Career-based courses that function like a virtual apprenticeship could be the answer to cultivating a diverse STEM workforce, an IBM executive said Wednesday.
“Our technology is changing so fast and there are many individuals who have been left out of the workforce because technology hasn’t been something in their background, but they’re wonderful, committed individuals,” said Lilian Wu, program executive for Global University Programs at IBM.
As one potential solution, Wu touted a set of career-based courses for various jobs that IBM developed. Wu said IBM is looking for various partners and universities to deliver the courses.
“I think they may be kind of a model where we could complement the university education,” Wu said, adding that the courses could give students a hands-on sense of what it’s like to work in various “hot jobs” in the IT sector, such as a cloud administrator.
The courses were first introduced in Africa and the Middle East — where Wu said there is a large population of young people who “don’t have a very pervasive excellent two- or four-year education system.” Wu said IBM saw a need for such courses to be delivered — with some tweaks — possibly as an elective or as an add-on in American colleges and universities.
Wu revealed IBM’s plans for the courses Wednesday at the “Summit on the Intersection of Higher Education and the Workforce: Broadening the Role of Business in STEM Transfer and Persistence.” The event was led by the Business-Higher Education Forum, an organization of CEOs and college presidents that focuses on better alignment between higher education and the workforce, and hosted by the National Science Foundation.
