REIMAGINING THE ROLE OF CAREER DEVELOPMENT
GLOBAL PATHWAYS INSTITUTE
William Symonds
Director, Global Pathways Institute
Professor of Practice, ASU
NCDA Global Conference
Denver, Colorado
July 1, 2015
GLOBAL PATHWAYS INSTITUTE
HOW IT EVOLVED
My Background
Pathways to Prosperity Project: report/response
CREATION OF THE INSTITUTE
The Broad Coalition of Supporters:
Business/Government/Foundations/ASU
GPI VISION
We are committed to creating an America in which all
young people are prepared to lead productive and
successful lives. We believe that providing young people
with high-quality multiple pathways is the best way to
help them discover and develop their potential and
achieve economic independence.
THE MISSION OF THE INSTITUTE
Building Effective
Pathways to
Economic
Independence for All
Young People
ConveneCommunicate
Research
Collaborate
SOUTHWEST PATHWAYS CONFERENCEMay 28-29//ASU
SkySong
Teams from 5 States:
CO, UT, NV, NM, and AZ
350 Attendees; More
Than 100 SpeakersLEARN MORE:
www.globalpathwaysinstitute.org
TODAY’S AGENDAThe Pathways Challenge
Why We Are Failing So Many Young People
How We Can Help Prepare More Young Adults to Achieve the American Dream:
The Critical Role of “Career Literacy”
Reimagining Career Development:
Key Components of a More Effective Approach
The Need for a National Movement
THE PATHWAYS CHALLENGE:Our Heritage: The Land of Opportunity; Where you were born was not your destiny
Today: Our existing system fails to prepare many young adults for success
The “40/50 Problem”:
40% don’t graduate; the world’s highest college dropout rates; over $1 trillion in
student debt
50% of those who do graduate end up unemployed or underemployed
The “Skills Gap”: even many educated youth are not equipped with the skills
needed to succeed
“EVERY FAMILY IN AMERICA”The American Dream is Endangered
THE PERSISTENCE OF POVERTY
For the first time in 50 years, the MAJORITY of U.S. schoolchildren
live in poverty or low-income families
Opportunity Youth: One in Seven young adults 16-24 are not in school or
working: 5.6 million are “disconnected”
Robert Putnam, “Our Kids”:
• In the 1950s, America offered “extraordinary upward mobility”
• Today, “Social Mobility Seems Poised to Plunge in the Years Ahead” as
Inequality has Ballooned
The American Dream is Endangered
ONE ROAD TO HEAVEN?
Four-year college is seen as the only true pathway to success.
High school is about preparing students for four-year college.
Academics are emphasized at the expense of career
education/preparation.
Community/technical colleges are a far less prestigious option.
Career Technical Education is for students who aren’t smart enough
for four-year college
WHAT WE BELIEVE:
FOR MANY, THE ROAD IS BROKENMOST high school students are not ready for college – not even community college
ACT: Only 25% of students in the 2014 graduating class were fully “college ready” -- in all 4 subjects
The Achievement Gap: 44% of white students were college ready; but only 16% of Hispanic and 8% of Native Americans
How Many are Career Ready?: We hardly even measure it
OUR PARADIGM IS BADLY FLAWED AND CONTRIBUTES TO MASSIVE LEVELS OF YOUTH UNDEREMPLOYMENT
U.S. “ON TIME” COLLEGE COMPLETION RATES ARE ALARMINGLY LOW
Note: Two-year schools have a three year graduation window. Four-year schools have a six-year window
Source: Higher Ed info-NCES/IPEDS Graduation Survey.
COLLEGE FOR ALL DOES NOT MEAN EVERYONE NEEDS A B.A.EVEN IN THIS DECADE MOST JOBS DO NOT REQUIRE A B.A.
Source: March CPS data, various years; Center on Education and the Workforce forecast of educational demand to 2018.
“We inherited a fixed,
rigid, disconnected
model of education and
learning. It has run its
course. It is no longer
adequate to the
assignment.” – President
Michael Crow, ASU
ASU PRESIDENT, MICHAEL CROW: SW PATHWAYS CONFERENCE
Please visit our YouTube page to view
the video: https://youtu.be/_RCwr5pKSuk
OR
The video and others can be viewed at
our website:
www.globalpathwaysinstitute.org
WHY ARE WE FAILING SO MANY?The “One Road to Heaven” approach is far too narrow, and doesn’t work for most students
This approach re-enforces an elitism in which jobs that don’t require a four-year degree are demeaned
We can’t possibly prepare students for the middle class/American Dream if we steer them away from many middle class jobs
WE NEED A NEW APPROACH:
ONE THAT CHAMPIONS
THE DIGNITY OF WORK!
THE CRITICAL ROLE OF CAREER LITERACYHOW THIS TERMINOLOGY EVOLVED:
• Limitations of “career guidance” and “career development”
THE CONCEPT OF CAREER LITERACY:
• Equipping Students/Adults with the Knowledge, Tools and Support they need to make
Good Career decisions: Now and in the Future
THE APPEAL OF “LITERACY”
THE GOAL: MAKE CAREER GUIDANCE A CENTRAL FOCUS OF EDUCATION
THE CRISIS IN CAREER GUIDANCE
K-12: We have far too few counselors
*Most have little time to provide career counseling and many don’t understand the labor market
Higher-Ed: Resources are often constrained, especially at community colleges
*Few colleges embrace a comprehensive approach: including a strong emphasis on work-based learning
CURRENT REALITIES:
McGraw-Hill Education 2015 Workforce Readiness Survey:
THE COSTS OF OUR NEGLECTDisengagement: Students who don’t see the purpose of learning lose interest:
*76% of elementary students are engaged
*But only 44% of high school students
Many students don’t have the information needed to make good decisions about their future. The result: many make poor choices about COLLEGE AND CAREER
Many college students are just wandering through the system, and this is a key cause of the underemployment epidemic
A VISION FOR EFFECTIVE GUIDANCEMAKE CAREER GUIDANCE A CENTRAL FOCUS OF EDUCATION:
*K-12: Begin early and emphasize often
*Post-Secondary: The goal is completion with a purpose: obtaining a credential that
provides a pathway to a promising career
ADOPT A MORE COLLABORATIVE APPROACH:
*Involve the Entire School Community
* Engage business, parents, the broader community
EMBRACE WORK-BASED LEARNING
NATIONAL DIALOGUE ON GUIDANCEWho Attended
Business, educators, NCDA, government
Key Conclusions
*Current Spending is pitiful: We spend billions on teaching content, but the equivalent of “one can of coke” per student on career development
*This is a global challenge: Youth unemployment is one of the planet’s most pressing problems
We need a Movement
*Incremental change will not produce the kind of systemic reform that’s needed
NATIONAL DIALOGUE ON GUIDANCERECOMMENDATIONS AND FINDINGS:
Counselors Cannot do it Alone: Collaboration is Essential
• Technology is essential, but not a panacea: a caring adult is critical
• Require all teachers to take a course in career development
• Incorporate Career Readiness into State Accountability Systems; Reward post-
secondary institutions on their effectiveness in placing students
• Greatly expand the availability of work-based learning
THE ROLE OF WORK-BASED LEARNINGWHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT?
*Proven to promote engagement
*Develops key employability skills
*The gold standard for career exploration. Helps students find out: Is this what I want to do?
*For employers: An ideal method for attracting and identifying future employees
TYPES OF WORK-BASED LEARNINGFROM EXPLORATION TO EXPERIENCE:
Exploration: builds awareness
*Job fairs and career days
*Workplace tours/job shadowing
Experience: career preparation
*Internships
*Work experience
*Apprenticeships
WORK-BASED LEARNING THAT WORKS
K-12: *The “Massachusetts Model”
*“The “Met”
Higher-Ed: *The Co-Op Model: Northeastern
*BYU Idaho
Apprenticeships:*Registered Apprenticeships
*But the U.S. lags other countries
Re-engaging Opportunity Youth:*Year-Up
THE CHALLENGE OF SCALING UPINTERNSHIPS AND OTHER WORK-BASED LEARNING EXPERIENCES ARE STILL THE
EXCEPTION.
WHAT WE MUST DO:
Persuade more companies to participate
Help more high schools, community colleges, universities offer such programs
Provide incentives, training, studies of best practices
WHY THIS REALLY MATTERSFINDINGS FROM THE GALLUP-PURDUE STUDY:
The Study: Measure long-term engagement; well-being of 30,000 college
graduates
Factors that don’t make much difference: Where you went to school;
GPA: the factors education often emphasizes
Factors that more than doubled engagement:
*Having a mentor
*Internship or job where learning is applied
SIGNS OF PROGRESSSigns of Progress:Widespread State adoption of ILPs—though implementation is far from perfect
Rapid Improvements in Technology
Expanding Efforts to Collaborate:
*Harness Retirees: AmeriCorps; ARP; “Encore careers”
*Engage Business:
1. South Carolina Pathways; CC Inspire: IL, NC, Ontario
2. US Chamber of Commerce: Talent Pipeline Management
Widespread Recognition of the Value of Mentoring
Impressive Evidence of the Effectiveness of Work-based Learning
STARBUCKS AND ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY
“ASU is pioneering a new university model focused
on inclusivity and degree completion, and Starbucks
is establishing a new precedent for the
responsibility and role of a public company that
leads through the lens of humanity and supports its
partners’ life goals with access to education.” –
Michael Crow, ASU President
VOICES FOR CHANGESME/MSSC WHITE PAPER: “Transforming Career Counseling”
Key Findings:
Career counseling must become a much higher priority
Require special certifications for career counselors
Enlist the business community
www.sme.org or www.msscusa.org
International Symposium on Career Development
U.S. Country Action Plan:
Calls for developing a national agenda to elevate career counseling
CALL TO ACTIONLet’s Launch A Movement to Champion the Goal of Helping all Youth and Adults Become Career Literate
Key Next Steps:
Build a Broad Coalition of Champions, including NCDA, counselors, educators, business, community organizations and philanthropy
Convene a national dialogue to craft a Vision/Mission statement for the campaign
Develop a marketing campaign to advance this cause
NOW IS THE TIME!
QUESTIONS?www.globalpathwaysinstitute.org