July_2021 - 37

TRAINING
100,000 students nationwide in high school
and college programs accredited by ASE. This
contradicts a popular belief that the current
generation is not willing to work with their
hands. The inescapable conclusion is that we
have a leaky pipeline, where many students
either plan to pursue a career in a different
field or go to work in the transportation service
industry but leave within a short time.
The ASE Education Foundation repeated the
survey in May, but this time with a deeper dive
to learn the reasons students do not pursue or
stick with a career in automotive service. The
2021 survey results confirmed many findings
from 2018. First, students in programs accredited
by ASE are more likely to feel well-prepared
for their careers, earn ASE credentials, and
enter the industry versus their counterparts
from non-accredited programs.
Among all graduates who did not choose to
» The onus is on fleets to work with partners to promote the industry.
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Technician
shortage toolkit
Fleets need to put in the work to help
ease the shortage of qualified heavyduty
technicians in the workforce.
In 2018, the ASE Education Foundation
surveyed current and former automotive
students to learn how many went on to
careers in the automotive service industry.
Results showed that over 40% of graduates
either never went to work in the industry or
left within a couple of years. Many of them
were employed in other technical trades, but
many were either unemployed or working in
retail/food service, etc.
Our industry is full of great job opportunities,
so how are we failing to attract and keep
these students? There is no shortage of students
studying auto, truck, and collision repair.
A separate survey indicates there are over
go into automotive service, reasons that pushed
them away from the industry outpaced the
reasons that pulled them toward other career
fields. Lack of skills, lost interest, and could
not find a job were frequently cited reasons.
They took automotive training classes but were
never fully engaged in the industry early on.
That made it easy for them to look elsewhere.
That is the first leak in the pipeline.
What can fleets do to address this leak? First,
support local schools and make sure they are
ASE-accredited. That means getting involved,
both as a member of the school's Industry
Advisory Committee (they all have one; it is
required) and sharing the career opportunities
available in your business. Speaking to
the students and providing job-shadowing
opportunities are easy, low-cost ways to do this.
A separate survey of high school automotive
students showed what a difference this
can make: 30% of those not taking the class
the following year said they do not see a career
path. In the same survey, only 27% of students
said their classes had been visited by a local
employer. If we do not promote our industry's
many career opportunities, who will?
Instructors and career counselors may help
out, but the message is more impactful coming
from an employer or working technician.
A substantial number of students who do
join the industry after graduation leave within
just a couple of years. Key reasons included low
wages, management conflicts, and lost interest.
This is the second leak in the pipeline.
Fleets may have experienced the other side
By George Arrants
VICE PRESIDENT, ASE EDUCATION FOUNDATION
George Arrants is the vice president for ASE Education
Foundation. Arrants works with instructors and administrators
to develop partnerships with local businesses
and industries through program advisory committees.
He is the past chair of the Technology and Maintenance
Council's TMCSuperTech; the National Technician Skills
Competition; and TMCFutureTech, the National Student
Technician Competition. His entire career has been in the
automotive service and education industries.
of this coin; they hired an entry-level tech after
graduation, but they did not stay. Perhaps they
lacked hands-on experience and were not very
productive, so they were assigned the lowest
skilled jobs and the fleet could not afford to
pay them much. They may have had high
expectations when they graduated and were
not prepared for the real world of work. It is
not surprising that many of them do not last
and leave the industry permanently.
Some in the industry accept these leaks,
saying that entry-level technicians must pay
their dues. Others counter, saying we are
" eating our young. " Is there a solution? The
2021 survey gives us some important clues
and reasons to hope. The key is something the
education community calls work-based learning
(WBL). WBL can take different forms such
as internships, apprenticeships, or co-ops. WBL
programs have structure, so students are working
on a variety of tasks that directly relate to
the systems and technologies they are studying
in school. WBL students work hand in hand
with mentors-experienced working technicians-who
help them get real experience on
different systems. This takes more coordination
than assigning students to perform the
same basic PM tasks over and over, but the
advantages are substantial.
" To truly set people up for success, we need to
address this critical shortage of qualified technicians
with a triangle approach, " said Arica
Jackson with UPS Automotive. " First, education
via career and technical centers and/or our
community college system. Second, mentorship-based
employer engagement to allow
people to actually put into practice what they
have learned. Third, membership in organizations
such as ATA's Technology & Maintenance
Council (TMC) to provide camaraderie and
exposure to the career lattice opportunities
within this industry. "
The 2021 survey results bear this out: 62%
of graduates who are still in the industry
participated in WBL while they were in school,
compared to 47% of graduates not in the industry.
Nearly all found it helpful in preparing
them for their career.
Why does WBL make such a difference? First,
everyone wants to be part of a team, do something
that matters, and see a career path for
themselves. Working in the shop helps students
learn the business and progress. Second, these
students graduate with a larger skill set and
are likely to be more productive right out of
school. That means they can earn more early
in their careers, and we can compete on wages
with other industries.
The pathway to retention
If we want to stop the leaks in the pipeline,
there are two major steps we can take to
support the current students who want to
become our future workforce.
First, get involved with local schools and
make sure they are ASE-accredited. If not, the
members of the Industry Advisory Committee
can work with instructors and administrators
to earn accreditation. Second, go beyond speaking
and job-shadowing, and in partnership
with your local schools, start a WBL program
and hire students to do meaningful work in
your business while they are still learning.
By working with national partners such as
the ASE Education Foundation and TMC, and
with area high schools and colleges, along
with other service businesses, we have the
tools to solve our technician shortage. It will
take work but is within our grasp. Take hold
of those tools and put them to work to fix the
leaky pipeline and ensure the continued flow of
new entry-level technicians that we all need.
July 2021 | FleetMaintenance.com
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July_2021

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