Are universities really preparing students for the working world?
By Alex Adamopoulos for Forbes
Higher education is judged based on the value it imparts to graduates. But that value is almost always characterized in terms of what kind of degree the student leaves with. Once you enter the working world, degrees don’t really matter; job recruiters aren’t breathing down your neck about your GPA.
What companies are really looking for, and the kinds of employees who end up excelling at their work, are those with transferable skills — the capacity for problem-solving, teamwork, decision-making and critical thinking. These are the traits that matter most in workers, yet universities are not doing enough to ensure that students are graduating with these skills under their belt.
What you learn in school about a given field will almost certainly change by the time you enter that field. What never changes, though, is the value that you bring to the table — in any job, in any industry — by mastering those transferable skills.
About the Author
Alexis GajewskiAlexis Gajewski
Senior Content Strategist
Alexis Gajewski is a manufacturing writer and editor with nearly 20 years of experience covering the people, practices, and technologies that keep industrial facilities running. For more than a decade, she served as Senior Content Strategist for Plant Services, creating content for plant managers, engineers, and maintenance professionals on a variety of industrial topics.
During her tenure, Alexis worked to develop the brand’s digital strategy and helped launch and produce Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast. She also created The Lighter Side of Manufacturing, a weekly blog that explored the inventive and sometimes humorous side of the industry.
Alexis co-founded Influential Women in Manufacturing, a recognition program that honored 49 women in its first two years, earned an industry award for Best Product Launch, and received a proclamation from Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and a commendation from U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth.
She also led newsroom operations and development at a large media company where she set editorial standards, developed training curriculum, and helped support AI adoption for more than 150 editors across 80+ brands spanning manufacturing, industrial processing, automation, and more.
Additionally, Alexis works as a freelance writer and editor, and her areas of interest include continuous improvement, the skilled workforce, and the role of emerging technology on the plant floor.
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