The broken pathway between learning and earning continues to vex both job seekers and employers. Last year, we explored this critical issue with a collaborative convening and subsequent white paper that explored the higher education side of the equation. This year, we’ll be a supporting sponsor for the inaugural
Human Potential Summit
where we hope to uncover the employer perspective and solutions.?
As AI appears poised to disrupt nearly every industry, addressing the skills gap and unlocking human potential is more important than ever. Join us in Denver from October 14-16 alongside employers, educators, startups, investors, non-profits, and policymakers to help build the future of work and learning: https://www.humanpotentialsummit.co/
.?
Learn about the personalized student coaching program we developed with
Western Governors University
, why celebrating history can undermine belonging, insights around education finance and policy, how administrators are grappling with rapid technological change, and the scalable mentorship solutions having a moment in this month’s round-up:
- How one coaching program connects leaders to students in a lonely world
: While the rise of online learning has increased postsecondary access, it can be challenging to form rich human connections without the in-person context. Students who feel disconnected and struggle with their mental health are less likely to engage and persist in higher education. That’s why we collaborated with
Western Governors University
to offer in-house, no-cost coaching certificate programs to student-facing faculty members to enhance their ability to provide a personalized student experience. Learn more about the program in this University Business article.?
- Why Celebrating History Can Undermine Belonging
: In this blog, WGU Labs Senior Research Scientist
Stephanie Reeves
shares her dissertation findings, which revealed that, when exposed to company mission statements celebrating organizational history, Black participants demonstrated a lower sense of belonging and intentions to apply to jobs at those organizations. Easy parallels can be made to higher education institutions, where it is likely that similar phenomena occur in terms of enrollment, persistence, and success for diverse populations who may view organizational histories as indicators that they do not belong.
- 4 Education and Financial Policy Takeaways from AEFP 2024
: WGU Labs Research Scientist
Anudhi Munasinghe, PhD
shares her top takeaways around education, finance, and policy issues — as well as thoughts on future areas of exploration and improvement — from the
Association for Education Finance and Policy
(AEFP) annual conference.
- Amid Evolving EdTech Landscape, Administrators Lack Confidence
: “Higher education administrators are facing relentless currents of change. They are often at the center of monumental pivots, including wider adoption of online and hybrid modalities, diminishing budgets and enrollments, increased demand for wrap-around supports, and the impact of generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. With each shift, higher education administrators must expertly make decisions that hit a trifecta of achieving benefits for students, faculty, and the bottom line,” writes WGU Labs Senior Research Scientist
Stephanie Reeves
in this blog post unpacking key findings from our report on the administrator experience with EdTech.
- On-Demand Human Connection
: This edition of
Paul Fain
’s The Job from
Work Shift
highlights the growing interest in scalable mentorship solutions, including our Accelerator client
Protopia
. Students ask a question, then Protopia’s AI-based platform combs through the participating college’s database to find alumni with the knowledge to answer that question.?
We’ll soon be publishing research on the student perspective on AI, insights on career coaching, and a paper on addressing declining higher education demand. Stay tuned!
Collaboration, diverse perspectives, and ideas that challenge the status quo are critical to solving higher education’s Wicked Problems. We’d love to hear from you. Leave us a comment to let us know what’s on your mind. And consider sharing this newsletter
with your network to help us maximize our impact.?
