Have you ever started a job and wondered why no one around you seems to be able to tell you how to do it well? That may be because your boss simply didn’t bother to ask the last person in your position what their secrets were before they left.

Graduate students today often have parents who are members of the Baby Boomer generation, and many of the Baby Boomers are now retiring from jobs that they have held for the past several decades. Many of these men and women were on the ground floor of new innovations in science, technology, and engineering in companies that are hiring new graduates at spectacular rates. So we have to ask ourselves: are we gaining as much skill and knowledge as we’re losing when these men and women leave the workforce; or is their detailed knowledge of the field and their ability to innovate retiring with them?

from clomedia.com

The self-motivation a retiring employee has to pass on their knowledge to the next generation is part of a life stage that all people go through. This stage is called ‘generativity’, and it’s something that our guest this Sunday night, Drew Hatlen, knows quite a lot about. Drew is a Masters student in the Oregon State University Masters of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies (MAIS) who focuses his research on a combination of Adult Education, Speech Communication, and Psychology. Where these three issues meet is on the topic of skill transfer in the workplace.

Drew will be joining us on 88.7 KBVR FM at 7PM PST tomorrow evening to talk about how knowledge and skill transfer can succeed or fail as people transition into retirement, and what some factors might be that influence people’s desire to share their wisdome with the next generation.

Drew is the Graduate Student Success Research Assistant for the Grad School at OSU.  If you have questions about getting into graduate school or being successful in graduate school you can email your questions to Drew at drew.hatlen@oregonstate.edu.

Tune in or stream the show live tomorrow night at 7!