Career Pathways are Growing, but Challenges Remain

This November, local practitioners, state leaders, and national organizations across the country will celebrate Career Development Month through career-focused learning events and activities to support students along their career journeys. Career readiness—and especially the somewhat amorphous concept of career pathways—has gained momentum over the past several years, driven by a confluence of educational and economic factors and, more recently, by student sentiment.

Support for career pathways has come from many sources. The U.S. Department of Education’s Raise the Bar: Unlocking Career Success initiative invested $25 million to strengthen the alignment of K-12, postsecondary, and workforce systems to “[blur] the lines between high school, college, and career.” States have also stepped to the plate, passing legislation and dedicating resources (including Federal relief funds) to support the expansion of career pathways opportunities for middle and high school students. As a result, dual enrollment numbers continue to rise, participation in Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses is up, states are expanding support for work-based learning, and 46 states have adopted individual career and academic plans, graduation plans, or a similar tool to support students in charting a path to career readiness (and college readiness too, it’s worth noting).

But despite the momentum, the career pathways movement continues to face significant obstacles to its growth and long-term sustainability.

Access to Pathways

The number of students accessing core components of career pathways (e.g. CTE, dual enrollment, work-based learning) is on the rise, but access to these opportunities is far from universal. While it’s true that some students may choose not to participate, others are unable to due to prerequisites or logistics (for example, course schedules that prevent students from completing work-based learning). Still others are unaware of or unfamiliar with pathway opportunities, or simply do not have access to them.

But whatever the reason, participation in pathways opportunities is not yet equitable. We know, for example, that Black students make up about 15% of public K-12 enrollment, but only 8% of students participating in dual enrollment, nationally. Likewise, a new report from the Center for Learner Equity found that special education students access dual enrollment at startlingly low rates compared to their general education counterparts. Though little data exist on work-based learning participation for high school students, data on internship participation amongst college students reveals similar gaps by race and ethnicity.

Proponents of career pathways believe in their potential to address longstanding disparities in our education systems and labor market. But to deliver on this promise, they will need to first address major access gaps.

Career Navigation and Supports

School counselors play an important role in fostering career development and are critical to breaking equity barriers, but with persistently high student-to-counselor ratios, their plates are full. Several states, districts, and local nonprofits have created new positions, such as career advisors and coaches, to fill gaps in services. However, the field has yet to identify an appropriate continuum of staffing that integrates these new positions—some of which are employed outside of school districts—seamlessly into comprehensive school counseling programs. The job descriptions, credentials, and training requirements for these additional positions vary considerably, raising questions about the quality and consistency of the services they provide. Funding these new positions can also be a challenge. While some states like Indiana and Maryland have provided funding to support additional career coaching capacity at the local level, districts in many other states must find room in local budgets to add new roles. Likewise, coaches employed by nonprofits are often grant-funded, which may not be sustainable.

Employer Engagement

If career pathways are to lead to more work-ready students, employers must be directly involved in their development by shaping curricula and hiring work-based learning students, for example. At the moment, however, the U.S. lacks a robust, cross-system, strategy for engaging employers in the development and delivery of career-oriented training – not only for youth, but for adult and incumbent workers, too. The Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment required by the Carl D. Perkins Act requires local school districts and state agencies to engage employers in CTE planning efforts, but it’s often cursory at best. When it comes to work-based learning, individual schools or districts are knocking on businesses’ doors, trying to recruit them as partners. At best, this process is resource-intensive and inefficient for educators; at worst, it can frustrate and confuse employers, discouraging them from engaging.

Sector strategies is one promising approach that has demonstrated greater efficiency in how employers can play a more active, sustained role in talent development. And there are international models that can offer lessons too, but those approaches would require the creation of new infrastructure for cooperation—not to mention a major mindset shift. But until the pathways movement finds more solutions to the employer engagement challenge, growth and scale will remain elusive.

Evidence

For all the growth in pathways programs, the field still has a limited understanding of how well they’re working, due to a siloed approach to accountability and data collection. Some aspects of career pathways, like dual enrollment, are backed by growing bodies of evidence. But the evidence base for other components, like work-based learning, is more nascent. And there are still many data points about young adults' trajectories that leave practitioners, policymakers, and advocates questioning the depth of progress. Many states are developing Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS) to more effectively share data across K-12, higher education, and workforce. National partners are also taking a special interest in data systems and transparency, creating frameworks and tools to assist states, such as the State Opportunity Index. But linking data sources and systems is one thing, reaching consensus on the metrics to track and monitor outcomes is another—especially in a field that has not yet landed on a clear or common definition of what a ‘‘career pathway’’ even is.

What’s Next?

These issues are complex and will require big, bold solutions. Several states are hard at work tackling them. Colorado has launched a task force to “develop and recommend policies, laws, and rules to support the equitable and sustainable expansion and alignment of programs that integrate secondary, postsecondary, and work-based learning opportunities in every region of the state.” The Texas Education Agency has developed an Effective Advising Framework to show school counselors and administrators how to leverage internal and external partners to expand services while maintaining quality. And cross-sector leaders in Indiana are advancing a sector strategy approach to test a model to engage employers in the co-development of pathways opportunities at scale.

To make real, lasting change, the field will need to learn from these efforts and find ways to replicate them in different contexts. Local, state and national leaders will need to make a concerted effort to align on a shared vision for career pathways—not one that simply tinkers, but one that rethinks existing silos and structures to provide high-quality, equitable career pathways options to all students. Addressing these persistent challenges is an important first step.