|
Reich said programs like hers give students "a leg up" once they get in the real world. "It's definitely a big plus," she said. Rhode Island has been hit harder by the recession than many states, undergoing a difficult transition from an economy historically made up of low-tech, low-skill manufacturing and service jobs to a "knowledge" economy centered on IT, bioscience and health care and other such fields. Take the old Jewelry District in downtown Providence. It's been rebranded the Knowledge District, envisioned as a life sciences hub. But fulfilling that vision is years off. Keith Stokes, executive director of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corp., notes that the 19-acre parcel is a stone's throw from south Providence, home to the kind of lower-income, minority population that's been disproportionately affected by the skills gap. But it might as well be "on the other side of the Grand Canyon," Stokes said. "We held on too long to these low-wage, low-skill industries, and we didn't make the strategic long-term investments in education," he said. "We're playing a bit of catch-up. It's critical for us to be able to catch up and accelerate." Part of the problem is the dropout rate. In Rhode Island, for every 100 students who start high school, only 73 will graduate, according to Ray DiPasquale, president of the Community College of Rhode Island. That puts the state slightly above the national average of about 72 percent. But of those 73 who graduate in Rhode Island, 40 will enter college. And of that number, just 21 earn a degree. At CCRI, the on-time graduation rate is only 9.8 percent, in part because the vast majority of its nearly 18,000 students require remedial coursework. The national rate is 15 percent. The skills gap is already taking an economic toll. Some businesses spend tens of thousands of dollars to "skill up" new employees. Leaving positions unfilled is hardly better. Understaffed firms, particularly small ones, can't deliver goods as fast as they need to or take on new customers. The problem is likely to become even more acute as the economy picks up. "If we don't address this skills problem, American businesses will lack the world-class work force needed to compete at a global level, and many Americans will remain out of work, instead of accessing the high quality jobs of today and tomorrow," said Penny Pritzker, a Chicago business executive who is advisory board chair of the Aspen Institute's skills gap campaign. It took Ultra Scientific's Russo more than half a year to fill one of those jobs. Until recently, he couldn't find anyone to operate a specialized piece of equipment that performs high-pressure liquid chromatography, a technique that separates compounds in a solution. But his firm's gain represents an economic loss to the state: The Ph.D. Russo is hiring is coming from Thermo Fisher Scientific, which is shuttering its manufacturing facility in east Providence.
[Associated
Press;
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.
News | Sports | Business | Rural Review | Teaching & Learning | Home and Family | Tourism | Obituaries
Community |
Perspectives
|
Law & Courts |
Leisure Time
|
Spiritual Life |
Health & Fitness |
Teen Scene
Calendar
|
Letters to the Editor