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