Higher Education and American Talent

In a recent interview with Bloomberg Radio, Lumina Foundation CEO Jamie Merisotis discussed his new book “America Needs Talent.” The book discusses Attracting, Educating and Deploying the 21st Century Workforce. He and the interviewers discussed closing the gap between the Haves and the Have Nots. In the past, our elite American education system along with American ingenuity and progressive immigration policy, provided the workforce the country needed.

Currently, our system is not generating enough skilled and educated individuals to fill all the jobs. Most of the jobs of the 21st Century require education beyond a high school diploma. There are 2 million jobs in our economy that could be filled if we had the people with the skills to match requirements. Talent is what’s going to make all the difference for our nation in this young century. Attracting, educating and deploying talent is the key. The skills required to be employable and adaptable in this new paradigm is the ability to be a critical thinker, problem solver and communicator. These skills will allow workers to adapt to this constantly changing job market. These are the durable skills that can be used across all disciplines and fields that make better employees, supervisors and executives.

The interview touched on a whole lot more. Some great information. The challenge is for entrepreneurs and educators to work together to find solutions for the new century workforce.

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