The Day Linda McMahon Agreed with Me

From 2014-2017, I served under President Obama as the U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein, where I learned about and became one of the leading advocates for adopting and adapting the Swiss model of apprenticeship in the United States. Thus, on November 19, 2024, even though I was very active in trying to elect Kamala Harris, it was refreshing to see Linda McMahon, President-Elect Trump’s proposed nominee for Secretary of Education, join the ranks of those advocating for this critical pathway and partnership.

In this hyperpartisan era, we must find and protect safe zones where we all agree and where we prioritize people over party. Apprenticeship, epitomized by the Swiss model, has already proven to be one of those neutral spaces (pun intended) and I hope that McMahon’s declaration of admiration on social media is a harbinger of continued efforts to steward and scale youth apprenticeship in diverse occupations and with diverse communities.

In September 2014, Dr. Jill Biden came to Switzerland to speak at a conference on apprenticeship. Together, we toured Bühler, a Swiss manufacturer who had deployed the Swiss apprenticeship model in their Minnesota facility. We were blown away by what we saw: ?15-19 year olds doing complex, real, and fulfilling work; earning a paycheck; learning new skills; communicating confidently to the second lady (in their 2nd, 3rd, or 4th language); demonstrating leadership; and fortifying the reputation of “Swiss quality.”

That visit spurred an initiative to enlist dozens of other Swiss companies to bring their programs to the US and, just as importantly, catalyzed a partnership on apprenticeship between our countries that was signed in June 2015 by our Secretaries of Education, Labor, and Commerce. Similar agreements were signed during the Trump and Biden Administrations, and it remains one of the few non-security related agreements and innovation initiatives to persist across all three administrations!

This bipartisan embrace is also seen across states and governors. While in Switzerland, I hosted Democratic Governors Hickenlooper and Markell as well as Republican Governors Snyder and Abbott – exploring Swiss apprenticeship with all of them. Today, youth apprenticeship systems based on the Swiss model are robustly growing in cities and states ranging from Colorado, Washington state, and New York City to Indiana, South Carolina, and Birmingham, Alabama.

My preconceived notion of apprenticeship had been isolated to the “trades”, but the apprentices I met that day and in subsequent years were earning credentials in technology, aerospace, logistics, finance, healthcare, pharmaceutical tech, multimedia, advanced manufacturing, and more. Over the course of my time there, I met with thousands of private, public, and non-profit sector leaders who started as apprentices. In fact, 70-80% of young people don’t go to high school, they become apprentices (Switzerland has 9 years of mandatory education). And yet – they still have a phenomenal option for those who pursue a theoretical, as opposed to a practical, path with some of the most prestigious Universities in the world – who, by the way, also employ apprentices.

People traverse the path that maps to their development mode. For those who worry about tracking, the Swiss cracked that nut in the 90s. To counter the downward pressure on their system because of our heinous “export” of the notion that success requires a college degree, the Swiss evolved their system to enable apprentices to go on to higher education (approx. 30% do)

My 2013 self thinks my 2024 self is a heretic because I now know the path to success has many beginnings and they don’t all start with a University degree. I believe we need to invest in multiple pathways equally and stop elevating a college degree as the primary path to the American Dream. Right now – only about 40% of Americans obtain a 4-year college degree. That’s not because the other 60% are knuckleheads or unworthy. It’s because it’s not how or when they will learn. Switzerland, which ranks at or near the top in GDP/capita, lifespan, and trust in government, also has among the lowest attainment of University degrees (according to the OECD).

There are many, like me, who believe that apprenticeship, with the Swiss model as the gold standard, is one of the root solutions for revitalizing and expanding access to the American Dream, and for addressing core societal issues around dignity, equity, and opportunity. Should she be confirmed as Education Secretary, I hope Ms. McMahon (or whoever becomes Secretary of Education) will join us in that belief, convert her advocacy to action, and keep this as a bipartisan and neutral space.