Collaborative Research: TRANSFORM: TRANSFORMing liberal arts careers to meet demand for advanced manufacturing workforce

与工程等技术专业不同，非技术专业的失业率很高;社会科学专业毕业生的失业率为8.9%，文科专业毕业生的失业率为9.4%。这些新近毕业的大学生中有很高比例的人失业或就业不足，这对我们国家的经济活力是个问题。在这个项目中，东北大学和MassBay社区学院合作实施了一个创新的转型模式，以重组文科大学毕业生的技能组合，为他们在制造业的职业生涯做好准备。该项目使目标人群能够进入先进的制造业工作，否则由于全国缺乏合格的求职者而无法填补。“转型”计划还提高了代表性不足群体成员对制造业职业的认识。“转型”模式采用了有关组成部分（政府、工业和技术教育提供者）之间分担负担的方法。模块化，12个月的快速通道课程的转型计划包括课程和实习。以行业为本的实习计划为学生提供以项目为本的学习经验，以促进学生的职业过渡。TRANSFORM为文科毕业生提供可扩展的教学证明的制造课程，可以在地方，区域和国家层面以及能源等其他部门复制。社交媒体被广泛用于接触文科毕业生。本项目的三个指导性评估问题是：1）与准备目标人群自信和有能力进入制造业劳动力相关的自我效能的适当模型是什么？2)该计划的各个组成部分是否成功地为目标人群进入制造业劳动力市场做好了准备？3)长期维持该方案需要哪些机构能力？

Unlike technical majors such as engineering, unemployment among non-technical majors is high; 8.9% for Social Sciences and 9.4% for Liberal Arts graduates. Unemployment or underemployment of a high percentage of these recent college graduates is problematic for the economic vitality of our nation. These students do not contribute to the nation's economic growth through either their intellectual skills or their spending power.In this project, Northeastern University and MassBay Community College are collaboratively implementing an innovative TRANSFORM model to retool the skill set of liberal arts college graduates to prepare them for careers in manufacturing. The project is enabling the targeted population to step into the advanced manufacturing jobs that otherwise go unfilled due to shortage of qualified job seekers nationwide. The TRANSFORM program is also increasing the awareness of manufacturing careers among members of underrepresented groups.The TRANSFORM model is using the share-the-burden approach among the concerned constituents (government, industry and technical education providers). The modular, 12-month fast-track curriculum of the TRANSFORM program includes courses and internships. The industry-based internships are providing students with project-based learning experience to facilitate students' career transition. TRANSFORM is offering a scalable pedagogically proven manufacturing curriculum for liberal arts graduates that can be replicated at the local, regional, and national levels, and in other sectors such as energy. Social media is being used to reach out to liberal arts graduates on a broad scale.The three guiding evaluation questions for this project are:1) What is an appropriate model of self-efficacy associated with preparing the target population to confidently and capably enter the manufacturing workforce?2) Do the various components of the program successfully prepare the target population to enter the manufacturing workforce?3) What institutional capacities are needed to sustain the program over time?