Tag: confident

  • Employers Confident in How Higher Ed Is Preparing Students

    Employers Confident in How Higher Ed Is Preparing Students

    Employers prefer to hire graduates who have participated in applied, hands-on experiences.

    Jason Ardan/The Citizens’ Voice/Getty Images

    While fewer than half of Americans have confidence in higher education, new data shows that 85 percent of employers believe colleges and universities are adequately preparing students for the workforce. And they especially value degrees from institutions that emphasize constructive dialogue and disagreement.

    Those are two of the big takeaways from “The Agility Imperative: How Employers View Preparation for an Uncertain Future,” a new report the American Association of Colleges and Universities published Thursday. In the ninth iteration of the report since 2006, the group commissioned Morning Consult to survey 1,030 executives and hiring managers in August about their attitudes toward higher education.

    “This is our strongest case yet that the separation between workforce and civic skills is false,” said Ashley Finley, author of the report and vice president for research at AAC&U. “In the face of a public narrative that questions the value of college education, employers are higher education’s biggest fans. They value the ways in which colleges are preparing students to be nimble and agile for an uncertain future.”

    ‘Avoiding Groupthink’

    According to the survey, 94 percent of employers said it’s equally important for colleges to prepare a skilled and educated workforce and to help students become informed citizens; 92 percent said it’s also important for colleges to create an environment where students of all backgrounds feel supported and to help them engage with and serve their communities. And 96 percent of employers said it’s useful for college graduates to be able to engage in constructive dialogue across disagreement; 80 percent are confident colleges and universities are helping students develop those skills.

    “Employers want people who can grapple with differences of opinion because they know that strengthens the workplace,” Finley said. “Diverse teams are often the most effective because it’s through the process of disagreement that they arrive at better solutions by avoiding groupthink.”

    Those results come at a time of intensified scrutiny and skepticism about the value of higher education from both the general public and policymakers. According to a survey the Pew Research Center published in October, 70 percent of Americans believe higher education is generally “going in the wrong direction,” citing high costs, poor preparation for the job market and lackluster development of students’ critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

    In addition to focusing on career and technical education and using postgraduation earnings as the primary metric of a degree’s value, the Trump administration and its allies in Congress and state legislatures are also policing university curricula and faculty speech. Over the past year, political pressure has led numerous institutions—including Texas A&M University and the University of Oklahoma—to suspend or fire faculty and administrators who made comments that conflict with certain conservative viewpoints on race, gender and other topics.

    But that’s not the type of learning environment most employers, regardless of political affiliation or age, want graduates to come from, according to the report.

    Eighty-five percent of employers—including 90 percent of Democrats, 75 percent of Independents, 83 percent of Republicans, 87 percent of those under age 40 and 74 percent of those over age 50—said they would look more favorably upon a degree from an institution known for respecting diverse perspectives on political, economic and social issues in the curriculum. Additionally, 82 percent of respondents—including 83 percent of Democrats, 78 percent of Independents, 83 percent of Republicans, 85 percent of those under age 40 and 74 percent over age 50—said they would look more favorably upon a degree from an institution that’s not subject to government restrictions on what students learn and discuss.

    The share of employers who strongly agreed with those statements has also increased by several percentage points since 2023, when the previous iteration of the survey asked the same questions.

    “So much of workforce preparedness in the next few decades is going to involve durable skills amid the rapid proliferation of artificial intelligence,” Lynn Pasquerella, president of AAC&U, said. “We need to train individuals who can engage across differences and bring skills, competencies and dispositions computers can’t bring. That involves directly the capacity to engage with others who are different from oneself.”

    In addition to valuing degrees that promote open inquiry, more than three-quarters of employers said they were more likely to hire graduates who participated in applied, hands-on experiences while in college, including internships, holding leadership roles or working on community-based projects. And 81 percent of employers said microcredentials are also valuable when they’re making hiring decisions.

    “Employers are looking for more than just transcripts. They want portfolios and demonstrations of applied skills and competencies,” Pasquerella said. “The more colleges can do to provide a more comprehensive, complete picture of students’ abilities inside and outside the classroom, the more confidence they can create with employers.”

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  • Helping professional services get confident with data

    Helping professional services get confident with data

    “I don’t do data.”

    It’s a phrase heard all too often across professional services in UK higher education.

    Despite the sector’s growing reliance on data to inform strategic decisions, evaluate performance, and improve services, a significant skills gap remains—particularly among non-specialist staff.

    Critical skills

    Universities increasingly regard data as a critical asset. But while institutional expectations are rising, many professional services teams feel underprepared to meet what is now expected of them. The ability to interpret, contextualise, and communicate insights from data is now an essential part of most roles. And yet, for many professionals, data remains confusing, intimidating, or simply outside their perceived remit.

    This gap isn’t just about technical skills—it’s about confidence, culture, and collaboration. Professional services staff are often expected to make sense of complex datasets without the training or tools to do so effectively. Everyone is expected to engage with data daily, but few are properly equipped to do so. The result? Missed opportunities, reliance on specialist teams, and a growing divide between “data people” and everyone else.

    That divide threatens more than just productivity. In an era of AI and self-service analytics, the risk is that subject matter expertise gets lost or overridden by automated insights or misunderstood metrics. True value comes not just from accessing data, but from interpreting it through a lens of organisational understanding and professional experience. So how can we bridge the gap between those who do and those who don’t do data?

    The options

    Often the answer seems to be recruiting external data specialists – usually at considerable expense. While this brings in the needed expertise it also creates silos rather than building capability across teams. This approach not only strains budgets—with specialist salaries commanding premium rates in today’s competitive market—but also creates dependency on individuals who may lack contextual understanding of higher education. There is also a problem of longevity. When these specialists eventually leave, they take their knowledge with them, leaving institutions vulnerable.

    By contrast, institutions that invest in developing data confidence across existing staff leverage their team’s deep sector knowledge while creating more sustainable, resilient capabilities. The return on investment becomes clear: upskilling current staff who understand institutional nuances creates more value than repeatedly recruiting external experts who require months to grasp the complexities of university operations.

    Meanwhile, higher education faces an ever-expanding regulatory and statutory data burden. From HESA returns and TEF submissions to access and participation plans and REF preparations, the volume and complexity of mandatory reporting continues to grow. Each new requirement brings not just additional work but increased scrutiny and consequences for inaccuracy or misinterpretation. This regulatory landscape demands that universities distribute data capabilities widely rather than concentrating them in specialist teams who come close to breaking point during reporting seasons.

    When professional services staff across the institution can confidently engage with data, universities can respond more nimbly to regulatory changes, identify compliance risks earlier, and transform what might otherwise be box-ticking exercises into meaningful insights that drive institutional improvement.

    Data confident

    Recognising this challenge, UHR and Strive Higher have developed the Developing Confident Data Partners programme—a practical, supportive course designed specifically for HR and People professionals in higher education. Drawing on insights from UHR’s 6,000+ members, the programme addresses the real barriers to data confidence and equips participants with the skills and language to contribute meaningfully to data-informed conversations.

    By bridging the gap between subject matter expertise and data literacy, this initiative empowers professionals to engage more fully with the data-driven culture of their institutions. As one participant put it:

    The programme boosted my confidence and has taken away some of the mystery that some pure data experts can often create. I know what to do now before I ask for data, and what to say when I do want some.

    In a sector where informed decision-making is critical, the data skills gap in professional services can no longer be ignored. The Confident Data Partners programme is one step toward a more inclusive, capable, and collaborative data culture across UK higher education.

    The journey is just beginning. The opportunities in a data-driven world are endless, but success hinges on individuals understanding how to use data to inform strategy, planning and continuous improvement, and being able to communicate and collaborate with their peers.

    This initiative has been a learning experience for us both. It’s shown how, when data aligns with real-world needs, the results are transformative. Because when data meets purpose – that’s where the magic happens.

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  • College grads say they are confident about jobs but cautious about economy

    College grads say they are confident about jobs but cautious about economy

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    As the current job market continues to shift, 2025 college graduates express both optimism and concern about their job prospects, according to Monster’s annual State of the Graduate Report.

    Most graduates (83%) said they were confident about landing a role soon after graduation, although 37% said the job hunt could take 4-6 months.

    “The job market is rapidly shifting, and today’s graduates are entering it with both confidence and conviction,” Scott Blumsack, CMO of CareerBuilder + Monster, said in the report.

    “The message is clear: today’s graduates are ambitious, intentional, and values-driven,” Blumsack said. “Employers who adapt to these priorities by offering flexibility, purpose, and pathways to growth will be best positioned to attract and retain the next generation of top talent.”

    In a poll of 1,000 new and upcoming college graduates, 75% said they’re worried their job prospects will be affected by the economy, up from 69% in 2024.

    In addition, 48% of graduates said they assume they won’t be able to find a job at the workplace they prefer, as compared with 52% in 2024.

    Due to current market conditions, 42% of graduates who don’t already have a full-time job said they’re now looking at more companies and industries, an increase from 34% in 2024.

    Graduates pointed to several red flags that would prevent them from applying for a job at a company, including a salary freeze, recent layoffs, lower than average earnings during the past year, a mandate for daily in-office work and fully remote work.

    At the same time, graduates reported mixed thoughts about the economy and how it may impact their starting salary. About 37% expect their starting salary to be higher as a result of the economy, while 27% expect their starting salary to be lower.

    Job security also appears to be a major priority, with 80% reporting concerns about job security in the current market, as compared with 77% in 2024. About 64% said it’ll be more difficult to find a job due to artificial intelligence filling roles previously held by humans, up from 62% in 2024.

    In December 2024, hiring, job openings and turnover decreased, with hiring reaching its lowest point in five years, according to a BambooHR report. Hiring declined across all industries, both in the U.S. and worldwide, the report found.

    For now, the labor market has cooled off, which could be good news for hiring managers, leading economists told HR Dive. Although top talent may be somewhat easier to find and retain, an aging workforce and changes to immigration will likely challenge recruiters throughout 2025, they said.

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