Advancing Innovation in Work and Learning | SEPT. 9, 2021
Natasha Santiago-Body can check many boxes to describe her situation: Some college; no degree. Historically underrepresented by race and gender. Working adult. Mom.
But like her classmates at The American Women’s College of Bay Path University, she sees the hurdles these boxes represent shrinking and a clear path emerging in her education and career journey. That’s thanks in part to the flexibility and support she’s finding at the school — the nation’s first online, accelerated college degree program designed just for women.
The program brings adult women back to school — even as some are working full-time jobs and managing families. The goal is to equip more women with the technical and professional skills they need to transition into the well-paid, in-demand fields of cybersecurity and information technology — improving learners’ economic mobility while helping employers expand their talent pool.
Here are some approaches Bay Path recommends to help more adults earn degrees and enter careers in technology:
Develop relationships with potential employers first, then nurture them continuously. To ensure skills alignment between what is sought in the labor market and what is taught in the classroom, Bay Path forges strong relationships with employers.
Place career coaching at the beginning of the educational path — and never stop coaching. At Bay Path, career coaching begins during the admissions process and continues throughout college and beyond graduation.
Incorporate stackable industry credentials into the path to a college degree. In an era when so many resumes are scanned by computer programs that quickly eliminate job candidates lacking degrees or specific technology certifications, it’s important to take a “both-and” approach, incorporating industry-recognized credentials into the bachelor’s degree path.
FOCUSED ON ADULT LEARNER SUCCESS Register now for the 2021 CAEL Annual Conference, which brings together the best minds in adult learning to connect and network with industry experts from postsecondary education, workforce and economic development, and industry. This year Strada affiliate CAEL is working to design a hybrid experience attendees can join virtually or in person from Nov. 17 to 19 in San Diego at the Hotel Del Coronado, all in service to improving the connections between education and career that drive adult learner success and equitable economic growth. Among the keynote speakers is Bridget Burns, founding executive director of the University Innovation Alliance, who has advised university presidents, system chancellors, and state and federal policy leaders on strategies to expand access to higher education, address costs, and promote completion for students of all backgrounds.
COACHING TO HELP RE-ENROLLMENT
With funding from John M. Belk Foundation and Strada, a coalition of five North Carolina community colleges announced a new campaign designed to help students who have stopped out to re-enroll in higher education and complete their degrees. The colleges are working with national nonprofit InsideTrack to help former community college students navigate the complexity of re-enrollment, resume their studies, and develop a plan to complete their degrees. Using one-on-one voice, text, and digital communication, professional coaches from InsideTrack will engage with former students to help them determine if now is the right time to re-enroll. According to 2019 data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, more than 518,000 North Carolinians have some college but no degree — a number that likely has risen with decreases in college enrollment during the pandemic.
RECONNECTING YOUTH TO EDUCATION
Strada Director of Research Nichole Torpey-Saboe is the featured guest on the latest episode of "Talent Talks," a podcast where human resources veteran Rick Maher talks with thought leaders about ways to re-invent U.S. talent development and education systems. As part of a podcast series about the nation's recovery from COVID-19, Torpey-Saboe discussed the special challenges faced by American youth as they consider reconnecting to education and getting back on track toward a career. Torpey-Saboe shared insights from Strada Public Viewpoint research, including a recent report that featured insights from members of the high school classes of 2020 and 2021. In the research, grads who had intended to enroll in education after high school but postponed their plans identified guidance, affordability, and stronger connection to careers as the most helpful solutions as they consider re-enrolling.
EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE ALIGNMENT
The U.S. doesn’t invest enough in its workforce, and it shows, CAEL President Earl Buford and Corporation for a Skilled Workforce President and CEO Larry Good write in "A Gold Medal Workforce for a Gold Medal Economy." While a solution from Congress might include an infrastructure package that includes significant investments in the American workforce, the leaders write that the future of work and the pressures of global competition demand that we think differently about how we develop the workforce. The piece outlines strategies beyond additional investment that will better align formal education and workforce development, calling many of the strategies "reasonable and eminently achievable." Buford and Good are members of the Better Employment and Training Strategies Taskforce, a coalition of more than 40 leading practitioners and experts working to modernize the outdated patchwork of workforce policies in the United States.
INVESTMENT IN SOCIAL IMPACT
Cell-Ed, a mobile learning company, released new findings today from an independent ProSocial Valuation research report that measured and evaluated the dollar value of the gains adult workers accrued after using Cell-Ed’s essential skills courses over any mobile device in 2020, as well as the company’s broader social impact. For every $1 invested in Cell-Ed, the report found, $55 was created in social return on investment. Nearly 90 percent of the study’s 5,000 Cell-Ed participants were people of color, and 60 percent were women. Independent researchers calculated how they benefited from using the company’s courses and coaches in 2020, which led to higher wages, increased employment, positive education and economic benefits for their children, increased volunteerism and decreased incarceration. Strada, which invests in Cell-Ed, funded the independent research as part of its impact evaluation efforts.
Lessons Earned
In our podcast, we explore bold ideas to help individuals navigate between learning and earning throughout their lives.
