Communicating effectively

Though colleges invest considerable resources in preparing students for careers, there are inevitable shortfalls in the competency levels that graduates possess and employers desire. For instance, the National Association of Colleges and Employers indicates that employers are nearly unanimous in naming communication as the most important competency, and almost all students know this. Nevertheless, though 80pc of students rate themselves extremely proficient at communication, only 47pc of employers see students in this same light. The point is that more than half of employers see graduates as lacking the most important competency. Clearly, the 53pc of employers that consider college graduates less than extremely proficient communicators are not leaving their vacancies unfilled. If they were, the unemployment rate for 2022 college graduates would not be 4pc. Rather, many, if not most, employers recognise that they will need to invest in training to get new hires up to speed.

(Adapted from “How Outlawing Collegiate Affirmative Action Will Impact Corporate America,” by Derek R. Avery, published on August 07, 2023, by MIT Sloan Management Review)

Discrimination of land rights in China

In China a woman may be born and brought up in a village that her ancestors built. But if she marries a man from elsewhere, custom deems her lost to her birth family and home village, as a waijianü, or “married-out daughter”. That harsh tradition has caused individual tales of heartache for centuries. To cite a cruel old saying, a married-out daughter was deemed as worthless as “thrown-away water”. But today, the collective financial losses suffered by China’s married-out women are growing. More rural land is rented out to agricultural companies or other businesses. Other land attracts compensation payments when local officials build on it. Since the 1990s China has encouraged the creation of local shareholding co-operatives to manage village assets and to distribute dividends. Yet, individual villages and co-operatives can and do take collective rights away from women who marry outsiders. This would seem to clash with national law, for gender equality is enshrined in China’s constitution.

(Adapted from “Why Chinese Women Are Denied Legal Land Rights,” published on August 10, 2023, by The Economist)

Ruining lives with debanking

When Iqeel Ahmed’s card was declined, he spent weeks trying to get answers from his bank. Two months after regaining access to his account, both Ahmed and his wife were told the bank couldn’t maintain a relationship with them. Even his young children’s accounts were closed. Debanking — when a bank removes access to financial services — has been catapulted into the spotlight after Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage declared he’d lost his account with NatWest’s Coutts subsidiary in June. Bank chiefs have insisted they don’t take personal or political beliefs when making such decisions. For Muslim communities in Britain, accessing financial services can prove especially difficult. From delays with applying and problems passing screening cheques to sudden debanking without an explanation, many customers have struggled with the system.

(Adapted from “British Muslims Say Banks Ruin Lives With Debanking Policies,” by Aisha S Gani, published on August 16, 2023, by Bloomberg)

Germany’s economic health

In 1999 we called Germany the sick man of the euro. A series of reforms in the early 2000s ushered in a golden age. Germany became the envy of its peers. With its world-beating engineering, the country stood out as an exporting powerhouse. However, while Germany has prospered, the world has kept on turning. As a result, the country has once again started to fall behind. Complacency and an obsession with fiscal prudence are holding Germany back. Added to this are worsening geopolitics, the difficulty of eliminating carbon emissions and the travails of an ageing population. Two decades ago, Germany pulled off a remarkable transformation to extraordinary effect, but it may be time for another visit to the health farm.

(Adapted from “Is Germany Once Again The Sick Man Of Europe?,” published on August 17 2023, by The Economist)

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, August 21st, 2023