Associate Dean Tonya Evans breaks down the onset of new collar jobs in the economy and how they are shaping the future of education. Produced and Hosted by A. J. Kierstead
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A. J. Kierstead :
The onset of new collar jobs is changing the world of education and the workplace. Associate Dean Tonya Evans joins me to discuss.
A. J. Kierstead :
This is the UNH Law Podcast. Learn more about the law school and apply by visiting law.unh.edu. Opinions discussed are solely the opinion [inaudible 00:00:32] your host and do not constitute legal advice or necessarily represent the official views of the University of New Hampshire. So start out, Tonya. Define what a "new collar industry" is and especially how it compares to the traditional blue or white collar industry.
Tonya Evans:
So as you might guess or suspect, the new collar job is a combination of our traditional notions of blue collar and white collar. If you think of blue collar, and it tends to focus on skills, and white collar as being more "professional," the idea of the new collar job is the skilled professional. The education realm is really changing in the sense that there are a number of companies, and we'll talk about that, that are no longer requiring a formal or traditional four year education. And in that way they're focused more on the skills and credentials and certifications than a four year degree at a liberal arts college in that sense.
A. J. Kierstead :
Now, what sort of specific jobs out there would you consider to be new collar?
Tonya Evans:
So when I think of this, I also think of the jobs that exist today that did not exist five, let alone 10 years ago. So social media manager, anything related to data, product manager, a project manager on the data side, anything relating to artificial intelligence and machine learning, blockchain technology, anything involving smart contracts or crypto currency, crypto assets, both on the technology and the non-technology side because not everybody necessarily knows how to code. But there's this uptake of a lot of jobs and careers and industries, I should say, that require those with web 3.0 knowledge on both sides of the proverbial screen, to be sure.
A. J. Kierstead :
Now, how is the both the traditional undergrad and legal industry conforming to this changing industry?
Tonya Evans:
You see, and our law school is a great example offering certificate programs that are professional and not focused on a Juris Doctorate degree. Not everybody is going to go for a legal education per se, but they want to know about the legal and business aspects of technology.
Tonya Evans:
So, for example, our blockchain, cryptocurrency, and law online certificate program, I have some lawyers and certainly law students, but more often there are people coming from the business world who want to understand how blockchain technology and crypto assets are impacting their industry, their customers, their clients, what it means for their business. And so in that way, we want to prepare the next wave of lawyers and certainly those in business and the legal world to understand how to converse with the technology world to make anything that we're doing on the legal side or the business side, to do it better, faster, and cheaper by leveraging technology.
A. J. Kierstead :
And credentialing is obviously a big impact with this.
Tonya Evans:
Absolutely.
A. J. Kierstead :
So what sort of ways are schools handling that? And employers, for that matter because they want to make sure they get someone that they're actually going to be able to perform well in that industry.
Tonya Evans:
Absolutely. And so they're focused on digital badges, certificates, and certifications. And on the business side, they want to be assured that someone who writes on a resume, I've been certified to code C ++ or something like that, or I know JavaScript and I know Solidity, how do they have the assurance? Well, digital badging and certification is a great way. So for example, with the online certificate program we have digital badges that represent specific skills, and those who earn all of the badges in the certificate, they earn a mastery certificate. So not only will they say, I learned about crypto economics and blockchain governance, I learned about data privacy insecurity, I learned about intellectual property and blockchain. The combination of all of those things makes a mastery certificate that can be linked to LinkedIn and all the other online platforms. And an employer can go to those platforms and they don't have to rely on a paper resume or CV to say this person did it. They can look at the specific skills run by an online digital badge partner and be assured that that took place.
A. J. Kierstead :
This is going to sound like a wicked salesman pitch for our own program, but it seems like a fantastic way for employers to make sure they're getting someone that has very, especially with how siloed technology is when it comes to blockchain versus, like, we've got our sports wagering program, things like that. It makes sure that they have the very specific things that you couldn't get an education in a decade ago.
Tonya Evans:
Yeah. That's the reality of where education is now an education across all areas, both at the probably associates level, the bachelor's level, and postgraduate professional levels as well. What specific skills above and beyond just the love of learning, and I'm a lifelong learner so I love that too, but people want to come out of traditional educational environments knowing that they can get a job.
A. J. Kierstead :
Right.
Tonya Evans:
And if employers need specific things and are less tolerant of on the job training, you as an employee, as a person moving through the world... I like to call myself and I encourage everybody to do the same: You're the CEO of you, even when you work for other people. And in what ways can you make yourself more attractive in the business and employment landscape? And so that means doing enough research to figure out if you want to be in a particular area. Even if you're working for someone right now, up-skill, figure out what your next move within your organization might be or what skills and credentials, what skill sets you'll need if you want to lateral out or move up or start your own business. And so the idea of up-skilling while you're inside a more traditional work environment prepares you for your next move.
A. J. Kierstead :
You just mentioned this a little bit, but entrepreneurs especially that are trying to break into a newer industry will be able to get very specific tailored education.
Tonya Evans:
Absolutely. Absolutely.
A. J. Kierstead :
Now how do you foresee it directly changing like the legal industry?
Tonya Evans:
Well, there's a really interesting move in the legal industry to prepare lawyers to have conversations with technologists in the IT department and those who are coding to leverage the existing master contracts that we have in order to figure out ways that we can automate certain functions. For example, I used to practice literary law, and a great example of using smart contract code, which is not a contract in the legal sense necessarily when... And I'll take a step back. When I think of a contract, when a lawyer thinks of a contract, we're looking for offer, acceptance, consideration, meeting of the mind, signing of the documents. When you hear "smart contract code," and I know a lot of folks in the blockchain industry in particular, they wish that we never called it smart contracts, beginning. We're talking persistent scripts, we're talking about bits of computer code that react to certain information and, once triggered, then they automate certain functions.
Tonya Evans:
And so to bring that back to the literary law environment, I had contracts where my clients, we have escalating royalties, for example: Sell 5,000 units and on the 5,001 escalation of royalties from 10% to 12.5% or from 12.5% to 15%, those are things you shouldn't have to pay a lawyer, $300, $400 an hour to do. I don't want to have to call an agent who's exacting a premium for all of my client's activities. That should be automated. That could be connected to what we call an Oracle outside information that informs the script. And you know, it could be tied to Amazon sales records and once 5,001 hit, automatically through a smart contract code that could be automated. I say all that to say there are master agreements underneath that lawyers do, there's coding the coders and IT specialists do, and they need to be able to talk to each other. And so this is an area that's ripe for innovation on the law side.
A. J. Kierstead :
Yeah. And we've talked in previous episodes about artificial intelligence kind of breeding into this, and it seems like the perfect melding between those two kind of angles.
Tonya Evans:
Absolutely. There are a number of projects that are leveraging the internet of things, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and also technologies like blockchain technology to hit the sweet spot of automation.
A. J. Kierstead :
What other industries do you foresee really being impacted by this?
Tonya Evans:
So financial services immediately comes to mind.
A. J. Kierstead :
Yeah, quick. They're already starting to deal with that.
Tonya Evans:
Absolutely. Once you start seeing legacy systems adopting and implementing the technology that they've known existed for a long time-
A. J. Kierstead :
Right.
Tonya Evans:
... but Bitcoin really forced the hands of many legacy companies and systems to say, now it's time to innovate. Healthcare, for sure. Even these industries that are heavily regulated, they also have a lot of intermediaries or middlemen, and any industry that has a lot of middlemen that don't add value, just extract. Those would be ripe for disruption to be sure. I think of the entertainment and sports worlds for sure. There's some interesting use cases and opportunities there, and legal services to be frank as well. Lawyers won't go away, but the way that lawyers are interacting with business people, and in terms of our advice and how we work with them is going to certainly change. Education as a final place as well.
A. J. Kierstead :
Thanks for listening to the UNH Law Podcast. Be sure to comment and subscribe to the show on Apple podcasts, Google Play, or Spotify. See you next Thursday.
A. J. Kierstead :
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