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Millennial grads not getting the critical thinking skills they need

SOURCE: businesscomputingworld.com

SOURCE: businesscomputingworld.com

Critical thinking skills, the ability to properly establish a question about a particular subject and then formulate going about answering those questions, are one of the most valuable tools anyone can have. Especially in the workplace. Research done at the University of Washington a couple of months ago found that most recent grads exclaimed that they simply received no training in critical thinking at all while in college.

The researchers talked with over 1,600 recent college graduates and found that only 27% of them had any idea at all as to how to develop critical thinking skills. The remaining two thirds stated that they had to somehow learn these skills on their own and while at their jobs. This can become a serious future concern to American businesses as critical thinking skills are critical to the success of a company as well as to the success of a individual’s career.

The ability to critically think and problem solve has become a keystone for modern businesses as many of today’s companies are finding that they have to produce more work with fewer employees and teams to do the work. To prevent burnout, many companies have taken the initiative to train their employees on recognizing problems and critically evaluating solutions.

What recent grads have stated that they need the most training in is problem solving skills, interpersonal communication and more knowledge with regard to both desktop and laptop computers. Nearly 85% of recent grads interviewed by the researchers said that had recently gone to a co-worker for help with one of these challenges.

As companies put more and more pressure on their employees and teams to produce beyond their capacities at times, just being technology savvy is not going to cut. Organizational skills, people skills, and problem solving abilities must be strengthened if a company is to succeed and a personal career is to thrive.

Since teachers are not regularly exposed to the business world, it will be up to American businesses to work in partnership with the colleges and universities in the future. Today’s companies will find Millennials are highly motivated and tend to be quite passionate about what they do. What they do need to succeed, at this point, is some additional training that will end up benefiting everyone.