The value of a foresight education

I recently posted some findings on the Houston Foresight blog from an alumni survey. The survey was undertaken as a Master’s project by one of our students (and now alum) Fatema Tuz Zohra. The purpose was to explore what alums thought about their foresight degree and how they were applying it (or not) in their lives. It is a particularly timely question for me, as part of my job as the new Program Coordinator for the Foresight program is to chat with prospective students about the program. And their number one question is around how they can use the degree in their lives, in particular how it will help them to get a job. Interestingly, my anecdotal sense of how it was being used was backed up by the numbers in the survey.

First, a few points on the composition of our students would be helpful to note. We did a segmentation of our students a few years back that at the highest level sorted them into two main groups. The first, roughly 2/3rds of our students, are already established professionals who are looking either to “futurize” their current position, or use the degree to change their career. The second, roughly one-third, are those not yet established in a career who are for the most part seeking to become professional futurists. They typically come to us relatively soon after their undergrad. Of course, there are exceptions in both camps — some established pros are seeking to shift into professional futurists, and some not-yet-established are seeking careers where foresight is a part of what they want to do.

So, to tackle the jobs question first, “32% of respondents said they “got employed because of their foresight degree.” This is pretty close to our one-third of folks seeking to become professional futurists. I suspect it’s not 100% from that segment, but likely pretty close. Of course, what we didn’t pick up in this survey was how long it took. Anecdotally, I’ve observed that it often takes time. We’re still a pretty small field, so it can take time to find available jobs. We still rely a lot on networking and word-of-mouth, although we are seeing a small uptick in “futurist” job announcements that are circulated, often on the APF listserv, for example. But it can be — and is — done!

Perhaps the most striking finding of the survey is that 95% reported that foresight “The foresight program has changed my thinking and positively influenced my life.” That’s impressive! Granted, we can assume that is a bit high given that people who responded are more likely to have had a good experience. Still, impressive though.

As I’ve talked with advisors, colleagues, and friends about how to “message” the program, many suggest that the “changed my thinking” message ought to be first and foremost. Some even suggest to not get drawn deeply into the “get a job” discussion. I’m reminded of my own experience, which  maybe was atypical even back in 1988 (surely is now), in that I thought foresight seemed so cool, I had to do it. I didn’t care about getting a job. (Happily that worked out). I’m reminded of one of my favorite books: Do what you love, the money will follow.” Armed with these numbers, we can talk about both. Andy Hines