Skill Shapes: The Matchmaker the Job Market Needs

Mamie Voight, president and CEO of the Institute for Higher Education Policy, on how states can use State Opportunity Index data to identify what is working within higher education and what needs to improve.

Michael Collins, vice president of the Center for Racial Economic Equity at Jobs for the Future, on how the State Opportunity Index tells a more nuanced story of the data surrounding the value of education after high school.

Wil Del Pilar, senior vice president of The Education Trust, on how the State Opportunity Index helps measure whether policies and practices are actually benefiting the students they were designed to support.

We asked alumni nationwide who had borrowed money to go to school if their loans were worth it.

In the recovering economy, employers will play a central role as Americans look to reskill, upskill, and compete in the workforce. But what do people want and expect from employers’ hiring, advancement, and training practices? In this research we explore the public’s perceptions on skills-based hiring, preferences for employer-provided education and training benefits, and beliefs about who should fund education and training.

Could the dislocations brought on by COVID-19 lead to a long-term upside? For this webinar, Strada’s Ben Wildavsky leads a discussion about the hybrid campus concept with expert panelists Cole Clark, managing director — higher education at Deloitte; Maurie McInnis, president, Stony Brook University; Jeff Selingo, higher education author; and Marni Baker Stein, provost, Western Governors University. The conversation was inspired by a new Deloitte report developed in partnership with Strada Education Network.

Workers can’t rely on promises alone to advance. They need clearer paths from training to career opportunities.

Earning a degree should help you advance in the work you love — not get in the way of it. Learner-centered programs fit learning into the rest of life.

Life’s curveballs can make our plans go awry. Better options can help us finish what we started.

Committing to education, alongside all of life’s other commitments, takes coordination, determination, and dedication. Financial support and a flexible work schedule can make it all come together.

All the planning in the world can’t guarantee success. Learners need opportunity and support to put their plans into action.

What if, instead of adding work on top of education, the work you did advanced your education? Integrated earning and learning makes the most of learners’ time and talent.

You can’t judge a job by its title. The same role can actually require different combinations of skills, called “skill shapes,” depending on the industry, employer and region. People have skill shapes too, formed by their work experience and training. Skills gaps emerge when the skill shapes that employers need don’t align with the skill shapes that local workers offer. Precise learning pathways, attuned to regional workforce demands, can close those gaps by helping people develop a skill shape that snaps into place in the local labor market. This 2-minute video reveals what a job title doesn’t tell you, and how skill shapes analysis can help connect more people with their perfect career match.

Strada partners at the Community Education Coalition in Southeast Indiana are engaging with educators, employers, policymakers and community organizations to improve postsecondary education and build a talent pool that will serve area businesses for decades to come.