2020

By Genevieve Harte

The “Peter Principle” has been around for decades. This is the theory that employees get promoted to their level of incompetence and are then left in a position where they no longer excel. Work and workplaces are rapidly changing, the need for work-life balance is ever increasing and employees’ mental health is paramount. As a result of these changing times, there is a need for social work presence in the workplace to expand this theory. The times of the corporate ladder are over; people want more than just upward mobility, and yet most human resource operations remain largely unchanged. Employees promote or switch jobs and regardless of the outcome they are left in their new positions without any regard for their satisfaction about the move. This idea of promotion to the level of incompetence is outdated and needs to be expanded to include promotion to level of dis-satisfaction with some aspect of the new position (which may or may not be related to ability). Employee priorities evolve over time and they are more diverse than ever before. As a result, they deserve a situational approach to career development, which can be aided by adding a social work component to human resources to fill this function. If done well, employers would see huge productivity gains with happier employees.

Author Bio

Genevieve Harte has a Master’s of Public Administration and over 15 years of experience managing employees. She has a solid understanding of career development issues in both the public and private sectors, having spent 12 years with a management firm consulting with clients in Canada, Europe and the United States. Her passion for employee engagement and social issues led her to pursue a PhD in social work.

By Temitope Abiagom

Immigrant young adults are an important source of talent for the Canadian economy as they account for almost half of the total migration population (Statistics Canada, 2017). This cohort of migrants is often favoured by immigration programs that aim to fill labour shortages and redress Canada’s aging workforce. While the integration and employment outcomes of these youth are of concern to policy-makers and stakeholders, the emphasis is often on skills development and labour market readiness. This econometric focus is evident in immigrant youth employment initiatives, which educate newcomer youth about the Canadian workplace culture and support them in their job search (Dobrowolsky, Bryan, & Barber, 2015; Yan, Lauer, & Jhangiani, 2008). However, employment in itself is not sufficient in achieving successful economic integration. The notion that employment predicates the overall adaptation of immigrants contributes to the little attention given to other aspects of immigrant engagement. Including the understanding of everyday experiences of newcomer youth in the workplace, and their sense of belonging and barriers, in addition to access to employment, offers a more comprehensive approach to understanding their career trajectory and economic outcome (Bhagat & London, 1999; Dobrowolsky et al., 2015; Yan et al., 2008).

Developing social and friendship networks contributes to a newcomer youth’s sense of belonging (confidence in one’s identity and connection to people and social institutions), well­ being and career progression (Berry, Phinney, & Vedder, 2006; D. Harrison, T. Harrison, & Shaffer, 2019; Wilson- Forsberg, 2015; Yan et al., 2008). In turn, a positive sense of self, attachment, and well-being facilitate creativity and contribution to an organization’s innovation and competitiveness, which may positively impact career outcomes (Bhagat & London, 1999; Harrison et al., 2019). On the other hand, newcomer youth may face barriers such as perceived discrimination, limited language skills, distributive and procedural unfairness, lack of mentorship and organizational support that hinder their integration in the workplace. These challenges suppress their ability to use their voices and express their creative ideas while compromising their economic outcome compared to their Canadian-born counterparts (Bhagat & London, 1999; Harrison et al., 2019; Yan et al., 2008).

Also, the experiences of newcomer youth in the workplace contribute to the degree to which they adapt to society. The pressure to “fit in” may lead to assimilation, whereby they prefer engagement in their new community rather than showing interest in maintaining their cultural heritage and identity. Marginalization may also occur when there is neither cultural maintenance nor involvement with other people. Separation occurs when cultural maintenance is sought while avoiding a relationship with others. Integration, the most favourable process of immigrant adaptation by policymakers, stakeholders and immigrants alike, is the existence of both cultural maintenance and active participation in the larger society (Ager & Strang, 2008; Berry et al., 2006).

While employment is vital to the integration of newcomer youth, policy-makers and organizations must think beyond economic contribution.

Author Bio

Temitope Abiagom is a Master of Social Work student and a James R Johnston’s scholar at Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia.   Her MSW thesis focuses on the experiences of newcomer youth in the workplace.  She has experience in community social work, counseling, program development and evaluation.

References

Ager, A., & Strang , A. (2008). Understanding Integration: A Conceptual Framework. Journal of Refugee Studies, 21(2), 166-191.

Berry , J., Phinney, J., Sam , D., & Vedder , P. (2006). Immigrant Youth: Acculturation , Identity, and Adaptation. Applied Psychology, 55(3), 303-332.

Bhagat, R. S., & London , M . (1999). Getting started and getting ahead: Career dynamics of immigrants. Human Resource Management Review, 9(3), 349-365.

Dobrowolsky, A., Bryan, C., & Barber , P. G. (2015) . Choices, calculation s and commitments that help to create a home away from home. In A. Dobrowol sky, B. Cot t r ell, & E. Tastsoglou (Eds.), The warmth of the welcome: Is Atlantic Canada a home away from home for immigrants? (pp. 60- 79). Cape Breton University  Press

Harrison, D. A., Harrison, T., & Shaffer, M. A. (2019). Strangers in Strained Lands: Learning From Workplace Experiences of Immigrant Employees. Journal of Management, 45(2), 600- 619. https:/ / doi.org/ 10.1177 /0149206318790648

Statistics Canada. (2017). Focus on Geography Series, 2016 Census. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-404-X2016001. Ottawa, Ontario. Data products, 2016 Census.

Wilson – Forsberg, T. (2015). Immigrant Adolescents’ Journey to Belonging in New Brunswick: Making Friends with Local-born Peers. In E. Tastsoglou, A. Dobrowolsky, & B. Cottrell (Eds.), The warmth of the welcome: Is Atlantic Canada a home away from home for immigrants? Cape Breton University Pres s. Kindle Edition (3674-3675).

Yan , M ., Lauer, S., & Jhangiani , S. (2008). Riding the Boom: Labour Market Experiences of New Generation Youth from Visible Minority Immigrant Families. Canadian Ethnic Studies, 40(2), 129-148.

By Mohit Bassi

The present spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) will have a greater societal impact than the 9/11 terrorist bombings in New York (Atkeson, 2020; Gerber, 2020). A large part of the global efforts to curtail COVID-19 involves staying at home to stop the spread of the pandemic (Sajed & Amgain, 2020). This sudden sociocultural change has led to mass efforts in shifting education, training and work programs online; individuals have increasingly started working from home and engaging in “remote work” (Sajed & Amgain, 2020). However, this transition to working from home brings new challenges and considerations for bosses, employees and career practitioners.

Mental health is affected by the pandemic

Sigmund Freud has been credited for saying “Love and work … work and love, that’s all there is … love and work are the cornerstones of our humanness” (Sherman, 2009). Until recently, most people have experienced a physical separation between where they work (eg, an office) and where they spend time with loved ones (eg, at home). Work can give our lives meaning, but it is also a source of socialization (George, 2010), goal orientation (Curral & Marques-Quinteiro, 2009), cognitive flow (Salanova, Bakker, & Llorens, 2006) and reciprocity (Arthur & Kram, 1989). For many individuals, taking care of oneself and replacing these needs have become difficult when shifting toward independent work from home (Dechen, Wangyal, Tanimoto, Sato, & Kanai, 2020). Uncertainty from the pandemic has led to increases in anxiety, depression, and stress among healthcare workers and the general public (Liu, et al., 2020). Especially for parents, the task of taking care of loved ones while managing work may be very challenging (Traube, et al., 2020).

Remote work is a future that cannot be ignored

Just as the 9/11 terrorist attacks indefinitely changed global social policies related to privacy, security and travel (Paquin & James, 2014), it is anticipated that COVID-19 will have lasting impacts on how we work and will accelerate existing digital infrastructure to further support and enable remote work (Greenhalgh, Koh, & Car, 2020). For example, the use of telehealth and telemedicine offers healthcare providers (eg, doctors, mental health workers) access to their patients remotely (Hollander & Carr, 2020). University classes are shifting online, and educational institutions are building massive open online courses (MOOCs) available for members of the public to take (Breslow, et al., 2013). The advent of 5G networks and growing telecommunications infrastructure means faster speeds, lower latency and a more connected world (Lema, et al., 2017). Although remote work is not possible for every profession, it is possible that the future of traditional work may largely be supplemented, or supplanted, by remote work. However, many workers are faced with unmet social and cognitive needs that are typically attained through traditional work.

Balancing mental health and productivity

“Find three hobbies you love: One to make you money, one to keep you in shape, and one to be creative” – Anonymous

In a world where we are working and living from home, it can be easy to get caught up in distractions related to work and life. At a time like this, we must be mindful of our unmet needs, especially during a global pandemic where physical health may be given more attention than our mental health. Ask yourself (and your clients): What hobby or aspirations have you been putting off? What is something that you never found time for, that you can possibly do now from your home? In times of uncertainty about the future, now might just be the best time to pick up a book, set a new fitness goal, learn to draw or meditate.

Author Bio

Mohit Bassi is a master’s student in Counselling Psychology at the University of British Columbia. He is a recipient of the SSHRC Canada Graduate Scholarship and is interested in mental health and creativity research as it applies to career development. His thesis is on culturally adapting counselling/psychotherapy with Indo-Canadian immigrants.

References

Arthur, M. B., & Kram, K. E. (1989). Reciprocity at work: The separate, yet inseparable possibilities for individual and organizational development. In M. B. Arthur, D. T. Hall, & B. S. Lawrence (Eds.), Handbook of Career Theory (pp. 292-311). Melbourne, Australia: Canbridge University Press.

Atkeson, A. (2020). What will be the economic impact of COVID-19 in the US? Rough estimates of disease scenarios (No. w26867). National Bureau of Economic Research, 1-25. Retrieved from http://www.nber.org/papers/w26867

Breslow, L., Pritchard, D. E., DeBoer, J., Stump, G. S., Ho, A. D., & Seaton, D. T. (2013). Studying learning in the worldwide classroom research into edX’s first MOOC. Research & Practice in Assessment, 8, 13-25.

Curral, L., & Marques-Quinteiro, P. (2009). Self-leadership and work role innovation: Testing a mediation model with goal orientation and work motivation. Revista de Psicologia del Trabajo y de las Organizaciones, 25(2), 165-176.

Dechen, T., Wangyal, S., Tanimoto, S., Sato, H., & Kanai, A. (2020). A preliminary study of risk assessment of mobile workers for improvement of work-life balance. Bulletin of Networking, Computing, Systems, and Software, 9(1), 43-45.

George, J. M. (2010). The wider context, costs, and benefits of work engagement. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 20(1), 53-59.

Gerber, R. (2020, April 09). COVID-19 is this generation’s 9/11, and other ways life will never be the same again. Retrieved from Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2020/04/09/covid-19-is-this-generations-sept-11-and-other-ways-life-will-never-be-the-same-again/#c27399249e1d

Greenhalgh, T., Koh, G. C., & Car, J. (2020). Covid-19: a remote assessment in primary care. British Medical Journal, 368, 1-5.

Hollander, J. E., & Carr, B. G. (2020). Virtually perfect? Telemedicine for Covid-19. The New England Journal of Medicine. doi:10.1056/NEJMp2003539

Lema, M. A., Laya, A., Mahmoodi, T., Cuevas, M., Sachs, J., Markendahl, J., & Dohler, M. (2017). Business case and technology analysis for 5G low latency applications. IEEE Access, 5, 5917-5935.

Liu, S., Yang, L., Zhang, C., Xiang, Y. T., Liu, Z., Hu, S., & Zhang, B. (2020). Online mental health services in China during the COVID-19 outbreak. The Lancet Psychiatry, 7(4), e17-e18.

Paquin, J., & James, P. (Eds.). (2014). Game changer: The impact of 9/11 on North American security. Vancouver, BC: UBC Press.

Sajed, A. N., & Amgain, K. (2020). Corona virus disease (COVID-19) outbreak and the strategy for prevention. Europasian Journal of Medical Sciences, 2(1), 1-4.

Salanova, M., Bakker, A. B., & Llorens, S. (2006). Flow at work: Evidence for an upward spiral of personal and organizational resources. Journal of Happiness Studies, 7(1), 1-22.

Sherman, J. E. (2009, December 13). Love, work, play: Physics, organism, organization and romance in a nutshell. Retrieved April 2020, from Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/ambigamy/200912/love-work-play-physics-organism-organization-and-romance-in-nutshell

Traube, D. E., Hsiao, H. Y., Rau, A., Hunt-O’Brien, D., Lu, L., & Islam, N. (2020). Advancing Home Based Parenting Programs through the Use of Telehealth Technology. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 29(1), 44-53.

By Nkem Onyegbula

In today’s global market, organizations continue to face several business challenges from changes ranging from economic downsizing, the drop in oil and gas prices, climate change, globalization, continuously changing technology to stringent cross-border policies. However, nothing has been more challenging than the impact of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, which will and has affected every sector and dimension of humankind.

Research conducted by Sunnie Giles (2016) across 195 leaders in 15 countries found that the top 10 leadership competencies are vital priorities for leadership development programs (LDPs) because they are challenging to master, partly because improving in them means acting against our nature. These  competencies were grouped into five themes (Giles, 2016):

• Demonstrating strong ethics and providing a sense of safety
• Empowering others to self-organize
• Openness to new ideas, and fostering organizational learning
• Efficient learning
• Nurturing growth
• Fostering a sense of connection and belonging

Effective LDPs are critical for both employees and employers in this new terrain of unpredictable rapid change. There is a need to anticipate these changes, find ways to cope with them and ensure our leaders are ready to handle them.

With the recent COVID-19 pandemic, leadership attributes will undergo testing. Only those with strong leadership competencies will survive the sudden change. The survival or disappearance of an organization during this turbulent time will depend on whether leaders exhibit these competencies.

One of the most effective leadership competencies needed during the pandemic is resilience. I, for one, tend to be resilient when I connect with my spirituality. I find myself sometimes in situations where I completely forget to execute my learning and understanding of effective leadership skills. In those times, I know it is my spirituality that kept me going. I prayed and asked for God’s wisdom to handle the difficult situations. I passionately believe resilience is one of the competencies that will test a leader’s effectiveness in these difficult times of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As an effective leader, the need to be humble and genuinely love our followers is critical. Rick Warren (2007) said, “Humility is thinking more of others. Humble people are so focused on serving others; they do not think of themselves.” Servant leadership is relevant but often ignored (Bernice et al., 2017).

Servant leadership means placing the good of others and the organization over the leader’s self-interest (Bernice et al., 2017).

In the pursuit to be effective leaders, it is critical to embrace our spirituality as “faith anchors leadership in deeply held belief about the world, people and the purpose of work” (Bernice et al., 2017). That faith motivates leaders to seek creative solutions to business challenges that typically do not exist in the typical day-to-day business practices (Bernice et al., 2017). During unforeseen and sudden changes such as the pandemic, so much unfamiliarity and uncertainty arise, making effective responses often lacking (Gemma & De Smet, 2020). COVID-19 has reminded us all that, as humans, we are not always in complete control of our situations. Instead, we all need to remember to seek resilience through spirituality to guide us through difficult times and not rely solely on our knowledge and competencies.

Author Bio

Nkem Onyegbula is a principal with CYNKON. He is responsible for providing change management services to his numerous clients. Prior to CYNKON, Nkem worked in Canada for Deloitte and the City of Edmonton. Onyegbula holds an MBA from the University of Tampa and a bachelor’s from the University of Lagos. He cherishes quality time with his wife and three kids.

References

D’Auria, Gemma, and Aaron, De Smet. “Leadership in a Crisis: Responding to the Coronavirus Outbreak and Future Challenges.” McKinsey & Company, Mar. 2020, www.mckinsey.com/business- functions/organization/our-insights/leadership-in-a-crisis-responding-to-the-coronavirus-outbreak-and-future- challenges.

Giles, Sunnie. “The Most Important Leadership Competencies, According to Leaders Around the World.” Harvard Business Review, 25 Oct. 2017, hbr.org/2016/03/the-most-important-leadership-competencies- according-to-leaders-around-the-world

Ledbetter, Bernice, et al. “Does Spirituality Make a Difference in Leadership? – Peer-Reviewed Academic Articles: GBR.” Graziadio Business Review | Graziadio School of Business and Management | Pepperdine University, 22 Feb. 2018, gbr.pepperdine.edu/2017/12/spirituality-make-difference-leadership/

Warren, Rick. The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here for, Rick Warren. Zondervan, 2007.

By Taylor Witiw

“What program can I finish in the shortest amount of time, that will give me the highest income when I am done (referred herein as -time/+money)?” This is the question that prospective students bring to my institute most frequently. It is a real question and always honest, but as a career development practitioner I still finding it striking every time I hear it. Something feels off. Experience suggests that focusing on this question primarily is not the most helpful step toward a preferred future. However, it is difficult to articulate what is missing and practitioners also strive to empower clients, or to let them lead. This is what many folks want to discuss in a session, sometimes exclusively. Since the -time/+money question is genuine, it is important that practitioners have an approach for working with it. Equally, it is important that practitioners understand what is off, so they can challenge clients toward growing their consciousness about the worlds they wish to create for themselves and those around them.

Recently in CERIC’s Careering magazine, I wrote about how practitioners can move toward a more contextual approach to working with clients. One of the reasons the time/+money question is problematic is it doesn’t address the specific values, interests, skills and goals of a client, let alone their social contexts. Discussions of income are necessary and inevitable when discussing most life goals, but they are not sufficient. Additionally, there is no clear answer for which post-secondary program or careers lead to the golden -time/+money ratio. Government resources such as alis.alberta.ca and jobbank.gc.ca offer valuable tools to help explore employment statistics, job posting and income data, but career paths are rarely linear. Further, these resources are limited in their ability to express the nuances of specific roles, promotions  and the opportunities of happenstance. Finally, the -time/+money question is challenging in its salience because it makes all other questions seem opaque and irrelevant: why?

A growing body of literature argues that clients and prospective students are trained to ask that question (Attick, 2017, Leech, 2012; Matheson & Matheson, 1996; Spring, 2015; Zibechi, 2010). Education systems increasingly undertake the immense task of preparing flexible “human capital” to enter job markets that are all too often unstable. Schools prepare each student to survive the turbulent economy by acting as a “homo economicus,” which frankly is a terrifying way to say an economically rational person. That is precisely what is expressed by the -time/+money question: economically rational clients who want to minimize the investment of time and other resources and maximize their profit. Folks want good value for the time, effort and money they spend, which is reasonable – but not in a way that makes other rationale obsolete. Economic logics, like scientific or other logics, are not sufficient for interpreting and organizing life in a humanizing way for the common good. In parallel, the psychologist Carl Rogers (1955) reminds us that science “is not an impersonal something, but simply a person living subjectively another phase of himself” (p. 278). This is also true of the economy so often mentioned in the news. Allowing one logic to dominate an entire decision-making process to the exclusion of all others is misguided and can be harmful. The question then becomes, how do we refocus career on the person?

There are often opportunities to redirect the -time/+money question in consciousness-raising ways, involving humanizing curiosity and question asking. We may ask the client, “What will that income mean for your life?” as a way of identifying the underlying purposes, values and interests of the client. This also demonstrates that “profit” is not the underlying aim, but a life the client wishes to lead. From there, it is possible to challenge whether -time/+money solutions truly offer the lives most worth living. While not an exhaustive guide, this is a place to begin examining a needful subject in career practice.

Author Bio

Taylor Witiw works as a supervisor for the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology’s Advising and Career Development Service for prospects, students and alumni. He is currently studying in the University of Alberta’s Master’s in Education Policy Program.

References

Attick, D. (2017). Homo economicus at school: Neoliberal education and teacher as economic being. Educational Studies , 53(1), 37-48.

Leech, G. (2012). Capitalism: A structural genocide. Zed Books.

Matheson , D. & Matheson , C. (1996). Lifelong learning and lifelong education: a critique. Research in Post-Compulsory Education , 1(2) , 219-236 .

Rogers , C. R. (1955). Persons or science? A philosophical question. American Psychologist, 10(7) , 267- 278.

Spring, J. (2014). Globalization of education: An introduction. Routledge.

Zibechi , R. (2010). The complex decolonization of the school. In L.Meyer & B. Alvarado (Eds.). New world of indigenous resistance : Noam Chomsky and voices from North, South, and Central America. City Lights Books (pp.315-330).

By Abdul-Rahim Abdulai

The Challenge of Agricultural Labour

The Canada Agricultural Human Resources Council has noted that no other sector in Canada faces as many labour challenges as the agriculture sector. The agency projects that, by 2029, nearly 123,000 jobs in agriculture are at risk of going unfilled. That will be equivalent to 32% of the total demand for labour in the sector, or roughly one in three jobs[i]. The surplus is expected to grow as the sector faces a rising number of retirements and fewer younger workers entering the labour force.

A previous study by the Ontario Agricultural College (OAC) confirmed that for each graduate entering into Ontario’s food and agricultural sector, about four jobs are available, a labour gap projected to grow in the future[ii]. With these gaps, a growing surplus of well-paid jobs exists in Canadian agriculture. As many such jobs go unfilled, a disjuncture between skills and labour availability is brought to bear.  While these jobs may include traditional farm work, the majority are in the new and emerging farm work requiring new digital and cognitive skills.

Opportunities from unknown to untapped

“You got to know something about farming. Not everybody can take some seed into the sand and make some good soil and grow crops successfully. It’s not always that easy, but I got a tool today that I didn’t have when I started farming. And a very good tool. When I was 19 years old, it didn’t exist, that wasn’t invented yet. Do you know what it is? The internet.” (Farmer 1)[iii]

The above excerpt from my interview with an old farmer in Newfoundland got me thinking about emerging changes in agriculture. The internet, with the power it presents for the development of novel tools, processes and activities in farming, heralds the beginning of a new age of agricultural work. Current changes are ushering in digital agriculture, or what RBC called the Farmer 4.0.[iv]

As agricultural work is increasingly associated with big data, the internet of things, drones and other smart systems, greater opportunities are created, yet unknown to many and untapped at best. The existing opportunities are avenues left untapped by the younger generation, who are increasingly detached from the farm and the realities of forward-looking agriculture. For instance, farmer 4.0 is innovative, highly skilled, data-driven and diverse. Youth are best known to represent these characteristics, which anchor the new skill requirements in agriculture.

Preparing the youth for future work in agriculture

The path to discovering and tapping into the opportunities of new farming methods require collaborative efforts to unveil current opportunities in agriculture to youth, while at the same time equipping them with the needed practical experiences and skills to access these opportunities. Multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary education must be at the core of higher education in Canada and beyond. Our current education program, which is largely anchored on discipline specificity, creates a disconnect between agriculture, technology, business and other critical sectors. Meanwhile, the practical world is experiencing increasing links between disciplines. Hence, institutions must adopt interdisciplinary approaches to create synergy among diverse skill requirements of modern agriculture. For example, new courses on digital agriculture could help bring ICT and agriculture closer to allow the younger generations to appreciate the growing connections between the two sectors.

Also, experiential learning opportunities are needed across educational stages. More co-op programs, and other models that allow students to engage with the industry and to experience what is out there, are essential in generating interest in agricultural careers. Only through such programs can the younger generation become exposed to experiences of the new ways of farming, ultimately growing their interest in the sector.

Author Bio

Abdul-Rahim Abdulai is a Ph.D. candidate at the Department of Geography, Environment and Geomatics at the University of Guelph, and affiliated with the Arrell Food Institute. Abdul-Rahim’s interest is in the future of agriculture, through workforce development and digital technological advancements. His research asks questions on motivating people to enter into agricultural workforce and mechanism to prepare youth for changing skill requirements triggered by emerging digital agricultural technologies.

References

[i] CAHRC (2019).  How Labour Challenges Will Shape the Future of Agriculture: Agriculture Forecast to 2029. https://cahrc-ccrha.ca/sites/default/files/National%20Report_Final%20-%20EN%202019%20reduced%20size.pdf

[ii] Ontario Agricultural College (2017) Ontario Agricultural College. Planning for Tomorrow 2.0

[iii] Abdulai, A. (2018). Motivating Future Farmers? Understanding Farmer Attraction and Retention Policy Interventions in Newfoundland and Labrador’s Agriculture. https://research.library.mun.ca/13375/

[iv] RBC (2019). Farmer 4.0. How the coming skills revolution can transform agriculture http://www.rbc.com/economics/economic-reports/pdf/other-reports/Farmer4_aug2019.pdf

By Colleen Knechtel

“We are still teaching students how to ride dinosaurs,” a career and technology studies teacher recently proclaimed in the career centre of a large urban high school. As there has been a shift from an industrial economy to a knowledge-technology society, wherein our ways of living, learning and working continue to adapt, employment opportunities for young people are less than favourable. Part of the issue is keeping pace in a rapidly changing, globally connected world. The focus in our schools is primarily on academic subjects of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), while at the same time there is a worrisome shortage of people with the skillsets to innovate and get things done. Education has not kept up with the far-reaching implications of a global world, and since it will be our young people who will be leading our way forward, we must urgently attend to educational reform, and in particular, the political binary that currently exists between academic and vocational education. It is our ethical obligation to do so.

As a scholar and career development educator, when I consider the survival of both our planet and our human species, I have come to understand that it is not simply the core subjects along with the advancement of scientific knowledge in universities that will create continuity of life; it is also those important skillsets of knowing how to build things and how to innovate in tangible ways that will keep humanity flourishing for years to come. In addition to saving our planet from ecological disaster, in a video (see reference list below), Aravena (2014), an architect, articulated very well our human needs in the next several decades; that is, finding innovative ways to house and feed our growing world population. To accomplish this, along with experiential learning opportunities, the development of specialized skillsets and creative minds are necessary to find our way forward.

In a knowledge-technology society, teachers need to be teaching hands-on skillsets as young people begin to solve real-life problems such as the ones in Aravena’s video. Most importantly, since many of us are deeply interconnected by technology, we must take thoughtful and meaningful steps to ensure that technology will not overcome our humanity and become the nemesis of our humanness. Given the complexities of our world, educational systems can no longer support the dichotomy of either/or education. We need, instead, to blend STEM with the vocational. Our education system is in need of interdisciplinary education with the purpose of engaging our creative young people to develop skillsets necessary to solve real-life problems. In the realm of education and career development, the main idea we now need to work through is how to bring closer together academic knowledge with vocational education to address the skills gap employers continue to see (for inspiration, see other videos in reference list below).

Illustrated in these videos are hands-on skillsets that invite us all to think more deeply about the value and importance of young people learning innovative, inquiry-based skills and knowledge – skillsets for artistry and craftsmanship that combine STEM knowledge, whereby core subjects merge together with vocational learning and innovation. Should we strive toward “purposefulness without purpose” (Kant) (Roberts, 1991), or do we want to lead and endeavour into purposeful exploration – that is, toward a goal? Being vocational involves goal-oriented exploration and discovery with purpose. Agency is our ‘response-ability’ to act in our world to make a difference. These ideals build on important concepts of economic resilience and social capital: the effective functioning of networks of relationships among people who live and work in a particular society with a shared sense of identity, norms and values built through trust, co-operation and reciprocity. In our world, interdisciplinarity and response-ability are what it means to be human and act in human ways, providing hope and possibilities for the future of our world and our youth.

Author Bio

A former employment counsellor with disability management expertise, Colleen Knechtel, MEd, Educational Policy Studies (2015), is currently a PhD student at the University of Alberta, and a CERIC GSEP committee member with research interests in career development in schools, wishing to understand how to make sense of the needs of secondary students as they explore their aspirations beyond high school.

References and Videos

Aravena, A. (2014). My architectural philosophy? Bring the community into the process [Video]. https://www.ted.com/talks/alejandro_aravena_my_architectural_philosophy_bring_the_community_into_the_process.

Buechley, L. (2011). How to “sketch” with electronics. [Video]. https://www.ted.com/talks/leah_buechley_how_to_sketch_with_electronics?language=en

Hammond, R. (2011). Building a park in the sky [Video]. https://www.ted.com/talks/robert_hammond_building_a_park_in_the_sky#t-12664 

Hood, W. (2018). How urban spaces can preserve history and build community [Video]. https://www.ted.com/talks/walter_hood_how_urban_spaces_can_preserve_history_and_build_community

Rao, A. (2013). Art that craves your attention. [Video].  https://www.ted.com/talks/aparna_rao_art_that_craves_your_attention

Roberts, D. (1991). Art and enlightenment: Aesthetic theory after Adorno. University of Nebraska Press.

By Luciana Martins Alves

In Canada, 14.9% of women live with disability (Statistics Canada, 2012), of which 13.4% reported unemployment (Statistics Canada, 2011); 5.6% of Canadian women living without disability reported unemployment (Statistics Canada, 2011). This unbalance in unemployment rates between women with disability (WWD) and women without disability denotes a problem that requires attention from academics, policy makers, corporations and society in general. So, to address this issue academically, this paper uses the human development (HD) and stakeholder theories.

HD 

HD is the theory that studies human development throughout the life span using the lenses of human capability (Osami, 2017). It is premised on analyzing inequalities and iniquities (eg, between men and women) (Baru, 1998; HOR, 1996), as well as generating environmental conditions for people to expand their choices by using their innate and acquired capabilities. Examples of choice include healthier life, education and resources to a decent standard of living. Examples of using innate and acquired capabilities include leisure and being culturally, socially and politically active (Baru, 1998; HOR, 1996). In other words, HD theory defines well-being as the generation of environmental conditions for individuals to develop the “ability to live well across all spheres of life” (Clark, 2005, p.1340). Therefore, the HD theory is grounded on: strategic organizational planning and corporate social responsibility (CSR) (Freeman, I984), and the academic theoretical framework of stakeholder theory is founded on: “strategic management, human resources management, public policy, business, ethics and CSR” (Freeman, et al, 2010).

In summary, HD and stakeholder theories premises comprehend the importance of analyzing societal problem of inequalities and iniquities and are used in this paper to advocate for the relevance of considering WWD as corporate stakeholders. Therefore, consider their interest and generate an inclusive workplace environment for them to use their innate and acquired capabilities to expand their choices. Thus, acknowledge the right of WWD to well-being.

Author Bio

Luciana Martins Alves is a doctoral candidate in Human Development at McGill University and is currently creating a consulting business that will offer its services to companies that have employees with disability. Luciana has research interests broadly in work inclusion for women with disability, human development and stakeholder theory.

References

Argandona, A. (1998). The stakeholder theory and the common good. Journal of Business Ethics 17 (9): 1093-102.

Baru, S. (1998). Mahbub ul Haq and Human Development: A Tribute. Economic and Political Weekly, 33(35), 2275- 2279.

Clark, D. (2005). Sen’s capability approach and the many spaces of human well-being. Journal of Development Studies, 41(8 ), 1339-1368. doi:10.1080/00220380500186853

Mainardes, E. W., Alves, H., & Raposo, M. (2011). Stakeholder theo ry: Issues to resolve .

Management Decision , 49(2), 226-252. https://doi.org/10.1108/00251741111109133

Osmani, S. R. (2017). The Capability Approach and Human Development: Some Reflections (2016 UNDP Human Development Report Think Piece) , 24. Retrieved March 21st, 2019 from http:hdr.undp.orgsitesdefault/filesosmanitemplatepd!

Phillips, R.A. (2003). Stakeholder theory and organizational ethics. San Francisco, Berrett­ Koehler Publishers.

Statistics Canada (2012). Women with disability. Retrieved December 4th 2018 from https://www.150.statcan.gc.ca/nl/pub/89-503-x/201 500l/articlc/14695-eng.htm

Statistics Canada (2011). Persons with disability and employment. Retrieved  December 4t  h, 2018 from https://www.150.statcan.gc.ca/nl/pub/75-006-x/20 1400I/article/14115-eng.htm

Wicks, A.C. and Freeman, R.E. (1998). Organization studies and the new pragmatism: Positivism, anti-positivism , and the search for ethics. Organization Science, 9. 123- 140.

Wicks , A.C., Gilbe rt, D.R. and Freeman, R.E. (1994). A feminist reinterpretation of the stakeholder concept. Business Ethics Quarterly 4 (4): 475-497.