INFORMATION LITERACY

What is Information Literacy (IL)?

3 Information Literacy is the set of skills needed to find, retrieve, analyze, and use information. It has become increasingly clear that students cannot learn everything they need to know in their field of study in a few years of college. Information literacy equips them with the critical skills necessary to become independent lifelong learners. Too often we assume that as students write research papers and read textbooks they are gaining sufficient IL skills. This is not so. IL skills may be introduced but what is needed is a parallel curriculum in IL forming a strong foundation of a college education.

4 “Information literacy is a mean to express personal ideas, develop arguments, refute opinions of others, learn new things…”

5 “Those who are not information literate are unable to make informed decisions given an information related problem and must rely on others rather than thinking for themselves”.

6 The problem…

7 More than a third of recent college grads with jobs are working in positions that do not require a degree!

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9 Economists call that figure the "mal-employment" rate, and right now it tops 36% for college-educated workers under the age of 25, according to figures crunched by Andrew Sum, director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University.

10 Not surprisingly, hospitality and retail are the most common occupations of the mal-employed. Of the nearly 3 million recent college grads, 152,000 are working in retail sales and nearly 100,000 work as waiters, bartenders or in other food service posts. Another 80,000 serve as clerks or customer service representatives, with 60,000 working in construction or manual labor.

11 Labor demand is still weak, and you have increased competition for jobs with adults who thought the situation would have improved by now. Taking a job below your education level carries a high financial toll. The mal-employed earn up to 40% less per week than their peers. That could make it harder for them to pay off their student loans, move into their own apartments and even get married. It can also affect their earnings for decades, since they enter the wage ladder at a lower rung (Carl Van Horn, founding director of the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University).

12 Millennials’ Joblessness Costs the Government $8.9 Billion a YearMillennials’ Joblessness Costs the Government $8.9 Billion a Year Nearly three-quarters of hiring managers complain that millennials – even those with college degrees – aren’t prepared for the job market and lack an adequate “work ethic,” according to a survey from Bentley University, a private business school in Waltham, Mass.

13 Employer’s attitudes about hiring millennials often transcend concerns about training and technical skills. Many are put off by the fact that entry-level candidates are clueless about how to navigate an office setting, according to an analysis by Time.an analysis by Time.

14 For instance, a survey by the Workforce Solutions Group at St. Louis Community College found that more than 60 percent of employers said applicants lack “communication and interpersonal skills” — an increase of about 10 percentage points in just two years. Many managers also said that today’s applicants can’t think critically and creatively, solve problems or write well.

15 The National Association of Colleges and Employers surveyed more than 200 employers about their top 10 priorities in new hires. Overwhelmingly, they wanted candidates who are team players, problem solvers and who can plan, organize and prioritize their work. Technical and computer- related know-how placed much further down the list.

16 Time noted that jobs are going unfilled as a result, which hurts companies and employees. Companies say candidates are lacking in motivation, interpersonal skills, appearance, punctuality and flexibility.

17 While roughly two thirds of business leaders and recruiters say that “hard” technical skills and “soft” skills are equally important, a majority say they’d prefer to hire a recent graduate with industry-specific skills than a liberal arts graduate who needs to be trained first.

18 Further adding to the confusion, when asked to assess the importance of a comprehensive set of individual skills, business leaders put “soft” skills at the top of their list, along with traits like integrity, professionalism and a positive attitude.

19 …they’d also prefer to hire candidates with the industry-specific skills that help them hit the ground running, even if those candidates have less potential for future growth.”

20 Economists and other experts offer many reasons why millennials have had a hard time finding suitable work these last few years. But many agree that inadequate preparation for the job market is definitely one of them.

21 “There is more demand for skill and education, and young people have less skill and experience than the typical worker,” Rory O’Sullivan, the policy and research director of the Young Invincibles, an advocacy group, said recently. “We don’t do a very good job of training them out of school to be prepped and ready to go.”

22 A November 2012 study by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation noted that in a weak job market, “the young adult workforce is usually the last to be hired and first to be fired. In down markets, when jobs are harder to find, many millennials make the choice to stay in school, lowering the participation rate.”

23 “There is also more competition from more experienced workers for those companies that are hiring. More than half of baby boomers nearing retirement have delayed doing so, making it harder to find space for new workers.”

24 Suggestions from a former job provider…

25 Young graduates should not have to turn to career “boot camps” to get employed. We need to make our graduates employable. We need to have professors who care and have more one on one interactions with the students (Not the T.As). Students want to see professors who have passion for what they teach combined with “real world experience”. Better communication between professors and students is needed. Make the classes interesting – We need to fix the “disconnect” and close the gap.

26 Professors need to be respectful of our students (our customers) and talk to them and not “at” them! Use the Golden Rule: “Treat People the way you would like to be treated” We need to use common sense: They are asked to buy an $85.00 text book for the class and only 1/3 of it is used during the semester. Do not ignore the students who need our assistance. We need to respond to them with a sense of urgency. We need to require internships and provide “pathway sessions” to prepare them to enter the work force. We need to design curriculum “with the end in mind” Grade fairly: grade inflation does not help!

27 We need to teach problem solving (bring 3 solutions – think on your feet) … critical thinking. We need to push them out their comfort zone. We need to stop packaging the content and not train them to memorize the information. Cookie cutter assignments and multiple choices! Teach multi-tasking, how to take initiative, be a good speller. Etc…

28 We need to think out of the box!

29 Intelligence is overrated (Albert Einstein’s IQ was estimated at 160, Madonna’s is 140, and JFK was 119)!

30 We need to teach the “soft skills”! … and We need to put more emphasis on Emotional Intelligence – Personal traits, social graces, communication, personal habits, ability to interact effectively with coworkers and customers…

31 …communication skills, conflict resolutions and negotiations, personal effectiveness, creative problem solving, strategic thinking, team building, influencing skills selling skills, and ACCOUNTABILITY …to name a few.

32 Why?

33 A person's soft skill EQ is an important part of their individual contribution to the success of an organization.

34 EQ is so critical to success that it accounts to 58% of performance in all types of jobs. The link between EQ and earnings is so direct that every point increase in EQ adds $1,300 to an annual salary!

60 MINUTES – YEAR UP 35 underprivileged-youth/ underprivileged-youth/