Study shows big social payoffs from investments in career pathways

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/nba.30249
• Published date: 01 November 2016
• Date: 01 November 2016

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NOVEMBER 2016NONPROFIT BUSINESS ADVISOR

© 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company • All rights reserved

DOI: 10.1002/nba

Nonprot Research

Study shows big social payoffs

from investments in career pathways

New research from the Bridgespan Group highlights

a series of major philanthropic investments that can

substantially increase the supply of well-qualied job

seekers whose competencies are aligned with the skills

employers are seeking.

The report, “Billion Dollar Bets” to Establish

Pathways to Careers, projects that funding a series of

career pathways initiatives could deliver returns of up

to $14 for every $1 invested, increasing social mobility

for hundreds of thousands of Americans and helping

to alleviate many of the social ills that come with low

incomes and joblessness, the organization said.

“We envision a world where anyone in the U.S. is

able to nd employment that is more than just a job,

but instead a career with all of the associated benets.

Our research indicates that this vision can only become

a reality if we make fundamental changes to how we

both train people in the U.S. for careers and connect job

seekers with employers,” said Devin Murphy, a manager

at Bridgespan and co-author of the paper.

The investments outlined in the report focus on four

core areas that have the greatest potential to help more

low-income individuals access careers:

• Supporting national-level understanding of job

market needs. In an effort to build momentum around

competency-based hiring, the report said, philanthro-

pists could identify industries where there is a need

for talent, and then bring together employers, educa-

tors and policymakers to align around a clear set of

competencies and then provide capital for employers

to switch to competency-based hiring. Example invest-

ments in this area include providing technical assis-

tance to human resources departments to make these

shifts; funding innovation and experimentation for

large-scale, competency-based résumé and candidate-

screening technologies; giving employers who hire in

this way preferred access to capital; funding research

and dissemination of the business case to employers;

and building a third-party validation system for the

competencies that candidates develop through training.

• Ensuring that low-income job seekers have the in-

formation and support they need to identify the best path

to a career that matches their skills and interests. Ac-

cording to Bridgespan, philanthropists could build on

the many products and programs in the eld of career

counseling and invest in new technology for integrating

data on employment opportunities with data on student

education and training paths. Philanthropists could

also invest in scaling this technology through prizes

and competitions for especially effective products, and

campaign for public funding of the technology system,

once it is developed and scaled, through government

funds earmarked for advising at high schools, colleges

and other educational facilities, the report said.

• Investing in alternative, competency-based postsec-

ondary programs that target low-income populations.

Per the report, many students receiving traditional

education are not prepared with the basic competencies

required for a career. Targeted investments could equip

students with the skills they need, and also connect

them to employers and careers. Specically, philanthro-

pists could fund and facilitate regional partnerships

between high schools, higher education institutions,

employers and other community partners to align

public education systems with pathways to careers,

including market-aligned curricula and work-based

learning opportunities; support colleges/institutions

and employers in creating employer-informed curricula

and provide capital for switching costs; invest in build-

ing out opportunities for internships, apprenticeships

and work-based learning while students are still in high

school or college; and spur innovation in integrated

student support programs to ensure students receive

that necessary counseling, nancial support and other

social services they need to be successful.

• Advocating for federal and state funding to support

competency-based programs. According to Bridgespan,

philanthropists could invest in changing government

policies so that funding for education is based on labor

market outcomes, which in turn would prompt higher

education institutions and workforce programs to en-

sure that participants develop market-ready skills. This

would include lobbying for outcomes-based funding,

such as state-level policy that incentivizes or requires

public higher education institutions to rigorously

(See PATHWAYS on page 9)