A Brave New World Indeed: Another ASU-GSV in the Books

Each year, the ASU+GSV Summit brings together a diverse group of educators, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and mission-driven innovators like Jobs for the Future (JFF) to explore the latest trends, challenges, and opportunities in the learn-and-work eco-system. This year's Summit in San Diego was back in full force, with several thousand attendees from around the globe, and a lineup of speakers ranging from Bill Gates to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Some of the key themes that emerged from this year's conversations at ASU-GSV include:

The rise of skills-based learning and hiring.?As the nature of work continues to evolve rapidly, there's growing recognition of the importance of skills-based learning and competency-based education models and how they align with careers. In a session moderated by Maria Flynn , Skills-Based Hiring More Rhetoric or a New Reality, panelists including Matt Sigelman from The Burning Glass Institute , Christine Y. Cruzvergara of Handshake , Linda Jingfang Cai of LinkedIn , and Jeff Schwartz of Gloat discussed the merits of skills-based hiring, what it means for how we evaluate candidates and the obstacles (and opportunities) for encouraging employer adoption.?

Scaling access to real-world learning, virtually.?Like skills-based hiring, there continues to be a lot of hype around the metaverse and other virtual and immersive learning modalities and how they can help support learning and expand equity and access for learners. Kristina F. , Executive Director of JFFLabs led a discussion with various experts in virtual reality, game design, and education technology, including Muhsinah Morris, Ph.D . of Morehouse College , Monica Arés of Th3 Third Door, Josh Reibel of Dreamscape Immersive , and Jim Chilton of Cengage Group that touched on the potential benefits and challenges of Bringing the Metaverse to Higher Education and how it could shape the future of teaching and learning.

?In another session, Virtual Internships: Scaling Access to Real-world Learning, Sabari Raja of JFFVentures, joined Jason Tyszko of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation , Prue Clifford of the Work-Based Learning Alliance , and Jodi McPherson of Work Simplr on a panel hosted by American Student Assistance and moderated by Julie Lammers to discuss the benefits of virtual internships as a means of helping more high school students gain access to real-world work-based learning opportunities.

Also during the event, we announced the Unity Workforce Grant in collaboration with Unity to expand access to immersive learning technologies to prepare workers for in-demand careers. You can learn more about this work here.

Equity matters now more than ever.?Our colleague Michael Collins hosted a breakfast roundtable on advancing racial equity in education and employment where several organizations from across the eco-system focused on racial equity shared what they're doing to support learners and workers facing the steepest barriers to education and employment opportunities. During the conversation, he implored attendees to break down the silos between our work by sharing best practices and identifying where we can eliminate duplication of effort to reach our goals faster.

Are degrees still necessary??While the argument between skills and degrees may be a false debate, many sessions throughout the conference touched on the relevance and ROI of traditional higher education in meeting the demands of today's economy. As noted in the session titled What Else Do You Got? When the Degree isn't the Standard Anymore, "Less than a third of Americans believe you need a bachelor’s degree for financial security, and just 50% of Gen Z teens are considering a four-year degree. Instead, many learners today see non-college pathways to opportunity, including apprenticeships, boot camps, and professional certifications."

In this session, Meena Naik of JFF joined Mercedes Aquilini of Western Governors University , Parminder K. Jassal (??????? ???) of Unmudl Skills-to-Jobs Marketplace , and Bob Sherriff of CareerDash to explore why more Americans are opting for non-degree options, how those credentials may coincide with degrees, and what higher education institutions can do to adapt.

Outcomes, Outcomes, Outcomes.?While new pedagogical innovations, including those leveraging AI, are emerging everyday, one question continues to elude most of us: What is the best way to measure outcomes and demonstrate competency?

For this reason, we were proud to announce an exciting new partnership at ASU-GSV with The Burning Glass Institute and GitLab Foundation to expand the Education Quality Outcomes Standards as a tool to help workers, learners, employers, and policymakers make sense of the rapidly growing landscape of postsecondary credentials. We are thrilled to see the excitement behind the announcement at a private session we hosted during the event and look forward to sharing more about this work soon at #JFFHorizons.

Through technology, we can also better enable learners to take ownership of their learning to navigate the credentials landscape more efficiently and demonstrate their knowledge. That's where learner employment records come into play.

As Sharon Leu noted in the session Blockchain Credentialing & Learner and Employment Records, featuring Matt Pittinsky of Parchment, An Instructure Company , Danny King of Accredible , and Philipp Schmidt of The Center for Reimagining Learning, "the blockchain holds promise to enable even greater learner mobility and demonstration of learning outcomes than ever."

The ASU-GSV Summit highlights the tremendous potential for education and workforce development to drive social and economic progress. JFF was proud to partner with ASU-GSV as a sponsor at the event.

Outside of the main event, there were ample networking opportunities, conversations with colleagues, partners, and friends from years past, and sharing our thoughts on matters that extend beyond the walls of the hotel conference center, such as Taj Ahmad Eldridge connecting with Ramona Schindelheim of WorkingNation to discuss climate change and green jobs.

Finally, we were so glad to be able to host many of our friends and colleagues at various dinners and receptions throughout the week, including our own JFF cocktail reception.

Last, but certainly not least, who can forget seeing the man, the myth, the legend Darryl McDaniels of Run DMC at a special event hosted by our friends at Whiteboard Advisors ? We were honored to sponsor this fun event to raise awareness for student mental health supported by organizations like Uwill .

So what's next? Now that we've looked at these issues through a technology and investment-focused lens, what can we do to ensure we align our state and federal policies to education, workforce, and employment practices on the ground? How can we support the dual transformation of this ecosystem by creating an environment where established systems and promising, new solutions work together to scale innovation? We hope you'll join us in New Orleans on June 14-15 for this year's #JFFHorizons to find out. Register at https://horizons.jff.org

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