Major Components:

(1) Developing a competency model for professional geography

(2) Analyzing departmental cultures and climates

(3) Publishing professional development resources for academic professionals

Phase 1 (April 2005 - December 2009: $1,021,369)

Phase 2 (August 2009 - 2012 $993,031)

Major Components:

(1) Preparation of geographers for careers in business, government, and nonprofit organizations

(2) Analyzing labor markets for geographers

(3) Publishing professional development resources for business, government, and nonprofit professionals

Funded by the National Science Foundation

Assess discipline-specific and general competencies in the work of professional geographers.

In the U.S. at time of this study, there was no national data set on types, numbers, and categories of jobs in geography.

Few studies have examined (a) how academic geography programs prepare students for careers, (b) the career paths of geography graduates, and (c) how geographic competences are applied in the workforce.

Analysis of competencies in professional geography

• Geomorphology • Weather & climate

• Biogeography • Natural hazards

• Economic geography • Political geography • Cultural geography

• Population geography • Human-environment interaction

• Cartography • Geographic information systems (GIS)

• Photogrammetry* • Remote sensing* • Field methods • Spatial statistics

• Regional geography • Interdisciplinary perspective

• Spatial thinking • Global perspective

• Diversity perspective

• Public speaking • Writing

• Foreign (non-English) language skills • Visual presentations • Creative thinking* • Problem solving*

• Research planning & design • Qualitative skills

• Quantitative skills • Professional & organizational culture

• Visioning* • Supervising

• Entrepreneurial skills • Teamwork

• Coaching & advising* • Relationship building skills*

• Intercultural skills • Teaching

• Computer & technology skills* • Publishing

• Information management • Grant proposals

• Time management • Adaptability

• Self-awareness • Ethical practice*

• Project management • Fiscal management

20 Geographic skills 29 General skills

Percent respondents staying “always or very often”

Alumni Survey (280)

Classification of Geographic & General

Skill Areas Rotated PCA

Applications of skills in employment sectors Chi-square statistics

Applications of skills Rank order

“always or very often” performs 49

geographic and general skills

Skills currently needed Rank order

Likely to increase in need Over next 3 to 5 years

Rank order

Experiencing “some difficulty” or

“failing” to meet hiring needs Rank order

Current & future employers’ demand in geographic and general

skills

Employer Survey (447)

Discussion

•  Clear discrimination of skills related to physical geography, human geography, and geographic information science & technology.

•  Professionals need to be good managers, communicators, writers, and problem solvers.

•  Value of specialized knowledge in geography often varies.

•  Ability to think spatially, having an interdisciplinary perspective, and geospatial technologies were broadly valued.

Discussion

•  Many geographic and general skills are in high demand, yet the curriculum offered by academic departments may not be producing those skills at a level required to satisfy that need.

•  In higher education, a growing need for faculty who are skilled in computer technology, time and information management, publishing, and grant proposal writing is predicted.

•  Many students lack information about careers in non-academic professional sectors.

For more information . . .

Dr. Michael Solem msolem@aag.org www.aag.org/edge