Network Activities
The NSN Network fosters collaboration among educators and employers to improve the employability skills of technicians in STEM-related occupations. The Network’s Community of Practice facilitates interdisciplinary conversations enabling members to share promising practices to advance employability skills instruction across the STEM disciplines.
Employability Skills Exchange
The NSN Network’s Community of Practice Newsletter
Community of Practice Webinar Archives
Engaging Technician Faculty in Teaching Employability Skills
Employers of STEM technicians increasingly demand strong employability skills, but technician educators face challenges in including instruction to develop those skills in their programs. Employability skills are the nontechnical, but highly important, skills that play a critical role in both getting and keeping a job. They include interpersonal skills, communication skills, lifelong learning, and the ability to meet workplace expectations and to understand both the mission of a business and the technician’s role in meeting that mission. This webinar shares findings from research about the approaches that technician education programs are using to engage faculty in developing these skills and shares a handbook with tools and techniques that can be used both in the classroom and in partnership with fellow educators and employers.
Lead Presenter: Louise Yarnall, Ph.D., Sr. Research Social Scientist, SRI International
- Listen to the webinar and access the slide deck.
- Learn more about SRI's work on employability skills.
Learn More about the NSN Network
Who Can Join?
Any interested individual from industry, community and technical colleges, and the research community is encouraged to join. If you’re concerned about the employability skills of the future STEM workforce and want to collaborate with others seeking solutions, the NSN Network is a resource for you.
What's the Cost?
There is no cost to join the NSN Network. Network activities are supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Program.
What Does it Do?
In addition to conducting in-person and online professional development, the NSN Network hosts events on themes related to employability skills instruction, workplace expectations, and putting research into practice.
