293-9 How well are we preparing students for the geoscience workforce? Results from a survey of teaching practices

Session: Developing and Assessing Workforce Skills in Geoscience Courses and Programs

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Students who graduate with a bachelors degree in geoscience can be qualified for a wide range of jobs across sectors. Geoscience jobs are available in local, state, and federal governments; scientific and technical services (such as consulting) in the private sector; and the energy and extractive industries. Employers across sectors seek to hire entry-level employees with broad geoscience knowledge, general and specific scientific skills, and tendencies such as attention to detail and a desire to learn that we call dispositions. We wondered: to what extent are instructors in geoscience degree programs helping students develop the skills and dispositions they will need to be hired and succeed in the geoscience workforce?

We sought to align a survey of geoscience teaching with new research in (1) the skills and dispositions that geoscience employers seek in bachelors-level employees and (2) the efficacy of inclusive teaching strategies. We modified and expanded questions from the National Geoscience Faculty Survey to ask instructors if students in their courses engage in specific activities to develop the skills most frequently mentioned in advertisements for entry-level geoscience jobs, including communication and field skills. For these questions, content validity was established through expert review and grounding new questions in evidence-based research. In addition, we developed new questions that address the extent to which instructors were explicit about developing dispositions and supporting career preparation in their course. We tested all questions with instructors from two institutions and conducted follow-up interviews to establish construct validity for new questions about dispositions.

The revised, validated survey was widely disseminated during the 2025-26 academic year. Responses come from instructors who teach the full range of courses for undergraduate geoscience majors. Results indicate that a large proportion of respondents incorporate skills that are important in the workforce in their courses, including working as part of a team, using spreadsheets, and documenting field conditions. Most respondents indicate that students are likely to develop dispositions such as attention to detail in their course, though fewer report making use of evidence-based strategies to support disposition development. A smaller proportion report incorporating activities that build students’ awareness of and preparation for entering the workforce. These results highlight areas where instructors would benefit from professional learning and resources to inform teaching approaches that support today’s students.

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