Trends in Texas Technical Education
Posted by Cori Weyhe on March 26, 2009
Texas Two-Year College Technical Education Trends is a PowerPoint presentation by Michael Bettersworth, Associate Vice Chancellor for Technology Advancement at Texas State Technical College. Originally presented at a biotech conference hosted last year by Southwestern University in Georgetown, TX, the PowerPoint traces key trends in colleges over the past decade. It demonstrates how students benefit from attending a two-year college, especially when interested in entering an emerging technology field, such as the ones listed below. Bettersworth predicts that these areas of technology will elicit large amounts of interest and research in the near future:
- Avionics
- Airframe and Powerplant
- Pilot and Instructor Certification
- Automation and Robotics
- Mechanical Engineering
- Nanotechnology
- Laser Optics
- Process and Instrumentation
- Mechatronics
- Industrial Engineering
- Chemical/Environmental
In particular, the presentation emphasizes the importance of a technical education by showing that emerging technology fields require a combination of skills–that is, job mergers–that have previously been isolated to one area of technology. An example of this, as shown in the presentation, is a wind turbine technician who must have the skills of a lineman, an oil field technician and a farm mechanic. By being educated as a technician a student can not only become proficient in varied sets of skills, but can also gain the skills necessary as a stepping stone for specific careers, such as a registered nurse or an emergency medical technician.
As well as laying the foundation for a solid career, two-year colleges are able to give students a well-rounded education. The presentation shows both that employers are now requiring post-secondary training more than ever before and that two-year colleges are receiving more awards in all areas, not just technical education, than they have in previous years. One graph draws the conclusion that “a rising trend of openings suggests that job opportunities may be growing faster than qualified candidates are being found to fill them.” With this in mind, students who are interested in attaining a thorough, specialized education and joining the workforce sooner rather than later may find exactly what they are looking for through technical education at a two-year college.
