Applied Learning
By Aparna Mele, MD
Whether you are a young high school student going directly into a trade, a college student trying to get a leg up in their career path, or a US worker looking to enter a new industry, applied learning applies to all!
Apprenticeships and paid internships have been documented throughout history and are referenced in cultures old and new across the world. These avenues provide practical experience for beginners in a given occupation or profession and integrate classroom knowledge and theory with practical application and skills and are an excellent way for an individual to learn a new skill and gain hands-on experience and improving their marketability, while also often receiving more than fair compensation for their work. More importantly, these programs lead to increased employee retention and job satisfaction.
Why did I write this article? Since the pandemic, there has been a widely shifting work force with many workers entering and leaving various industries at a quick pace and expressing a general dissatisfaction with their jobs. A study from economists Mark Aguiar and Erik Hurst estimated that in 1965 men with less education worked more hours, but that trend has reversed and now it appears that higher earners tend to work more. By 2003, educated men worked five hours more a week than men without a high school degree. And that’s still true. In 2003, men with a high school education or less worked 3.6% fewer hours than more educated men; in 2018 the gap narrowed a bit to 1.6%. And perhaps the gap has now shrunk even more: since the pandemic, educated men are now most likely to be the quiet quitters in their office. The benefit of less work is more leisure time. Men’s leisure hours increased almost 20% between 1965 and 2003. Women got 10% more leisure, though after rising it started declining again in the 1990s, as helicopter parenting took hold and women spent more time caring for their children. Now working women spend nearly twice as much time with their children as they did in the 1960s.
Now a post pandemic trend has developed with people working less and still feeling burned out. How could this happen if people are working less and have more leisure time than previous generations? We can speculate that even in ‘leisure’, people are never getting a genuine break. Parents spend much more time with childcare than in previous generations. Leisure time may also no longer be as restorative, as we tend to use much of the time staring at screens and playing head rushing video games, with less time reading and spending quality time outside and with others. It has been shown that these trends are strongly associated with increased anxiety and discontent. Now with many working from home, technology permeates our lives, and we are isolated and non-interactive, and I think this lack of connectivity to one’s work and workplace is leading to decreased employee morale and lower mental investment in an commitment to a company/business/industry/trade.
If we went back to encouraging applied learning for workers as early as possible, we can cultivate loyal employees who are committed to their jobs and invested in upward mobility and growth within a company. The apprenticeship “learn and earn” model provides a win-win relationship. Businesses benefit from the apprentices’ skills, while apprentices gain hands-on knowledge and expertise to help them advance their careers in a specific field. The model can be used in many different industries as an effective tool for employers to find and nurture practiced labor and for apprentices to improve their skill sets and progress in a certain occupation.
Apprenticeships and internships can be a pathway to a long-term career or a career change. They are both a job and a hands-on learning experience, and help employees gain skills and qualifications, while earning a decent wage on the path up the work chain to a higher position. Having an internship gives you experience in the career field you want to pursue. Not only does this give individuals an edge over other candidates when applying for jobs, but it also prepares them for what to expect in their field and increases confidence in their work. Through an apprenticeship, you have direct access to individuals who can help answer questions including back-end and aspects and insider perspectives of the job and industry and show you how to perform a skill and help you perfect techniques. Internships help you learn all about workplace culture, employee relations, and leadership structure and also have the added benefit of professional recommendations, resume-worthy experience, and networking opportunities. These are built-in career advancement opportunities! Graduating seniors who applied for a full-time job and participated in an internship received 20% more job offers than those without internship experience (NACE, 2019 Study). Internships allow you to work toward a promotion and provide real on-the-job training to advance you to management, so you can learn your company’s specific operations, preferences, and leadership styles for consistency and your best chance at success. Needed soft skills, such as communication, leadership, problem-solving, and teamwork can all be learned through an internship and utilized beyond that experience and in leadership positions.
Completing an apprenticeship allows workers to earn a higher income than job seekers in similar positions. When you graduate from an apprenticeship program, you get a certified credential that employers across the United States recognize and accept. And best of all, according to data from the US Department of Labor, over 90% of people who complete an apprenticeship remain employed after nine months’ time, and that individuals stay devoted to companies that are willing to invest in them and help them grow.
So how do workers find job satisfaction, connectivity, and connection to their workplace, and how do employers find and keep loyal, productive, and highly motivated employees who are willing to learn an acquired and specialized skill set while committing to a trade and staying with their company? On-the-job learning reinforces what you see in the classroom and teaches invaluable skills like time management, communication, working with others, problem-solving, and, most importantly, the willingness to learn. For employers, you can build relationships with future partners and create a pipeline of high quality and highly motivated future employees. Let’s encourage applied learning and bring back the employee to the workplace!
