By Jennifer Colvin, Chief Innovation Officer, Learning Undefeated
Artificial intelligence and extended reality. Digitalization, robotics and automation. Advanced materials. Digital twins. What do all of these things have in common? They represent the future of manufacturing, and our schools aren’t prepared to teach about them.
According to the National Association of Manufacturers, over the next decade, 3.8 million new manufacturing workers will need to be hired in the US. That’s more than the population of Houston and San Antonio combined who need to know how to design, create, test, and deliver products in a volatile, complex, and rapidly changing economy.
Most of these jobs don’t exist yet today, which means that teachers, parents, and guidance counselors can’t talk about them with our teens.
A new approach is needed to extrapolate the new skills needed for the future, and to help students learn about them so that they pursue studies in these areas that haven’t been created yet.
Last year, Learning Undefeated undertook a comprehensive landscape analysis to identify needs and gaps in the current state of K-12 education related to manufacturing careers. During this process, we researched over 150 organization currently providing manufacturing resources or information to teachers and/or students. We talked to more than 60 teachers and dozens of manufacturing industry subject matter experts. Our research explored the growing skills gap, lack of awareness/interest in manufacturing careers among youth, industry trends, in-demand careers, misconceptions, and skills needed to prepare and diversify the future workforce and attract the next generation of manufacturing talent.
Our findings indicated that students, teachers, and parents have outdated perceptions of manufacturing roles, creating hurdles for teens right when they are making decisions about their future. While 58% of Americans believe manufacturing is critical to the U.S. economy, parents and students often have outdated ideas about what it’s like to work in the manufacturing industry. In fact, manufacturing is rated dead last among career industry choices for 18- to 24-year-olds according to Deloitte.
To change teacher, teen, and guardian perceptions and beliefs about career opportunities in manufacturing, this spring Learning Undefeated is launching the new Manufacture Your Path program, a deep impact learning experience that introduces students to high-demand manufacturing careers and learn-and-earn opportunities in their community. This program combines a first-of-its-kind Breakout Box: Manufacturing Mission, a new immersive learning experience focused on manufacturing skills and careers, with classroom curriculum, educator training, and Manufacturing Night events for families to explore local career opportunities.
We hope that this program will encourage a new generation of manufacturing talent – talent that the country so desperately needs to maintain our competitive edge in a fragmenting global market. We need students to see themselves reflected in this program and start to understand that it IS possible for them to become makers: building, creating, and innovating – especially those who don’t fit the stereotypical image of a maker in today’s workplace.
As every consumer learned in the last few years, having control of our own supply chain makes American industries less vulnerable to disruption and creates opportunities to adapt, grow, and thrive. And, our inventions and products will be stronger if we emphasize diversity of thought and different ways of problem solving that come with having people on a team who have a wide variety of lived experiences.
But we can’t do this alone, we need you to join us in taking this effort to schools in every state. I invite you to embrace “M for Maker” as a mindset, and help us build the next generation of manufacturing talent.
