Beyond Learning: Leveraging Undergraduate Research into Marketable Workforce Skills

Abstract

Learning outcomes can structure and enhance the under- graduate research experience, building skills such as criti- cal thinking/problem solving, communication, and team- work/collaboration. These skills often correspond to what employers desire in their recruitment of recent college graduates: students possess career competencies that result from undergraduate research and prepare them for the workforce. However, students do not necessarily recog- nize the value of undergraduate research for workforce preparation, recognize how their research experience has prepared them, and/or are unable to fully articulate their preparedness. The authors discuss the value of integrat- ing learning outcomes across the college experience to enhance undergraduate research and career readiness. They detail the implementation of an integrated model within a primarily undergraduate institution and suggest strategies to best leverage undergraduate research for workforce preparation.