Preparing Students for the 21st Century Workforce

Discover how New Jersey’s colleges and universities are delivering programs for students who will undergo multiple job changes in their career paths.

One hundred years ago, individuals who completed a college degree obtained the ticket to a white-collar job and – with the exception of the Great Depression in 1929 – people worked for the same employer for their entire working lives, retiring with a pension and a gold watch in recognition of career-long loyalty. The place of the college degree and the volatility of the labor market have changed dramatically since those days, according to Dr. Benjamin Rifkin, university provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Fairleigh Dickinson University.

“Students graduating with a bachelor’s degree in the 2020s can expect to work at close to two dozen jobs over the course of their careers, with five to six of those job changes actually constituting career changes,” Rifkin notes. “Moreover, many students graduating from college these days will soon find themselves working in jobs that simply didn’t exist while they were in college.” 

Today’s students want to use the skills they learned in college in their jobs. Employers who don’t meet these expectations are often experiencing a high turnover rate among these Gen Z employees. Meanwhile, employers who do meet these expectations are finding that they can keep employees longer than their competitors. “At Fairleigh Dickinson, we are working to integrate career advising and career readiness in all our academic programs, and have added new programs to meet the need, such as master’s programs in healthcare administration and nursing, and new minors for communications majors in social media and advertising.” 

As part of its strategic planning implementation, Hoboken-based Stevens Institute of Technology will launch a new core curriculum in fall of 2024 – the Stevens Undergraduate Core Curriculum: Essential Skills for Success (SUCCESS). It will provide incoming students with courses that ensure their education is relevant to the 21st century’s digital economy, allowing them to be well-versed in their field of study, yet be able to develop both creative thinking skills and the ability to communicate ideas clearly. Areas of study will include leadership and ethics, global citizenship, communications, entrepreneurship, technological literacy and diversity, equity, and inclusion.

“It is important that education be both relevant in academic majors and in essential soft skills to succeed in business today,” comments Dr. David Zeng, vice provost for academic innovation and faculty affairs at Stevens, who worked with members of the faculty, staff, and administrators to develop SUCCESS. “As part of our effort, we coordinated with several stakeholders during the process, including Stevens’ alumni, and academic and business leaders, to assess where the gaps may be lacking, yet are necessary to accelerate career success and growth,” Dr. Zeng says.

Students are required to take a “First-Year Experience Course” and foundation classes such as computing, writing, entrepreneurship, leadership, and ethics. Additionally, they will take what are known as “Frontiers of Technology” courses that explore current and emerging technologies such as AI and machine learning, data science and analytics, biotechnology, quantum technology, and sustainability. 

Incoming freshmen will also benefit from the First-Year Experience Course to help transition from high school to college, including study skills, financial literacy, career exploration, life skills, mental and physical health, and time management.

“This innovation in education will allow students to be better prepared to meet the challenges of the 21st-century business and work environment, and achieve greater success in their career paths, as well as have an important impact on society,” Dr. Zeng states. 

The new business humanities minor at Seton Hall University in South Orange addresses the need for a partnership between the study of business and liberal arts. Previously, students had the choice of taking either a minor in business or in philosophy. Now, the two traditions are integrated, combining both disciplines, allowing students to gain business skills while understanding how liberal arts apply to business management and problem-solving.

“The two minors were always offered separately,” according to Dr. Joyce Strawser, dean and associate professor of accounting and taxation. “Today’s business leaders need to understand finance, economics, technology, and accounting, but they also need to be able to adopt a broader perspective and understand the human side of managing employees, often times in difficult business situations. While the business skills are still paramount, strong leaders will need to acquire the ability to strengthen soft skills, such as communications and resiliency, and possess the ability to pivot.”

Seton Hall’s continuing education program has grown significantly. Today’s working professionals, who received their diploma 10 or even 5 years ago, are finding that a great deal has changed since their undergraduate days. New technological advances, the onset of AI, cybersecurity, and globalization have all led to the importance for continuous improvement of skills. 

“The university has been working to develop continuing education courses that empower graduates to update skill sets they acquired through their undergraduate studies, and build what we call ‘stackable credentials,’” Strawser comments. “Through these new courses, students can obtain certifications that will provide more knowledge, leading to better job opportunities. In addition, students may apply the coursework completed for these certificates to a master’s degree down the road, if they so desire.” 

As health and wellness issues experience an acceleration of growth and change, the pressure for hospitals to keep up and demonstrate outcomes of treatment has become paramount. “There is a growing demand for nurses, physicians, and other sub-specialties to fulfill this need,” according to Dr. Michael Palladino, provost and vice president for academic affairs at Stockton University in Galloway. “Beyond the importance of patient care, there is also the importance of the business of healthcare, including finance, economics, and data collection, and possessing the critical ability to analyze that data.” 

At Stockton, the Bachelor of Science in Health Science continues to grow to meet this need. Students in the major prepare for a range of career options, from entry-level positions in the health services arena, to admission into graduate or professional educational programs in disciplines such as medicine, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, physical and occupational therapies.

Other majors have grown rapidly at Stockton, including hospitality and criminal justice, particularly as the current era of scams and cybersecurity continue to escalate. Esports, another popular major, is an important commodity that is growing, particularly with female students. “Esports is more than just about gaming,” Palladino notes. “The appeal to students is that it is varied – there’s the business of the industry of gaming, but also video production, marketing, and its growing use in social causes.”

The age-old major of liberal arts is still strong at Stockton. “Liberal arts are a perfect pathway for students who are not sure what direction they want to go in, and it takes away the pressure of having to declare a major,” Palladino explains. The curriculum provides an intra-disciplinary approach to learning that can be coupled with other programs that don’t require a particular major. A major focus of the program is on transferable skills, an area that employers are increasingly looking at when considering a hire.

“The rapidly changing economy and the rise of generative AI are enhancing the need for employees who bring not only knowledge of content to their jobs, but also the core skills of emotional intelligence, initiative, creative problem-solving, critical thinking, excellent communication skills in speech and writing in both informal and formal contexts, and the ability to collaborate with partners from diverse backgrounds,” Dr. Rifkin concludes.

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