboration may impact the world of work.
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Workforce Preparedness
Future Work Skills 2020: Transdisciplinarity
Dec 19, 2011 -The ability to understand concepts across multiple disciplines is becoming essential to workforce success. But what makes this future skill, called transdisciplinarity, so important to both businesses and employees? What characteristics distinguish transdisciplinary thinking from traditional interdisciplinary thinking? What are the implications of this emerging skill for higher education and the years after formal education? Explore the significance of transdisciplinarity, a key future skill.
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Workforce Preparedness
Asleep at the Wheel: Are College Students and Employers Ready for the Jobs of the Future?
Sep 21, 2011 -Major disruptive shifts in the U.S. economy are predicted to reshape the skills workers will require in the next decade. But college students and employers, exhausted from a persistent economic crisis, may be less likely to explore the changing nature of work. Apollo Research Institute surveyed over 2,500 employers and degree-seeking students to learn what skills they believe will be required for a successful career. Find out if college students and employers are ready for the jobs of the future.
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Nontraditional Students
Reality Check: A Vital Update to the Landmark 2002 NCES Study of Nontraditional College Students
Sep 19, 2011 -Researchers at Apollo Research Institute take a fresh look at a groundbreaking 2002 National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) study that challenged commonly held perceptions about college students. The NCES study reported that 73% of undergraduates in 1999–2000 demonstrated at least one characteristic of nontraditional students, such as delaying college enrollment after high school, working part-time while taking classes, or being financially self-supporting. Find out how the student population has changed since this analysis.
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Higher Education and Military Service
Hiring Heroes: Employer Perceptions, Preferences, and Hiring Practices Related to U.S. Military Personnel
Jul 29, 2011 -Returning veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars need career guidance and training to transition successfully into civilian employment. These veterans are experiencing high unemployment compared to the general population and veterans of previous conflicts. To inform educators, job counselors, and others who help veterans begin or resume careers back home and alert the business and academic communities to the issues facing veterans, Apollo Research Institute published a study addressing a vital question: How do employers’ perceptions of military personnel affect hiring practices?
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Return on Educational Investment
Return on Educational Investment for Specific Academic Degrees
Jul 29, 2011 -Today nearly 3 out of 4 undergraduates demonstrate characteristics of nontraditional students. These students often pay for their own education while employed part- or full-time and are more likely than traditional students to carefully consider the long-term financial value of a college degree. In a series of six studies, Apollo Research Institute scholars provided deeper insights on the return on educational investment for specific academic and professional disciplines. Are degrees in business, computer science/management information systems, healthcare support, nursing, elementary education, and engineering worth the expense?
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Healthcare Education and Careers
Novice Nurse Electronic Health Record Knowledge and Skill Gaps in Acute Care Settings: Preliminary Findings
Jul 28, 2011 -Nurses increasingly need technology skills to use electronic health records (EHRs) in acute care settings. But research shows many nurses enter the workforce without these skills. Read preliminary findings on specific knowledge and skill gaps that must be addressed for novice nurses to use EHRs effectively.
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Higher Education and Military Service
“Top Gun” Institutions of Higher Education: A Military-Focused Educational Profile Separating the Best from the Rest
Jul 27, 2011 -Collaborating with military and educational subject matter experts and students in uniform, researchers at Apollo Research Institute are creating a "top gun" educational rating system to help identify schools best suited to meet service members’ unique needs. Find out more about the “Top Gun” school profile and its benefits to taxpayers, service members, and higher education.
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Workforce Development
Creating Value From HR: The New Credentialed Manufacturing Workforce
Jun 8, 2011 -Manufacturing skill certifications are intended to help validate employee knowledge and job skills, but credentialing standards vary, and their return on value is unclear. In collaboration with The Manufacturing Institute, Apollo Research Institute interviewed manufacturing leaders to measure their perceptions of the skills certification system endorsed by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM). Find out what manufacturing leaders say about the NAM-Endorsed Skills Certification System.
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Skills Gap
Current and Future Language Demands in the Workplace: Proficiencies and Gaps
May 13, 2011 -To expand and compete internationally, American companies need workers proficient in Arabic, Chinese, Russian, and Spanish. Do U.S. workers have the language proficiency skills needed to meet the demands of employers now and in the next 10 years? Apollo Research Institute surveyed nearly 1,000 workers and managers to find out: Are workers ready to conduct business in languages other than English?
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Nontraditional Students
Americans Flunk Quiz About Today's College Students
Apr 28, 2011 -The term “college student” evokes young people living in dorms and parents who pay the tuition and expenses. But rising numbers of older students don’t fit this mold. More and more college students are delaying enrollment until they have entered the workforce or started families. A new Apollo Research Institute survey reveals that Americans are largely unaware of how the undergraduate population has shifted in the 21st century. Read the report to learn why college isn’t just for kids anymore.
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Workforce Preparedness
Future Work Skills 2020
Apr 14, 2011 -Global connectivity, smart machines, and new media are just some of the drivers reshaping how we think about work, what constitutes work, and the skills workers will need to be productive contributors in the future. Learn more from innovative research on future work skills.
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Return on Educational Investment
Traditional and Nontraditional Students: Is a Bachelor’s Degree Worth the Investment?
Mar 24, 2011 -The lifelong financial benefits of a college degree are well established. However, until now most studies have focused on traditional students who begin college directly after finishing high school. Very little research focuses on nontraditional students—working adults who delay college until after age 23. This study looks at the return on educational investment for nontraditional students as well as traditional students. Find out if going back to school for a college degree pays off for working people.
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Workplace Perception Gap
The Great Divide: Worker and Employer Perspectives of Current and Future Workforce Demands
Jan 24, 2011 -American workers and job seekers often don’t see eye-to-eye with the employers who hire them. Researchers at Apollo Research Institute surveyed nearly 1,000 employees and employers in diverse industries about the types of education, skills, and language abilities needed for jobs now and in the next 10 years. Read about the demands of the employment marketplace.
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Tuition Assistance
Bundled Value: Working Learners’ Perceptions of Tuition Benefit Programs
Jan 5, 2011 -U.S. organizations invest more than $16 billion annually in employee tuition benefit programs. But do employees value these benefits? This study examined the perceived value of tuition benefit programs for employees from three Fortune 1000 companies. Findings are based on survey responses from 6,726 current and past tuition benefit program participants. Read what researchers discovered about the influence of educational benefits on working learners’ job loyalty, engagement, marketability and personal growth.
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