Gateway to the Future
Gateway to the Future: Skill Standards for the Bioscience Industry is published by Education Development Center, Inc. It contains a complete set of skill standards and a chart of all the specific tasks performed [pdf] by a range of beginning level technical occupations in pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, as well as university and government research and clinical laboratories. The occupations are in manufacturing, research and development, and clinical diagnostics. The standards were developed and validated by technicians, supervisors, and managers from over 100 bioscience industry workplaces. The book also contains information about the specific skills, knowledge, and attributes required [pdf] for work in the bioscience industry; the tools and equipment used [pdf]; assessment and certification measures; and guidelines for using the standards in programs to train people to work in the bioscience industry. The skills, knowledge, and attributes are correlated with the skill standards [pdf].
Goals and Guiding Principles
Five principles guided the process of creating and implementing the National Bioscience Industry Skill Standards.
- Industry, labor, and education must work together to ensure work-related education prepares people for requirements of real-life work.
- Experienced workers are the experts in regard to their jobs and can identify the work performed in their occupations and required skills, knowledge, and behaviors.
- People should be prepared for a "Learning Occupation," which encompasses skills and knowledge needed for a number of related occupations throughout the industry. This opens up a broad range of work opportunities and makes people more adaptable for various jobs in an organization.
- "Integrated Skill Standards," rather than compartmentalized, task-focused skill standards, are needed to prepare people for real-life work. Integrated Skill Standards place duties and tasks, and the know-how needed to perform them, in the context of real work scenarios that require decision-making and problem solving.
- School-and work-based learning should begin in the elementary grades where real-life work applications are incorporated into academic subjects and students learn in schools and in work-based settings.
The Integrated Skill Standards Format
Each of the 34 Integrated Skill Standards contains the following components:
- A scenario presenting a real-life work situation and including a routine procedure and an unanticipated problem the student must master
- The workplace setting in which the scenario would occur-research and development, manufacturing, clinical laboratories, or generic (applicable to all settings)
- Key competency areas representing the Bioscience Technical Specialist 1’s major areas of responsibility within the context of the scenario
- Tasks for performing routine procedures, which must be mastered to successfully perform the scenario’s routine procedure
- Tasks for solving problems, which must be mastered to solve the scenario's problem
- Skills, knowledge, and attributes (general and industry- specific) necessary to master the scenario's routine procedure and problem
- Tools and equipment routinely used by technical specialists in bioscience work
View an example of an integrated skill standard.
Who Can Use the Integrated Skill Standards?
The Integrated Skill Standards have been designed to assist employers, educators, and current and future workers.
Employers. The standards will guide employers as they interview prospective employees, assess the readiness of current employees to move to higher positions, develop (in partnership with educators) programs to prepare future employees, and conduct in-house training.
The acceptance of Integrated Skill Standards by employers will require that traditional job descriptions and evaluations shift their emphasis from time spent in school to what a person knows and can do in the work setting. This includes "connecting" skills such as problem solving, decision-making, teamwork, and resource management.
Educators. The standards will serve as benchmarks for educators to create and continuously update education/training programs and performance criteria that meet current and evolving labor market needs. This will ensure that students are prepared for skilled occupations with career opportunities and/or for advanced education and training.
Widespread adoption of integrated Skill Standards by educators will require modification of traditional task-focused teaching and assessment to include project- and team-based learning, work experience, emphasis on problem solving, and integration of academic and work-related learning.
Labor Unions, Current and future workers who need training or retraining. The standards will help workers understand what they must know and be able to do to enter or advance in the bioscience industry. Program graduates will receive joint certification from education and industry-portable credentials that recognize their academic and technical mastery and are acknowledged by employers throughout the country.
For additional information or to order copies, contact Nancy Fournier at nfournier@edc.org |
