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Getting Back to the American Dream

Wednesday, June 22, 2022

Nicholas Pinchuk, CEO of Snap-on Tools in Milwaukee, has a message. Actually he has a few. He spoke at the Coalition for Career Development Center’s Career Readiness Summit in May. His first two messages articulate what he sees as the foundation of the American economy, and career and technical education is at the root of it.

First, says Pinchuk, “the American Dream has always been the ability to keep your family warm and safe and dry, and to have pride and dignity in what you do.”

His second message is that “American ascendance is based on the brilliance of the few and the efforts of the many.” These two groups are mutually dependent. We need only to think about what it took for Americans to land on the moon, to find treatments for deadly diseases, to build our greatest institutions, and to keep our society running during a pandemic. It required the brilliance of more than one person and the efforts of thousands in every case.

Barriers and CTE Course Corrections

“People who are technically educated rose to create the substrate that allowed our society to maintain itself,” says Pinchuk. He insists it is still our strength and that “upskilling the American workforce” is critical to maintaining America’s dominance in the global economy.

Yet today, one of the barriers to realizing the American Dream, he says, amounts to an attitude problem. “We’ve lost the respect for the dignity of work, and we need to restore it.” Take the moon-landing example: Every person on the team is critical. “They are doing something special. We want to help them do that something special.”

Career and technical education (CTE) is at the center of this idea. Wisconsin’s Academic and Career Planning (ACP) is a big step in the right direction. ACP can help students learn who they are, what they like and don’t like, and explore careers that may ignite a passion within them. It lays the groundwork for students to identify a career path.

Yet the first barrier has spawned another: The push for all students to get a university degree. The ratio of jobs in our economy to postsecondary education is 1:2:7, according to “Success in the New Economy.” That is, “for every occupation that requires a master’s degree or more, approximately two professional jobs require a bachelor’s degree, and there are over half a dozen jobs requiring a one-year certificate or a two-year degree, and each of these technicians are in high-skilled areas that are in high demand” (think: X-ray technician, dental hygienist, auto technician, etc.). The ratio is expected to be the same in 2040.

Pinchuk suggests we need to find the balance again, and the numbers back him up. Almost 75 percent of students who go to college will drop out before they earn a bachelor’s degree, leaving them without a career and in debt. Yet, if that 75 percent had earned an associate’s degree or a certification and had learned a skill, “they’d have a much better life and a much more satisfying life,” says Pinchuk.

His solution? Business, education, and community colleges [or technical colleges] need “to try to match the curriculum to what the local businesses actually need.” This is Wisconsin’s solution as well. Regional career pathways bring these sectors together to create the pathway maps that act as runways for our students’ American Dreams. With the help of ACP career advising and career pathway maps, students can readily see how their interests and skills can lead to valued careers requiring a variety of postsecondary education.

“Our strength has always been that we can make and fix things,” says Pinchuk. He suggests we play to our strength and support career and technical education.