Ideate

Ideate

School-To-Work Design ChallengeDesign Thinking Action Lab

Re-Shana Horton

WELCOME

Thank you for viewing my presentation. If you are here to peer review, I kindly ask that you be as open-minded as possible. Some of the solutions are plausible while some of them are very far-fetched but as we know this is all part of the process. What I have learnt is that no idea is a bad idea, there is always a lesson to be extracted from any idea, for example, we may learn from trying something 100 times, 95 ways we tried will never work but if we look beyond that and understand why they won’t work then we are a step closer to finding a solution that does! Happy reading!

- Re-Shana Horton Bridgetown, Barbados

The School-To-Work Transition

For some, this transition is as effortless as pictured above but for many students who live in Barbados, the transition can be a nightmare leaving thousands of graduate students under-employed or unemployed each year.

Recap - Empathize

• Last weekend, I interviewed a few undergraduate students to gain empathy and insight in order to discover and understand the problem that was behind the high rates of joblessness in Barbadian society.

• I got a lot of information and learnt that the job market is so tough in Barbados that graduates fresh out of college rarely get a job unless their family is well-connected. Many students also believed that education is not financially rewarding since much of what is learnt in school is not transferable in the workplace.

Recap - Define

• After all of the interviews, one stood out the most and so I used that one to build an empathy map and create a problem statement.

• Here’s what I discovered: Stacy, an honors roll, third year, undergraduate,

psychology student, needs a way to incorporate more work experience into her academic program because once she graduates her degree alone cannot ensure her a career specific job in today’s highly competitive job market.

Solving the Problem

• Little could I imagine, the next assignment would require 50 or more possible solutions to Stacy’s problem?

Now we’re here and we’ve reached the ideate step of the design thinking process… let’s consider a few constraints that can help us to frame the problem and give it a shot!

What are the most obvious solutions for this problem? (even things that you know already exist)

 1. Internships

2. Job placements/attachments

3. Part-time jobs

4. Working within the university

5. Working with student societies and clubs, e.g. student government associations

6. Working with a family business

7. Exploring freelance opportunities

What can you add, remove or modify from those initial solutions? 8. Year long student internships.

9. Ability to work remotely for companies while going to school.

10. Job rotations within the field of study throughout entire program.

11. Mentorship programs where Stacy can work with and learn from professionals in psychology for the duration of her academic program.

12. Universities can establish relationships with reputable foreign companies who are looking to for ways to reduce their labour expenses by off-shoring or outsourcing some of their jobs.

How would you change the academic experience to accommodate adding more work experience?

13. Work programs that allow Stacy to earn credits during summer breaks.

14. Schools can build strategic alliances with companies, like a study-work exchange program where students like Stacy get to work in jobs that professionals need time off to complete their studies.

15. Stacy can gain an honorary degree after completing a number of years in a professional field.

16. Schools can work with companies to build programs that provide on the job training for the specific courses so that Stacy can choose to earn up to one year of credits from working.

17. Full-time programs can allow students to take more courses online. This way if Stacy wants to work and go to school simultaneously it makes it easier.

18. The university can hire Stacy to work in the final year of her program.

19. Degree programs can be designed as two years of academic training and two years of on the job training.

What career specific solutions would solve this problem? 20. Stacy could start a student club/program that works with secondary schools

providing counselling and mentorship for students, similar to “Big Brothers, Big Sisters”.

21. She could volunteer to work with local homeless programs such as The Barbados Vagrant and Homeless Society.

22. She could also volunteer to work at a drug rehabilitation centre.

23. Stacy could even start a telephone hotline for abused women and children.

24. A professional blog or website that provides personal and relationship advice is also an option.

25. She can volunteer to work with the elderly e.g. at the geriatric hospital.

26. Start a program that educates students on the impact of drug use and abuse.

27. If she’s more interested in applied psychology she could become a research assistant for a professor at her school.

28. She can also start an art therapy clinic at the school that brings the science and art faculties together to collaborate.

29. She could become a social media marketing consultant by using her internet savvy to build an impressive consumer-centric research and pitch it to the company she would like to work with.

30. She could also start a life coaching business geared towards motivating athletes on campus.

 How would you solve this problem if you had control over the laws of nature (think invisibility, teleportation, etc.)?

31. Make a clone of Stacy, one to go to work for 4 years and one to study for 4 years.

32. Give her powers to freeze time since time management is a big problem in balancing work and school.

33. Develop a pill that Stacy can take that will make her IQ so high she doesn’t need a degree.  

34. Transfer memories of people with years of work experience to students upon completing their degree. 

35. Amp up Stacy’s charisma so that she doesn’t need experience to get hired.

36. Make employers blind to the fact that Stacy has no work experience.

How would a 5 year old child solve the problem?

37. Work first and then go to school after you get enough work experience.

38. Ask why they need more work experience and find a way to challenge their reasons.

39. Work on some days and go to school on some days.

40. Get a job that doesn’t require work experience so you can go to school first.

41. Work for yourself.

How would you solve the problem if you had an unlimited budget?

42. Implement work-based learning programs in the university that are taught by real life career professionals and not teachers.

43. Stacy can buy the company.

44. Give incentives like tax breaks to organizations or establishments that allow persons who get degrees straight from school to be hired without experience.

45. Stacy can move and find a job overseas with a company that doesn’t require as much experience.

How would you solve the problem without spending money?

46. Stacy can volunteer to work for not-for-profit organizations like charities and community groups.

47. Stacy can take a year off so that she can work and then go back to school.

48. Stacy can start establishing relationships with companies so that she can work with them during her semester breaks.

49. Stacy can enrol herself in a work experience program.

50. Stacy can become a home tutor for children with special needs.

Thank You!