Jennifer Oddo, Executive Director of the Division of Workforce Education and Innovation at Youngstown State University
July 2021 | 00:21:11
Episode 28 Transcript, Show Notes, and Podcast Feedback Survey
Before Jennifer Oddo became Executive Director of the Division of Workforce Education and Innovation at Youngstown State University, she spent a significant amount of time at IBM, where she helped them create their competency-based IT apprenticeship program, focused on “new-collar” jobs.
Many know apprenticeships in the trades and construction industry and they’ve had a lot of success in those areas. But what many don’t realize is that IBM, along with other companies like Amazon, Microsoft, Bosch, T-Mobile, and other organizations have really dusted off this program to reinvent them in the IT world… taking that competency-based approach…We also recognize that many of our academic institutions, frankly, can’t keep up with the pace of change and the pace of skill changes that are happening in the industry.
… some research out there actually states that the half-life of a new skill earned today is only about three to five years. So think about that. What colleges are teaching today, those skills are going to diminish in their value in less than three years. So, we really had to come up with different strategies to get more people participating in the future of jobs and industries and in advanced manufacturing, and IT, cybersecurity, and other related industries.
