Nowadays, there is a debate if it is better to train professionals with broad profile or narrow profile, that are highly specialized.
Dear Rolando:
That is true. Technology is changing at a fast pace, and growing in complexity. Also rapid globalization, interacting with a variety of disciplines means it is necessary for the professionals to have more breadth of knowledge and a greater ability to think critically. Many a times, when you have to solve a problem, we have to think in many fronts. As a result, a competent practitioner must be more than a narrow specialist.
Dear Rolando:
That is true. Technology is changing at a fast pace, and growing in complexity. Also rapid globalization, interacting with a variety of disciplines means it is necessary for the professionals to have more breadth of knowledge and a greater ability to think critically. Many a times, when you have to solve a problem, we have to think in many fronts. As a result, a competent practitioner must be more than a narrow specialist.
This debate as to whether it is better to train professionals with broad profile or narrow profile, highly specialized is interesting. The workforce shows that people have to watch their fields and prepare for change. The skills required for the jobs seem to change every 4 to 5 years. Some positions require a narrow focus and some require a broader focus. Each level of worker may require different preparation. I have focused on the middle-skilled workers and what it takes these workers to survive in the workforce.
http://www.evolllution.com/media_resources/helping-middle-skilled-workers-find-job-part-1/
http://www.evolllution.com/media_resources/helping-middle-skilled-workers-find-job-part-2/.
I think that in most professions--from teaching to science to the arts-- it is important to be broad in a cyclical sense. One can be deep into a topic and learn many new things, but only by stepping back and seeing the broader perspective and talking with others outside the specialty for other periods can we grow sometimes by leaps or to see and observe deficiencies we could not see otherwise.
So, training people in most fields requires training them as to how to step back and either look at the history or future or present of their field from a broader perspective will they have a full--as well as deep--understanding of the transitions in their field and means to tackle changes in their field or world as we go on with our lives--now entering in the 80 year range for most nationalities.
I will say that professionals should receive training in broader areas for two reasons (a) for professional development for example in new and emerging area such as climate change which will impact on all sectors and all professions. Therefore professionals who are not an environmental scientist may like to receive some training on climate change by attending at workshops or conference so that they can do new research in the light of new issues; (b) Secondly I would also like to highlight that all professions should have some training on occupational health and safety (OHS) so that they can protect themselves and others while working in office, lab or field or during emergencies such as during floods, bush fires, cyclones- the intensity and frequency of which will increase due to climate change
Dear Nageswara, Sharon, Kevin and Golam, thank you very much for the important contributions!!.
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