M. Beth Schlemper

Skills in Professional Geography: An Assessment of Workforce Needs and Expectations

This study compares the skills of professional geographers and the needs of employer organizations across major sectors of the U.S. workforce. Following a series of focus groups, two surveys were developed to explore: (1) the extent to which specific skills were performed by geographers in different professional positions, and (2) the value of and anticipated demand for those skills from the perspective of employers. Overall, respondents in the focus groups and both surveys emphasized the need for general skills ranging from time management and writing ability to information management and computer literacy. Employers also cited many geographic skills as being vital for enhancing the work of professionals in all types of organizations. Competency in field methods, the ability to work across disciplinary boundaries, and spatial thinking were three skill areas that characterized the work of geographic professionals irrespective of specialty.

Experiencing Graduate School: A Comparative Analysis of Students in Geography Programs

This article focuses on the role of departmental culture and academic climate in shaping the experiences of masters and doctoral students in geography. Structured logging of experiences at nine geography graduate programs over six months reveals the types of support provided to graduate students; how students cope with emotional, academic, and financial challenges; and ways students become integrated (or not) in department communities. Analysis of log data considers variation by subgroups (gender, citizenship, program type, full- or part-time status, race, and ethnicity). For all students, the findings indicate the importance of unplanned, spontaneous, and other informal events, as well as relationships of a more formal nature with advisors and faculty in the department and beyond. Students also noted the importance of having access to resources, professional development opportunities, and support from peers as factors affecting their sense of progress and belonging in a department community.

Discourses on ‘Diversity’: Perspectives from Graduate Programs in Geography in the United States

This qualitative and contextual study explores how ‘diversity’ is interpreted by graduate students and faculty in ten departments of geography in the United States. It applies a model that considers historical, structural, psychological and behavioral dimensions. Themes addressed include issues related to gender, international origin, race/ethnicity, age, family status, disciplinary subfields and institutional location; silences persist around sexual orientation and disability. We highlight differences across subgroups of students, faculty perspectives and the approaches used in departments that have attained greater diversity, especially of racial and ethnic minorities.

Graduate Education in U.S. Geography: Students’ Career Aspirations and Faculty Perspectives

The career aspirations of U.S. graduate geography students and how these are perceived by faculty and addressed in departmental curricula and programs have important implications for sustaining and enhancing geographys position in higher education in the current period of economic, political, and social change. Recent interdisciplinary research on academic socialization identifies differences in expectations between students and faculty as an important factor affecting departmental climates, completion of graduate degrees, and assessments by graduates of their preparation for the workforce. Based on qualitative analysis of interviews conducted in five doctoral and five masters departments selected to reflect a range of programs across the United States, we found considerable difference between students’ aspirations and faculty perceptions. Approximately half the doctoral students interviewed were considering careers in academia, although many were also considering opportunities in other sectors or were uncertain of their future directions. Students in masters departments were predominantly interested in careers outside academia. Doctoral faculty and curricula tended to stress preparation for research-oriented academic careers. Masters faculty generally recognized students’ aspirations and adapted curricula to meet them, especially by the provision of internship programs. We take into consideration campus location and the gender, ethnicity, and international origins of students. The results suggest improving graduate programs and advising by aligning them with student career plans and aspirations.

The Regional Construction of Identity and Scale in Wisconsin's Holyland

Through an examination of a regional construct, this study reveals the relationships between the processes that shape the construction of identity and scale. This paper examines the political, social, cultural, and institutional forces that were most significant in the construction of identity and scale in a region known as the Holyland in east central Wisconsin. This study provides a glimpse into how particular geographic scales are constructed and how identity is significant at various scales. To understand how and why certain scales gain or lose importance, I consider the evolving network of power structures and social relations for this case study. An examination of community life can reveal the ways in which a regional consciousness and identity emerged over time. The people and institutions in Wisconsins Holyland played a significant role in shaping its identity. Social, cultural, and political forces served to crystallize the regions identity during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. These forces occurred at a variety of scales and ultimately contributed to the regional construction of scale of the Holyland. Regional geographies such as this provide ample opportunities for exploring the relationships between place and identity as well as the construction of scale.

Including Students’ Geographies in Geography Education: Spatial Narratives, Citizen Mapping, and Social Justice

Abstract Preparing students to become active, participatory citizens is more than promoting personal responsibility. It requires actively engaging with others in order to improve one’s community. Using a critical geography approach, this article describes research with students living in urban areas that engaged them in fieldwork and citizen mapping of the neighborhood around their high school. We were interested in how they interacted with this environment and their perceptions of social justice issues in the community. Student groups worked together to identify and investigate topics of their choosing in order to produce and present their findings and recommendations to community stakeholders. We collected data from these students through case studies, sketch maps, and interviews, which revealed an increase in understanding of their neighborhood and an appreciation for the use of spatial thinking and technologies in addressing issues that they care about as citizens.

Teaching Spatial Thinking and Geospatial Technologies Through Citizen Mapping and Problem-Based Inquiry in Grades 7-12

Abstract Our project introduced students in grades 7 through 12 to spatial thinking and geospatial technologies in the context of challenges in their community. We used a mix of levels of inquiry to advance learning from teacher- to student-guided through a citizen mapping group activity. Student-suggested problem-based topics included parks and community gardens, crime, housing, and youth employment opportunities. Qualitative methods were used to evaluate students’ knowledge of spatial thinking and geospatial technologies, including map interpretation, a case study, daily exit slips, and interviews. Overall, the students’ awareness of their community, spatial thinking, and geospatial technologies increased as a result of participation.

Geographers in Business, Government, and Nonprofit Organizations: Skills, Challenges, and Professional Identities

This study examines the experiences of geography graduates who work in business, government, and nonprofit organizations. We analyzed 352 logs from eighty-two professionals detailing professional activities, challenges, and opportunities during one work week each month, over a period of six months. Our analysis explores interpersonal relationships and working conditions affecting participants’ progress toward work goals, workplace climate, and professional identity. Geographic information systems and technology accounted for more than half of the geographic skills respondents reported using on the job, and administrative and leadership factors were the most commonly cited types of transferable skills. Professional geographers value collaborative workplaces as well as opportunities to work independently with the confidence of their supervisors, and their sense of a professional identity is enhanced when they feel valued and are recognized for their work. Professional development activities are important because they reinforce geographers’ sense of positively contributing to their organizations, enhance interpersonal interactions, facilitate work on specific projects, and expand individuals’ knowledge and skills. Moreover, our findings suggest that nearly half of the reported workplace difficulties could potentially be reduced or eliminated as a result of more and better professional development. Nonetheless, many employers do not consistently provide opportunities for professional development to their employees. Based on our analysis, we contend that professional development is a beneficial investment for lifelong learning, from undergraduate and graduate education throughout the entire course of a professional career.

Introduction to the 2013 Marquee Address

This year’s Cultural Geography Specialty Group (CGSG) Marquee speaker at the 2013 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers was Lily Kong, National University of Singapore (NUS). I am honored to provide a brief introduction to her paper and illustrious career. It is a daunting task indeed to summarize the work of someone, who is always at least one step ahead of other scholars in regards to cutting edge research in the discipline of geography. In this case, Kong addresses the ways in which identity, educational space, and citizenship intersect at the global and national scales. In doing so she proposes a multi-scalar framework for exploring international schools, and the various school spaces*official, informal, physical*that create citizens who are socialized as national, transnational global, and local citizens. She focuses on the particular contributions that social and cultural geographers can make in examining the multiple identities that are shaped by the socialization processes of the educational system and the sometimes contentious religious and secular values and spaces in schools. Lily Kong serves as the Vice President of University and Global Relations as well as the Vice Provost of Academic Personnel at NUS. In reading a flyer announcing the ‘‘Inaugural NUS Women Leaders-Students Networking Event: Women Empower Women-Unleash Your Inner Potential,’’ which was held on March 26, 2013 with Lily Kong as the guest of honor, I was impressed not only by the descriptions of her academic and leadership contributions, but also by her willingness to serve the discipline of geography in a wide variety roles from this workshop for aspiring women leaders to numerous positions on scholarly journal editorial boards and national and international organizations. According to the NUS website, Lily Kong has 13 books and monographs as well as over 100 journal articles and book chapters. She has made significant contributions to a greater understanding of the spatial dimensions of religion, identity, education, economic and urban development.

Introduction to the Marquee Address

I am honored to provide this brief introduction to the Cultural Geography Specialty Group (CGSG) Marquee Address that was presented by Julian Brash at the 2012 annual meeting of the Association of American Geographers (AAG) in New York City. Brash’s talk was related to his recently published book Bloomberg’s New York: Class and Governance in the Luxury City (2011), in which he explores the role of urban imaginaries*collective imaginings of cities, their inhabitants, and their relationship to the broader social, political, and economic field*in urban development and governance. Of particular importance in this case is New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, whose corporate and technocratic approach to urban governance has been animated by a vision of New York as a ‘‘Luxury City’’ characterized by ambition, innovation, creativity, and upper class sociality. Brash’s focus on ‘‘grand urban visions in neoliberal urbanism’’ in the context of New York City was especially well-suited given the location of this year’s AAG meeting. Julian Brash is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Montclair State University. In addition to Bloomberg’s New York (2011), he is the author of articles in Social Text, Urban Anthropology, Critique of Anthropology, and Antipode. He received a PhD in Anthropology from the Graduate Center of City University of New York in 2006 (where David Harvey and Neil Smith were members of his PhD committee), and a Master’s Degree in Urban Planning from Columbia University in 2000. Last fall, the emergence of Occupy Wall Street (OWS) put Mayor Michael Bloomberg squarely back into the public eye, as the CEO Mayor was forced to deal with a movement that took direct aim at the class inequalities that had helped propel him into City Hall. For Julian Brash’s analysis of the encounter between OWS and Bloomberg, as well as the place of politics in public space in the neoliberal city, please see his essay ‘‘Politics Out of Place’’ in Beyond Zuccotti Park: Freedom of Assembly and the Occupation of Public Spaces, a collection of essays edited by Ron