College degrees not all that?
Skepticism about the value of four-year college degrees has been rising for years now. Costs have only continued to escalate, and public attention to this fact has created a foundation of stress and doubt among families of high school students about committing to bachelor’s-degree studies. At the same time, questions about the practical value of a college education make students wonder if skills-focused, job-centered learning is a better bet.
Alternatives hard to identify
Meanwhile, guidance and information about what alternatives to consider are in short supply. A 2023 survey from the ECMC Group found 63 percent of teens would consider alternative educational pathways to four-year degrees, but only 13 percent felt they were prepared to choose such an alternative.
What is career-connected learning?
Career-connected learning (CCL), an emerging framework for addressing this problem, has been rapidly gaining prominence and support. The basic principle of this framework starts with embedding career-oriented learning in K-12 academics and then extending this learning through real-world work experiences for students. More specifically, common elements of career-connected learning programs include:
Reflection and exploration in the classroom designed to connect students’ passions and interests to career pathways.
Schools working in partnerships between local businesses and non-profits to align learning materials with practical job skills needed in the community.
Career awareness and experiential learning opportunities during the school day.
Student participation in real-world work projects with actual customers or clients.
CCL programs have been growing rapidly all across the country, with various emphases:
High Tech High in California incorporates internships and project work in which students tackle real-world problems with industry collaborators.
In Kansas City, Real World Learning provides experiential learning opportunities in over three dozen school systems.
This CCL program in Houston focuses on healthcare careers, involving a local provider and Aldine Independent School District.
The really big question
CCL programs help answer the age-old question students have about traditional school lessons: “when am I ever going to use this?” The real-world relevance of what they are learning can inspire and motivate students to pursue further studies with the sense that they are building towards a future of their own creation. As the ECMC report notes, “Many Gen Z youth are looking for faster, more economical and more relevant on-ramps to meaningful jobs that offer life-sustaining wages are aligned to their real interests.”
Businesses participating in CCL programs get benefits, too. Think credit for contributing to local schools’ education programs and broadening students’ career prospects, plus the actual value of students’ work at a time when talent can be hard to find. Moreover, CCL programs can serve to strengthen and diversify local industry’s pipeline of talent for future employment purposes. Giving students this kind of real-world work experience in fields of high need and utility has almost no downside.
Schools can use some help
One of the biggest challenges, though, goes back to increasing the number of students getting useful career guidance beyond that 13 percent figure cited above. Schools do not always have the resources or personnel in-house to guide students towards the pathways that can lead them to the careers — especially in STEM-oriented, innovation-driven fields — where the greatest opportunities can be. Getting students interested in CCL activities and careers in general in these areas requires first that students understand what they might be getting into.
Our portfolio of career guides addresses just this challenge. They describe educational and career opportunities in fast-growing fields that are important to many parts of our lives.
Artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, biotechnology, engineering—careers in the fields can vary greatly in technical content, type and location of employer, and paths of entry. But they all offer students the chance to learn, grow, make a difference in the world, and improve the quality of lives beyond their own. More specifically, they show students:
What the fields are all about
How they’re relevant to kids’ lives
How to prepare for careers now and later on
All the varied pathways into the fields, from certificates/other non-degrees to 2- and 4-year programs
Finding the right fit
Companion student workbooks encourage reflection and extend learning to help students understand if and how a career in one of these fields can align with their individual skills and interests.
Click on the image to learn more and get a free download of any or all of these four workbooks.
After reading the guide and completing workbook activities, students should have a much more fully formed idea of how well a career in any of these fields might suit them. As on-ramps to careers in these fast-growing fields, our career guide and student workbook packages can fill a need that many schools find difficult to do on their own.
And, finally
Please be in touch if you want to learn more about the guides or get hold of digital review copies. The student workbooks are free to download on our website. And if you have had any experiences with CCL programs, we'd love to hear about it. Our approach to outreach and education in STEM seems like a useful complement to their goals, and we're interested in developing any connections we can with them.
Eric Iversen is VP for Learning and Communications at Start Engineering. Comments and feedback are always welcome.
Our goal at Start Engineering is to help make STEM careers imaginable and accessible to kids of all backgrounds and interests. We publish educational and career outreach books in STEM fields like artificial intelligence, biotechnology, cybersecurity, and engineering, with more topics to come. Check out our newest releases here!
Photo credits:
Question mark, courtesy of Yello-Dog on FreeImages.com
Engineering girls, courtesy of DiscoverE