Employers and educators must partner together to close the skills gap in the American workforce. How? We believe there are three critical factors: learning recognition, flexibility in pacing and job readiness.

Learning recognition: Adults need to finish their next credential as quickly as possible so they can earn while learning. They shouldn't have to learn the same material twice, nor be penalized for stepping out of higher education. Instead, working adults should get credit for life experiences that are truly credit-worthy. For example, a military combat medic shouldn't have to take a class on how to dress a wound if he wants to become a nurse. Universities that award credit for previous learning, do so for the most part, at the course level. You either know all the material or you don't get credit for any of it. A bookkeeper, for example, might have the know-how to pass part of an introductory accounting course, but not all of it. She might know debits and credits but not Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. Universities could help by finding ways to give her credit for what she knows even if that knowledge doesn't fit neatly into their predetermined buckets. Additionally, employers could assess and track the education they provide, making it much more likely that employees can obtain credit for it at a university.
Pacing: The pace at which adults can complete their education is widely variable among people and also over time for individual students. Yet, most universities offer courses in chunks that require a minimum of 15 hours of work per week. And, to obtain Federal Financial Aid requires at least a half-time load. Students would be much better off with time off work, perhaps as an apprentice, to study or a reduced and/or variable credit load to help juggle all of the demands put upon them.
In addition to the obvious challenge of balancing funding with pacing, students have preferences that affect their chance of success because of personality and life circumstances.
Schedule preference: Some students like predictability and routine in a schedule; others want to modify their schedule to accommodate life changes as they occur. For example, they may want to spend less time on school in the summer when their children are home. Or they may need a week a month away from school when their work requires more attention, perhaps because regular reports are due.
Remediation: When students fail a course because they were compelled to drop it before completing a term, they should be able to earn credit for what they successfully completed and only retake the portion(s) left.
Learning preference: Some students want to put the instructor in the driver's seat, while others want to drive themselves. Some students can go faster than the average and some need more time. Universities and employers can both work to accommodate these variable pacing needs.
Job readiness: Most universities are confident, and rightfully so, that graduates have the knowledge for which they have been given credit. The question is, "Do they have the competencies that employers are looking for?" It's hard to find out. We regularly ask employers to evaluate our graduates, but the response rate is fairly low so we encourage greater participation and suggestions for making it better. With teamwork, we can optimize workplace readiness for our graduates.

For some employers, it might be better to know that a student has succeeded at a curriculum that is tailored specifically to the employer's organization or that the employer was directly involved in creating. Universities could work to be ready to provide those opportunities and employers need to be willing to support the effort required to make that endeavor successful.

Instant Insights /

Connecting higher education to workplace readiness

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