How Colleges and Universities are Preparing Students for the ‘Real World’

Ask a college student what their future career plans are, and you probably will get a variety of responses. Add in the fact that the Institute for the Future predicts that nearly 85% of the jobs that today’s students will do in 2030 don’t exist yet, underscores how big of a task it is for colleges and universities to prepare students for a rapidly changing future.

Fewer dairy science students come from a dairy background

The University of Wisconsin-Madison says that they are seeing fewer and fewer students entering college with a traditional dairy farm background.

“Excitedly, we have more urban students that are interested in learning about animal agriculture and its related career opportunities,” says Ted Halbach, dairy management instructor at UW-Madison.

Christen Burgett, an associate teaching professor and dairy judging team coach at Iowa State University is seeing the same trend.

“We are able to pique the interest of non-traditional dairy farm students as well and get them excited about the dairy industry,” she says.

A larger proportion of female students

Another trend that universities are seeing, especially in dairy programs, is that the ratio of female to male students enrolled in dairy science has flipped since the mid-90s. Today, a larger proportion of dairy science students are now female, nearly 80%. 

According to Halbach, dairy science enrollment is down from pre-pandemic levels, although the numbers are starting to slightly trend upward.

“However, the animal science major is growing. We are in the process of improving both our majors to better serve our students,” notes Heather White, professor of nutritional physiology at UW-Madison.

Liv Sandberg, also with UW-Madison, points out that some students still plan to return to their family farm or go into management on a large dairy operation.

“We have always had a strong number of students who get a business certificate or double major with life science communications, but we have also had a recent spark of interest with a group who are double majors with Agronomy,” she shares.

Additionally, some dairy science students plan to go to vet school and have a career as a dairy veterinarian.

Burgett says Iowa State’s Dairy Science program is not as robust as it was back in 2012, but that they still have many students with an interest in dairy cattle who elect to major in Animal Science.

“These students are now able to work toward completing a dairy production management certificate in order to showcase their interest in dairy to future employers,” she says. 

Biggest Takeaway: Critical Thinking 

The number one takeaway for students exiting college and entering the real world is the ability to think critically.

“Technology and knowledge will change,” White adds. “So our job is to teach students how to critically evaluate new tools, technologies, and information for solving the types of challenges they'll face in their careers.”

Burgett concurs, adding they hope to teach students that learning is a life-long endeavor.

“We also emphasize professionalism, encourage students to ask questions and we continually let students know that we may be training them for a job that may not even exist yet within the dairy industry, so being adaptive, innovative, and coachable are critical,” she shares.

Preparing for the Future

With an industry that has already seen so much change, universities are also challenged to prepare students for a future job in a quickly changing dairy environment. This is no small task. Although Halbach and White share that UW-Madison classes are taught by individuals that also lead internationally renowned research programs in the areas that they teach.

“This means that what our students learn is always on the cutting edge,” White shares.  “Even with that in mind, there is no doubt that everything changes rapidly, so teaching students how to think through challenges and evaluate new information is critical to their future success.”

 In Ames, Iowa, the dairy science program is also student focused.

“We provide ample opportunities for our students to engage in high-impact practices that allow them to apply what they are learning in the classroom to real-world situations,” Burgett states.