I read two articles from the Chronicle: "Beyond Super and Ill-Prepared Students, How About Some With Creativity?" And "To: Professors; Re: Your Advisees" .
The main point is that through our graduate education we are prepped and trained on how to finish a project for our advisors, how to publish, write a thesis or desertions and how to defend that. But are we trained for the work place or are we not? I agree with both articles we are not quite there, we are not prepared for what awaits us in the industry. I am talking about working out there and not staying in the academy. See we do have the skills for manual labor, but do we have the creativity needed to bring fresh ideas to your coworkers. That is what is asked of you and not what you are taught as PhD or MS student (follow my ideas and hypothesis on this project, make it work and then you will be published and present your results). The industry is no longer interested in only how much we know, they are ready for us to come up with new ideas, risk things so that we get the wanted results and not following years old protocols.
Both great articles, and a relevant topic for us to think about. I would agree that we are probably not prepared so much for work outside of academia, or even within academia for that matter in some ways. There are other important things that every future professional has to learn, regardless of degree or field of study (e.g., how to construct a CV, write a grant application or job application letter, etc.). While I don't expect faculty advisors to "coddle" their students and do these things for them, I would suspect that part of their commitment to a grad student is to mentor them in their chosen field and help prepare them for whatever path they want to take, even if that path is not academia. I would say that the "To:Professor" advisor is not the norm (at least in my experience)- there are many involved advisors who are good mentors and facilitate learning for their students beyond the thesis/dissertation. But those that don't embrace the opportunity are leaving their students in a tough spot, especially in a struggling and competitive job market. That said, students should also be seeking out that mentor relationship, even if it's not with their advisor (maybe another committee member, etc.) to prepare themselves for the workforce. It's a two way street.
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