Job postings often state that the successful applicant must have superior critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Yet employers tell college administrators that graduates, both from undergraduate and graduate programs, often lack these skills.
Having read this week’s assigned materials, how would you define critical thinking?
Why are employers making these comments? Are they justified?
In the modern world, everyone knows that critical thinking is very important. At the same time, not everybody can explain what it means and have a very vague idea of what it actually is. Some people truly believe that critical thinking is all about criticism and the ability to find and explain weak points of some ideas but actually it is also about finding the value of these ideas and clearly state why you agree or disagree with something, why it is good or bad and consider all points of view and evidence before making any decisions.
Obviously, we cannot say that people are born with this skill – we need to learn it, practice and hone and it is a life long process. I think, that nowadays most Institutions are trying their best to teach how to think critically but it is true that many people lack these skills after they graduate. Though it doesn’t mean that their teachers were bad. First of all, this problem is connected with the fact that Institutions give us mostly theory and in some cases no practice – after graduation, we feel that we know everything about our future life and job, but our expectations are often ruined with the harsh reality of lack of experience and practice: we need to learn more, do more, and some people feel lost and overwhelmed. This often leads to situations where they simply cannot use their critical thinking skills (even if they learned this before) because they do not feel confident enough to state their position and evaluate anything.
Another issue is that the meaning of “critical thinking” at schools and at workplaces varies. Many students believe that critical thinking is needed for evaluating ideas, using logic and reasoning. This is actually true but many people forget that the final result of this process is a made decision. Employers want their workers to be independent one way or another. For example, if they hire a metal turner they need someone who knows how to make a detail – a manager will prepare a plan and a worker needs to make a list of his own decisions – from how to start to what is the better way to get the result.
References
College success. (2015). Retrieved from http://open.lib.umn.edu/collegesuccess/Team Dan Lok. (2020, March 15). Why So Many People Lack Critical Thinking Skills Today. Retrieved from https://danlok.com/why-so-many-people-lack-critical-thinking-skills-today/
TEDx Talks. (2017, November 28). Critical Thinking: The Next Step in Human Evolution | Vegard Møller | TEDxYouth@Oslo. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhCMkuJuN3Q