Learning a trade a wise choice for many students
Published: August 26, 2010
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A select group of graduates in northeastern Pennsylvania are finding jobs, despite the nation’s depressing employment numbers, according to Karla Porter, director of workforce development and human resources with the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce.
These students have grasped the heady principle that technology is the key to conquering the future. Their ticket to quality work is education at a trade or a technical school.
“The entire process of education is about helping each person to fulfill their human potential,” says Porter. “This fulfillment involves matching the person to the job. Four-year colleges are just not for everyone, but completing a program at a two-year trade and technical school is perfect for many people. These graduates do find very good jobs.”
According to Porter, the American educational system needs to do a much better job of identifying student aptitudes. Successful mastery of technical trades involves matching these aptitudes to careers, and then showing the student that a quality career will be possible so that they channel their intelligence and energy in the appropriate fashion.
She points out that the adults who succeed at technical careers have a somewhat predictable profile. These individuals display an attention to detail, are introverted and analytical, enjoy physical hands-on tasks, and are curious about how things work.
One of the biggest headlines now flowing from the nation’s technical schools concerns the inclusion of females into areas once considered male-only domains.
“It takes a while to change societal attitudes that confine men or women to certain careers,” says Porter. “However, we’re making progress.”
She adds that a growing percentage of technical school graduates go on to earn a bachelor’s degree. This may make them even more valuable to an employer, and better able to compete for promotion.
Technical schools are also poised to help treat America’s epidemic of high school dropouts. Porter says that, after a dropout returns to the educational system and earns a GED, he or she may be perfect candidates to study a trade or technical specialty.
“People are a vessel, and they will be filled up with something,” says Porter. “Few people retreat under a lotus tree and meditate. Their choices determine if the consequences of their life are good or bad.”
On the regional front, Johnson College stands as an example of a technical school where students can earn associate degrees in technologies that include architectural drafting and design, automotive, biomedical equipment, radiology, and veterinary science.
The original mission statement from Orlando S. Johnson in 1918 declared that the school is an institution “where young men and women can be taught useful arts and trades that may enable them to make an honorable living and become contributing members of society.”
This goal has evolved into the school’s current mission that strives to “provide a foundation of education and skills necessary for specialized employment, career advancement and life-long learning.
A survey of Johnson’s 148 graduates in 2009 indicated that almost 80 percent found a job, pursued further education, or joined the military. Employment rates were 100 percent for graduates from automotive technology, 89 percent for electronic technology, 85 percent for electrical construction and maintenance technology, and 80 percent for carpentry and cabinet making.
The recession-plagued class of 2010, with 134 graduates, has so far reported that 56 percent are employed, back in school, or in the military. The placement numbers for some of the most popular majors include 80 percent for computer information technology, 82 percent for electronic technology, and 100 percent for precision machining technology.
Dominick Carachilo, Johnson’s vice president of academic affairs, explains that the school’s most popular majors have shifted from stalwart blue collar standards to highly technical areas. Yet, a few surprises still occur as demonstrated by the fact that the relatively small numbers of graduates in precision machining achieve a 100 percent placement rate.
Interest in automotive technology is also slowing, but this change is the result of evolution within the car business.
“As the use of technology in cars explodes, the trade requires a higher caliber of students,” explains Carachilo. “Car computers are everywhere, and in the case of the new hybrids there is great danger under the hood because of high electrical current.”
America’s booming health-care market is providing the catalyst for another evolution at Johnson. Demand for both medical and veterinary assistants is on the rise, providing the school with the need to host substantial enrollment within the associated technical specialties.
Success in modern technical education involves several qualities, according to Carachilo. Students must be analytical, possess a hands-on disposition, and have the ability to troubleshoot problems quickly.
A prime challenge facing technical schools, in addition to the purchase of new technological equipment as it comes to the market, is the availability of skilled instructors. Carachilo says that these rare individuals must be natural communicators who possess teaching ability and a mastery of their trade or technical area along with the necessary skills, experience and certification. “This is almost the profile of Superman, and it’s very difficult to find,” says Carachilo.
Nina Rehrig, career development specialist at Northampton Community College, agrees that the promotion of technical education often seems like an uphill battle.
“There is no simple answer for parental influences that guide a student to only a four-year education,” says Rehrig. “I have a sense that, as a nation, we may be falling rapidly behind in handling the world’s advancing technology.”
