No Dead Ends

Our country’s education and workforce systems were built for a bygone era when most people took a linear journey from school to work.

Nowadays, many people in the United States approach learning and work differently. They are more likely to change career paths multiple times as professional interests shift, job sites shutter, family needs take priority, and advanced technologies phase out some skills and job tasks while introducing new ones.

Yet as people try to navigate these changing circumstances, they encounter systems and policies that are too rigid, fragmented, and cumbersome to help them seamlessly move to new stages of their lives, learn new skills, and pursue new careers.

People are experiencing an education and training marketplace overcrowded with degree and credential options. Some have limited labor market value or portability across career pathways, while others have clear value but are expensive and time-consuming. Often, people face a maze of choices without the proper guidance to make informed decisions or clarity about the pay-off in the labor market.

Meanwhile, a persistent divide between the world of work and the classroom makes it difficult to develop one’s knowledge, skills, and abilities while earning a decent wage. This divide also creates undue barriers to advancement for talented people without the degrees that many employers require by default of their job candidates.

A system without dead ends would enable Americans to pivot their career and educational plans as needed; access a full array of skills-building opportunities whether a short-term credential or an advanced degrees through durable on-ramps and seamless transition points; and upgrade and retool their skills just-in-time to take advantage of new avenues for advancement—all the while building upon the experiences they have already acquired, instead of starting over from scratch.

The bottom line is all learning and work opportunities would be accessible, discoverable, and achievable over a lifetime—no matter someone’s starting point, detours, or life stage. This future is within our reach if we, as a nation, pursue bold policy and systems change that advances four key priorities.

It’s time to put an end to dead ends at school, at work, and in life.