The "T-Shaped" Professional

I recently attended a presentation by Rich Feller PhD, current president of the National Career Development Association. While both provocative and entertaining, Dr. Feller’s presentation revolved around the necessity of developing quality career and technical educational programs to serve the so-called “forgotten half”, the more than 60 percent of adults who do not obtain a 4 year degree. Rich sited a 2009 Harvard Study entitled “Pathways to Prosperity” that articulated a greater emphasis on career and technical education, as well as, technical job training and apprenticeships would better serve America’s youth.  Doctor Feller contextualized the report by emphasizing that the enduring “college for all” mantra should be expanded to a more explicit, albeit less alliterate, mantra of “meaningful post secondary credential, regardless of level of degree or certificate, for all”.

Those of us who work in higher education, particularly at the community college level, are very well aware of the importance of career and technical education. The jobs of the 21st century require higher skilled workers who not only possess strong technical skills, but also well-developed critical thinking and quantitative reasoning abilities, to mention a few.  At the K-12 level, most states have adopted a set of common core standards that are the foundational metrics for defining the somewhat esoteric definition of “post-secondary and workforce ready”.  Additionally, Colorado has developed initiatives such as the Colorado Workforce Development Council (CWDC) to better “align the efforts of economic development, education/training, workforce development, government and business stakeholders at the local, regional and state levels”.  While I agree that students need to be proficient and well versed in industry and business related skills, I fear that the importance of a more traditional liberal arts pathway could become further eroded and deemphasizing, or at the very least reserved for the more socio-economically advantaged student. 

The Colorado career cluster model attempts to convey the relevance and importance of having career and post secondary skills (read: qualities of liberal arts classes / programs) at a person’s core. However, another model I was introduced to a few years back has proven helpful to me in conveying to students what an effective worker will need to look like and what skills they will need to acquire in order to stay relevant in a rapidly changing world. Dr. Phil Gardner, who directs Michigan State University’s College Employment Research Institute (CERI), has been developing and expanding on the concept of the “T-Shaped Professional.” While this concept was originally pioneered in the business and engineering fields, Dr. Gardner believes that all professions require “T-shaped” professionals.  He also links the concept of the “T-shaped” professional with the larger idea of the idea of the “adaptive innovator”. What energizes me most about this particular model is the inclusion of traditional liberal arts programs or classes that complement the technical proficiency aspects of the “T-Shaped" professional.

So what is a “T-shaped” professional exactly? Simply put the student, worker, professional, employee and employer is someone who has deep content knowledge and, hopefully, passion in one particular discipline or “system”. Examples of systems include food production, water security, education, health, etc.  This deep system or disciplinary / technical knowledge represents the “I”, or stem of the "T". The top bar of the "T" represents trans-disciplinary knowledge or what I construe to be the traditional liberal arts qualities that enhances a student's ability to critically think, communicate and develop creatively.   By acquiring both the stem and the top bar, a "T-shaped" professional (adaptive innovator) can then apply this deep knowledge across multiple systems effectively; thereby, being better poised to create solutions, or at minimum, help to better define a problem. This "T-shaped” professional model has continued to resonate strongly with me and, I believe, is a helpful visual model that represents and expresses why both  technical and liberal arts education are both important in the 21st century workplace.