Employers skeptical of schooling

Briefing about 100 government officials and members of the press in Washington Tuesday, two University researchers discussed the National Employer Survey they conducted to examine workforce quality and organization. The study, which examines the overall structure of private companies and how business managers feel about their employees' abilities, suggests that an increasing number of employers are skeptical about the education of college and high school graduates. The study was conducted last fall by Education Professor Robert Zemsky, director of the Institute for Research on Higher Education, Management Professor Peter Cappelli and Tufts University Law Professor Lisa Lynch. It was designed by the National Center on the Educational Quality of the Workforce. After completing the first analysis of the survey -- administered by the Bureau of the Census and sponsored by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement within the Federal Department of Education -- Center officials described the survey as a "reality check." What many analysts and officials from agencies such as the Departments of Education and Labor findmost startling and worrisome about the study's findings is what they reveal about the relationship between academic institutions and employers. Twenty percent of the more than 3,000 managers surveyed said they use four-year colleges or universities to train their employees. But 50 percent said they rely on equipment suppliers or buyers as outside sources of training. Employers also said that when deciding who to hire they consider an applicant's attitude and communication skills most important, while teacher recommendations, the school the applicant attended and his or her grades were listed as least important. But Cappelli cautioned against assuming that the results reveal that schools provide inadequate preparation for the workplace. The managers surveyed represented establishments ranging from International Business Machines to small auto repair shops. According to Cappelli, many of the more competitive firms assume their applicants have basic credentials and look to his or her ability to work in teams or independently and solve problems. The businesses that hire students out of high school have no way to compare schools and can only assess an applicant's personal characteristics, he said. Cappelli added that the statistics reflect the differences between how schools and employers evaluate students.

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