Universities and educational institutions will of course react to a growing demand for new skills, but the reaction time could be rather long. It is complicated to read the demand for new skills, and it takes time to create new and, in particular, new research-based education. There are very few examples of universities which have already reacted and offered new educational programs as a response to the demand from new ways of innovating. One university who has reacted is San Jose State University in California, USA.

In 2006, the San Jose State University (SJSU) Masters program in applied anthropology was designed to help students develop skills in applying anthropology when working with business and industry development.

The program is organized around a set of multidisciplinary skills in the (1) analysis of social systems and their environments, (2) evaluation, and (3) planning, policy and design. The first 8 students were admitted to the program during the fall semester 2006. Initially, the plan was to accept students only in even-numbered years due to minimizing costs. However, a great interest in the program meant that the university immediately switched to annual admissions. The first three students graduated in the spring of 2008, and about the same number are expected in 2009.

Read more: http://www.sjsu.edu/

Source: Chuck Darrah, Department Chair, San José State University.