The majority of students at two-year colleges are “nontraditional” learners, and the lines between learning and work are fading as people find that they must continually develop new skills throughout their careers to keep pace with the demands of an ever-evolving economy. On top of that, remote instruction is now commonplace, and the traditional degree is no longer viewed as the sole indicator of skills or career readiness. And tremendous disparities persist: Black, Latinx, and Indigenous workers, as well as those in low-wage jobs, experience greater barriers to access and success in higher education. The disparate impacts of COVID-19 have laid bare society’s equity gaps; ensuring all learners and workers can identify and remain on a clear path toward economic mobility has grown all the more urgent.
These new realities have created an environment that requires a new model for postsecondary education—one that prioritizes equitable economic mobility for an increasingly diverse student population, addresses the needs of the “new traditional” learner, opens opportunities for working people who are not currently seeking a college degree, and aims for equitable outcomes across all racial, ethnic, and socio-economic groups.
To meet that need, JFF has developed a new postsecondary framework that we call Guided Career Pathways, which incorporates best practices and innovations of two earlier reform initiatives—guided pathways and career pathways—to imagine new intersections between work and learning. Over the past decade, educators and workforce development professionals have trusted JFF to play a lead role in developing and implementing guided pathways and career pathways nationally, and this new initiative builds on our longstanding work with our partners in those fields.
JFF’s Guided Career Pathways framework focuses on these three core elements to improve pathways:
- A labor-market-informed design that reflects regional economic needs and the needs of individuals in the community.
- Expanded outreach, on-ramps, and support strategies to better serve adult students and ensure equitable outcomes for learners across racial and socio-economic lines.
- Integrated work and experiential learning strategies at multiple points along educational pathways.
Our new framework combines the best of what we know about pathways design and builds on innovations taking place at community colleges across the country. Some colleges have started to explore how to address learners’ career-related needs within guided pathways. This evolved approach truly meets students where they are and acknowledges that people’s lifetime journeys no longer follow sequential routes with discrete phases of training, education, and work. These strategies require strong partnerships with employers, four-year colleges and universities, workforce development stakeholders, and community-based organizations (CBOs).
This new model asks post-secondary institutions to use labor market data to understand and respond to economic changes. It also creates a vision for aligning new on-ramps to pathways to reach learners from populations that are underrepresented in postsecondary education. In addition, the goal of all programs—from short-term micro-credential courses to longer-term pathways that lead to transfers to four-year institutions—must be to help learners prepare for and secure quality jobs, and educators must engage learners to help them achieve their career goals.