Missing Links for an Advanced Workforce
Article/Op-Ed in Issues in Science and Technology
May 7, 2024
Shalin Jyotishi contributed to an article in Issues in Science and Technology which featured his response to a proposal from MIT's Bill Bonvillian and John Liu calling for a "technologist" occupational category in advanced manufacturing. Shalin's response advocates for the new occupational category, and highlights community colleges' role in delivering technologist education.
John Liu and William Bonvillian put forth a thoughtful proposal that US manufacturing needs a new occupational category called “technologist,” a mid-level position sitting between technician and engineer. To produce more of this new breed, the authors encourage community colleges to deliver technologist education, particularly by adopting the curricula framework used in an online program in manufacturing run by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. And in a bit of good news, the US Defense Department has started funding its adaptation for technologist education.
But more is needed. In scaling up technologist programs across community colleges, Liu and Bonvillian propose focusing first on new students, followed by programs for incumbent workers. I might suggest the inverse strategy to center job quality in the creation of technologist jobs. In this regard, the authors state something critically important: “to incentivize and enable workers to pursue educational advances in manufacturing, companies need to offer high-wage jobs to employees.” Here, the United States might take some lessons from Germany, where manufacturers pay their employees 60% more than US companies do, have a robust apprenticeship system, and generally prioritize investments in human capital over capital equipment purchases.
Read the full article here.