Edition No. 12

Future Science: Developing Tomorrow's EHS Professionals

We’ve all heard reports about the lack of math and science proficiency among high school and college graduates. Students aren’t interested in these subjects so, unless required, they don’t enroll in them. As a result, technical jobs are harder to fill and US companies are importing technical talent from abroad. This somewhat controversial subject with no clear-cut answers has begun to impact Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) careers and employers. How do these trends affect your job in EHS? If you employ EHS personnel, will you be able to recruit and retain those employees?

Labor Shortage on the Horizon?

Also in this Issue...

Today’s EHS Landscape—Navigating the Changes

Effective EHS Delivery for a Global Field Staff

Update: New ISO 14001 Standard Changes

There are two sides to the labor shortage issue. One side believes that a shortage of qualified technical people is looming in the near future. Statistics reinforce this by indicating that there are fewer students enrolling in science and math upper level education courses. Link this with the fact that the sciences and technology sector is one of the fastest growing parts of the labor pool; then add in the growing number of baby boomers who hold positions in the technologies and will be exiting the labor pool in the next decade. It’s a formula that spells shortage.

The other side of the argument says there won’t be a shortage of qualified people to fill those jobs. The above scenario simply creates the opportunity to make greater use of a qualified international workforce. The jobs will be filled, just not from the US.

The Future Generation

Whether you call them -- GenYers, Adaptables, Mosaics, or Echo Boomers -- what do we know about this next generation that indicates their future employment preferences? Let’s look at a summary of who they are and what they value. Studies show that the next generation’s workforce will not necessarily stay with one company their entire career; they will move between companies much more than prior generations. They will also experience more major career shifts and want more time off--even taking extended sabbaticals. They will be more independent that other generations and have a greater intellectual pursuit of knowledge, even to the extent that they will seek knowledge simply for knowledge’s sake.

Math / Science Network

Thirty years ago, Teri Perl and her peers were concerned about a study from the University of California Berkeley that found that young women entering the university did not have the same math training as their male counterparts. Perl quickly formed the Math/Science Network and it has grown over the years to become a leading provider of girl-centric programs. It now coordinates annual conferences that have turned more than 625,000 young women across the nation onto the wonders of science.

Today the network holds about 90 workshops each year at colleges and universities in 31 states. Aimed at middle school and high school girls, the programs feature hands-on experiments in areas that can be as varied as computer science, marine biology and veterinary medicine. The events feature guest speakers who can answer real life questions and serve as role models.

Attracting, Retaining and Inspiring Future Employees

With a shifting labor pool and a distinctly different generation, what can we do to attract and retain these employees? Here’s a short list to get your thinking process started. Be sure to look at it through EHS eyes.

Offer more flexibility to your employees. It may help you retain them.
Offer on-going educational development and support, making sure each individual has opportunities for growth within the company.
Know your employees, individually. Find out what’s the most important value to each one. It can help you define a specific career path.
Get involved on your local college campuses. Perhaps you could offer an internship or scholarship that makes your company stand out as one of the employers of choice on that particular campus.
Get involved with your local high schools by being industry ambassadors. Private businesses are creating programs to help educate students of all ages in science and technology hoping to expose them to careers in these fields before they get to college.
Consider alternatives to the major institutions to recruit technical employees: for example, community colleges. (Statistics show that over 50% of technical jobs are held by people who have less than a bachelor’s degree.) Also, be aware that community colleges are a major feeder group into the four-year colleges and can provide early connections with students who will already be linked to you when they graduate.

For more information, see these links:

http://www.collegejournal.com/aidadmissions/newstrends/20030710-chaker.html

http://www.wsjclassroomedition.com/archive/03nov/educ_community.htm
Take better advantage of electronic recruiting. Learn from your marketing department how to brand your organization using the latest in Internet technology and push marketing. Visit web sites like Monster, Hot Jobs, Hire.com, and others that are geared to the digital generation.

Whatever you do to recruit and retain this new generation, you should realize it will be different than what you’ve done in the past.

SEMI's High Tech U

The SEMI Foundation was formed to support education and awareness of the field of high technology. Despite the best efforts of educators in public and private schools, the United States elementary and high school educational system continues to struggle to produce students who desire, and are prepared to pursue, a career in high technology. While some students graduate from school lacking the necessary math and science skills because they live in areas that are often socially and economically disadvantaged, this accounts for only part of the problem. Often, students and their parents are simply unaware of career opportunities in the high technology field. Without knowledge of the practical applications of math and science, students are not motivated to study or excel in these subjects. The SEMI Foundation addresses these problems from an industry education perspective.

Success Stories

For two success stories, read the sidebars to this article. The first focuses on a San Francisco-based group called Math/Science Network, which is a leading provider of girl-centric programs to attract girls into math and science classes.

The other sidebar highlights SEMI (Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International), the trade organization and their Workforce Development Institute, called High Tech U, which aims to attract high school students into high tech.

For more statistics on this subject, please visit the Bureau of Labor Statistics web site at www.bls.gov. You may also find resources available at www.nsf.gov, the web site for the National Science Foundation.