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Research Blog #8: Case

For my case, I have chosen to use Rutgers University as an example of how American universities have shifted from a more traditional, liberal arts focus to a more career-focused education, and how this affects and improves employability of American college graduates.

What is employability? This term refers to qualities of a person that make them suitable to gain and maintain employment at a given company or position. It is suggested that universities in America are producing graduates that are much more employable than graduates of European universities. This means that the American schools have a heavier focus on preparing students for their careers during their time in college than European schools do, and while this means less emphasis on classwork, it ends up setting students for success in the long-term. According to Times Higher Education's World University Rankings, 6 out of the 10 top universities for employability after graduation are in the United States (link 1 below).

Rutgers University provides a great example of an institution that is working on shifting from a more traditional, European model of education, to a more modern, career-focused emphasis. In 2006, Rutgers enacted the Transformation of Undergraduate Education, which combined the four existing liberal arts colleges (Rutgers College, Douglass College, Livingston College, and University College) into the School of Arts and Sciences, which places a heavier focus on science, technology, and the arts all together. Research has also been put at the forefront of education, encouraging undergraduate students to partake in research, and even requiring it for some majors. In 2019, Rutgers was ranked 27th in the nation for employability and 131st in the world (link 2 below). Overall, Rutgers resides just within the top 20% of universities in the United States (link 3 below)

As a counter case, I decided to choose a university in Germany to compare to Rutgers. In order to make a more accurate comparison, I wanted to choose a university that also ranked around the top 20%, so I have chosen the University of Göttingen, ranked at #11 (link 4 below). Göttingen ranks slightly higher on the list than Rutgers as far as employability goes (it comes in at #102), but this university has a slightly higher emphasis on the arts and humanities and a less technological focus.

1. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/student/best-universities/best-universities-graduate-jobs-global-university-employability-ranking
2. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/student/best-universities/graduate-employability-top-universities-united-states-ranked-employers#survey-answer
3. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/rankings/united-states/2020#!/page/0/length/25/sort_by/rank/sort_order/asc/cols/stats
4. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/student/best-universities/best-universities-germany

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