Workforce Readiness

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Informed by our Geoscience Career Master's Preparation study, this page serves as a resource for departments, students, recent graduates and early-career professionals to connect the dots between what is taught and learned in Master's degree programs and what is desired for workforce readiness. 

1. Download or purchase the Geoscience Career Master's Preparation Survey Report here!

  • Students: Results of the study may be helpful for current students, recent graduates and job seekers to identify which competencies are most important for employment outside of an academic setting.  Check out what non-academic professionals say are vital to their geoscience careers and compare your experience with what is desired by employers for a workforce-ready new hire.  

  • Administrators and faculty may find results helpful for understanding student influences, career goals and preparation to compare to your own academic programs. It may be helpful for recruitment and marketing strategies, reforming courses or curriculum to be aligned with workforce demand, or for understanding emerging trends regarding employment of recent Master's graduates. 

  • Non-academic professionals may find the report helpful in understanding how some of our Master's programs are preparing their graduates for employment outside of academia.   

2. Wondering what competencies are most important in the geologic and geographic professions? Curious to see how Master's programs have prepared students for these skills? Check out our new "Patterns of Discord" infographics. 

Geology and Geography Competencies Infographic
AGI

3. Likert-style Survey Templates for Program/Department Evaluations

Administrators and faculty, are you looking for a way to assess your academic programs or courses? Are you wondering how well prepared your students are in the important skills needed for non-academic employment? We have created Likert-style survey templates for departments to refine and use for their own program evaluations.  We have templates that are aligned with traditional Geology Programs, Geography Programs and Hybrid Geology-Geography Programs. There are three different survey files available for download for each type of department. 

  1. Departmental Experiences Survey: This survey is recommended for Administrators, or Heads or Chairs of departments to assess faculty perspectives of their students' preparation in non-technical skills and the types of positions their students secure after graduation. It also has a set of questions investigating faculty satisfaction with their program or department. This file also contains a survey template designed for faculty to investigate students' experiences within a program or department. It contains questions about financial support, program satisfaction, students' career aspirations and their preparation regarding non-technical competencies.

    Office spreadsheet icon Download the Departmental Experiences Survey Template here

  2. Technical Competencies for Faculty Survey: This survey is recommended for Administrators, or Heads or Chairs of departments to assess faculty perspectives of their students' preparation in technical Geology or Geography skills and the types of positions their students secure after graduation.  This file contains survey templates designed for Geology programs, Geography programs and Hybrid Geology-Geography programs.  

    Office spreadsheet icon Download the Technical Competencies for Faculty Survey Template here

  3. Technical Competencies for Students Survey: This template is designed for faculty to investigate students' preparation regarding technical competencies in either a Geology, Geography or Hybrid Geology-Geography program.

    Office spreadsheet icon Download the Technical Competencies for Students Survey Template here