Closing the Skills Gap

Closing the Skills Gap

We’re having a problem with numbers. Big data is transforming the way we live and work—in exciting and important ways. But the skills gap is big, too. New research conducted jointly by PwC and the Business-Higher Education Forum, paints a disturbing picture when it comes to a workforce that will not be equipped with the data science skills to fill the jobs of the future. According to this research, by 2021, 69 percent of executives expect to choose job candidates with data science skills over those without them, yet only 23 percent of educators say their students will graduate from college equipped with these skills.

These are not the only numbers that don’t add up. One in every two teens is financially illiterate. Americans have accumulated a staggering $1.3 trillion in student debt. And, more than half of millennials say they are concerned about their ability to pay off their student loans.

What concerns me most is another gap, one that connects these numbers and the story they tell. And, that is lack of access and opportunity. Here are some of the basic components of this calculus:

I am concerned about the impact of these gaps and pressures on individuals, our communities, and our businesses. As someone who has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for more than 15 years, I have seen close up the great value and opportunities associated with STEM and data science education and skills. As Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer for PwC, I experience, every day, first hand, the power and promise of creating a diverse workforce. I believe that to grow our businesses and the American economy, we will need a diverse workforce prepared to handle—and succeed in—the fast changing, high-demand data-driven jobs of the future.

We have a both a great responsibility, and a great opportunity, to address these issues, not with stop-gap measures, but with sustainable solutions that seek to address these challenges on a systemic level. This is why I am proud of PwC’s Access Your Potential? initiative, a $320 million, five-year commitment focused on closing the education, opportunity, and skills gaps. The initiative builds on the momentum we achieved with our pioneering financial literacy program, Earn Your Future? , our recent collaboration with former math-teacher-turned-rap artist Dee-1, and our firm’s Student Loan Paydown benefit.  Our goal is to reach more than 10 million students in underserved communities with programs, mentoring, and access to resources that can enable students to learn technology skills, develop financial literacy and capability, and make smart choices about college and careers. And, we will empower 100,000 educators with training and tools to help them guide their students in making sound financial decisions.

I have been involved with, and a champion of, financial literacy education for young people for more than a decade. What excites me, above all, about this new commitment is its sharp focus on reaching the students who need it most and—because of this focus—its investment in our collective future. Inequality is one of the most important social issues of our time and it will take all of us to solve it. My hope is that Access Your Potential? will provide an important step in the right direction.


James Schmeling

President and CEO @ National Defense University Foundation | Philanthropy, National Security

7 年

Thoughtful and useful to plan activities. I'm thrilled that the PWC Foundation has granted Student Veterans of America funding to examine informed decision making before college for student veterans. With data we have on veteran student loan debt, and success for diverse student veterans in college (student veterans n almost all diversity categories earn degrees at higher rates than their peers who have not served, and far higher rates than other non-traditional students), we can assist them to make good financial decisions as well. I look forward to reading all the details of these programs.

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