Agriculture Workforce Stakeholders Highlight Importance of Durable Skills and Networks

As America’s workforce changes, so does the nature of the work and skills necessary for success. Employers are increasingly in need of a workforce that effectively engages in collaborative leadership. Educational opportunities, such as community college and two-year degree programs, need to include collaborative leadership learning experiences to help build workforce readiness. Debuting findings at NACTA 2019, APLU researchers identified 11 employability skills that were most important to stakeholders and had the largest gaps in terms of readiness. Indeed, the Christensen Institute recently identified “investing in durable skills and durable networks,” as one of the “5 Education Innovation Trends Worth Watching in 2022.”Also, America Succeeds (2021) reports on “The High Demand for Durable Skills.” Findings from three years of action research reveal insights on employability and durable skills for collaborative leadership. Expanding beyond four-year degree programs, project stakeholders include agriculture faculty from nine community colleges and one two-year degree program. These agricultural educators are bridging the gap by refreshing existing workforce development curricula to meet 21st century agricultural industry needs; they are designing, developing, and evaluating leadership curricula for technical and community colleges to prepare the agriculture workforce for effective leadership in an increasingly diverse environment. The study used a semi-structured protocol with two focus groups. Participants, affiliated with agricultural workforce preparation programs, surfaced six key themes: (1) Agreeing with APLU employability skills report, (2) Finding positive benefits in completing internships, (3) Strategizing to build problem-solving skills, (4) Addressing ‘soft skills” assessment challenges, (5) Prioritizing verbal communication skill enhancements, and (6) Learning how to accept faults and mistakes. The relevance of this topic in today’s climate cannot be understated. This action research approach, with stakeholders from multiple institutions, can serve as a model for expanding educational networks to exchange knowledge and share leadership curricula.