Creativity: The Information Sector

In my earlier posts, I addressed the question "What does the private sector mean when they identify creativity and innovation as important 21st century skills. To summarize: Big, high tech industries want schools to do a better job of teaching math and science so that more students will complete advanced math and science courses in high school, earn STEM degrees in college, and enter STEM careers. From this larger pool will come more ideas, leading to breakthroughs in highly competitive areas, leading to American domination in key high-tech markets. Business-led efforts in regions and cities that are competing to become economic centers support the arts because that makes them "cool communities"—attractive to young, educated workers in a wide range of creative professions. I mentioned that companies known for hiring "creatives"—American Greetings or IDEO, for example—don't seem to be greatly concerned about shortages of creative thinkers. (IDEO's message seems to be more aimed at educating business leadership about how to foster innovation among their employees.)

A look at the list of organizations that sponsor the Partnership for 21st Century Skills suggests that companies most concerned about "soft skills" (which include creative and innovative thinking) are IT companies (such as Adobe, Microsoft, Cisco), media companies (Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Cable in the Classroom), creators of educational products and services (Pearson, Lego), and education groups and think tanks (National Education Association, American Association of School Librarians). Ford is the only partner that is not considered an IT or education-related company.