Mid-career professionals: knowledge is power.

Like Dante in "The Divine Comedy," many mid-career professionals have come to a crossroads in life. Should they stay in their current jobs or move on to perhaps greener pastures?

Either road has its attractions and perils. Staying put usually means job security, but it can also entail the need for greatly improved job skills to meet the demands of a technologically evolving workplace and the complex requirements of the marketplace. A new job can mean a step up in salary and perhaps title, but it can also require a set of totally new skills.

What to do?

An increasing number of mid-career professionals--many with the encouragement of their employers--have decided that a return to some form of higher education is in order, regardless of whether they stay at their current job or take the leap into the unknown and move to another organization.

That decision can have a major impact on their career options, earning power, job satisfaction, and their ultimate success in any current or hoped-for position.

Knowledge is power

The educational level of members of the workforce has been directly linked to their chances for advancement and, equally important, their earning power. As Phillip Longman wrote in the March, 2004 issue of The Washington Monthly:

"In the United States, the wage advantage of people with 16 or more years of schooling over those with just a high-school diploma skyrocketed from about 45 percent in 1980 to more than 66 percent by 1990. Since then, the economy has been demanding an even more highly educated workforce, as shown by the growing income gap between those with college degrees and those with graduate school education. In 1981, holders of advanced degrees (including M.B.A.s, M.D.s and J.D.s) as a group enjoyed no greater income than those with only a college degree. By 1997, the economy rewarded advanced-degree holders with 34 percent more income than mere college graduates."

Helping employers plan for the future

Many employers have realized that helping to educate their staffs is the best kind of investment for any company's future wellbeing, In addition to making the employees better at their jobs, staff education also contributes greatly to job satisfaction and employee retention--two factors that are becoming increasingly important to companies and not-for-profit organizations.

The educational options open to both employers and employees include, but are not limited to, a number of online degree programs, classes taught by professional and trade organizations, and an increasing number of colleges and universities.

The online degree programs offer the student the flexibility of study and course work that can be done at any time. There is no classroom, so there is no set schedule or travel to a classroom site. The student can complete assignments on the road, in the middle of the night, during lunch hours, or any convenient time.

The drawbacks to this approach include the extremely variable quality of the education offered by many of these online companies, the inflexible nature of "Canned" computer programs, the lack, in many cases, of program certification by an independent and reputable educational organization, and the absence of feedback from and dialog with a live instructor.

The classes and programs taught by professional and trade organizations are usually taught by career practitioners and therefore offer the advantage of expert instruction. However, a fair number of these programs are focused on a fairly narrow spectrum of topics and courses and therefore lack the breadth of a fully developed program. Also, most of these programs are taught at the professional organization's site, which requires the travel time for the student.

On site, online, on the job

The college or university option seems to embody many of the advantages inherent in the other two. For example, the best professional education programs at the college or university level offer important educational options for the student. These include traditional classroom study, online programs, or, importantly, a mix of the two. Even with a totally online program, college or university instructors make themselves available for consultation via e-mail, phone fax or in planned, in-person meetings with student groups, depending on geography.

Many of these institutions offer employers the option of custom-designed programs that can be taught at the employer's headquarters, at branch offices, and/or at remote or out-of-state locations through in-person instruction or via distance learning and associated technologies, or a combination of both.

This approach eliminates the necessity for travel to and from a campus. In addition, distance learning programs and services can provide widely scattered staff with a shared online or televised educational experience. They can also satisfy the needs of staff who travel, work different shifts, or just have particularly demanding and unpredictable schedules.

The college/university option also allows the employer and the mid-career professional the ability to choose the level of education best suited to both their needs. This includes the choice of the educational level needed for each student: a certificate of advanced development or a full degree program at the bachelor's or master's degree level.

Faculty and practitioners

Professional development programs offered by colleges and universities are usually taught by a mix of highly experienced faculty and recognized industry practitioners. This approach keeps the course content and instructional level grounded in the student's area of concentration and gives him/her the benefit of authentic professional education.

And, since these programs are offered by recognized institutions of higher learning, their effectiveness will almost certainly be evaluated and monitored by independent certifying organizations.

The power of lifelong learning 

As the need for better-educated employees becomes ever more obvious, the mid-career professional and his/her employer will be faced with an ever-widening range of choices.

The trick will be to select the option best suited to the needs of the employee and the organization--the option that will offer life- and career-enhancing educational programs to the region's employers and their staffs. Programs that will allow those who return to education at any level to expand their career potential and positively enhance their lives, their careers, and their communities.

Russell Paquette is Director of Marketing and Advertising Services for California State University, Northridge.