Learners
Learners prioritize an education that supports a happy, meaningful life but they don’t feel prepared for the real world. They don’t feel confident that they are making the right choices, lack information about pathways outcomes, and fear being undervalued in the workplace.
Below are research and tools to help you communicate with learners who are evaluating their options for the future.
Toolkit
From Insights to Action: Communicating Career Pathways With Confidence
This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.
This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.
This communications toolkit is designed to help organizations and advocates effectively engage learners and employers regarding the value of career education and training programs as well as skill-based hiring. It offers research-backed messaging that reflects what people care about most—and what motivates them to take action. These messages don’t just describe the benefits of pathways programs, they also help audiences see these options as relevant, accessible, and worth pursuing. The guidance in this manual is grounded in science-based communication practices and shaped by extensive research, including a landscape analysis of messaging in the field and media, a nationally representative survey with message testing, roundtable discussions with learners and employers, and a series of pulse surveys.
This toolkit offers adaptable, ready-to-use messages, language, and themes to support outreach, engagement, and storytelling. Use them to strengthen your communications—whether you're writing a social post, developing a presentation, or talking with partners and stakeholders. The messages are designed to be flexible; feel free to use them as written or tailor them to fit your audience and voice.
Toolkit
Roadtrip Nation Storytelling Toolkit
This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.
This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.
This storytelling toolkit outlined the fundamentals of Road Trip Nation's storytelling approach, developed over two decades of co-creating these stories with young people, so that other nonprofits and impact-minded organizations can amplify young people’s voices and stories in their own work.
Research Report
Student Ability Report
This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.
This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.
The State of the Future U.S. Workforce: Student Ability Report analyzes anonymized data from the YouScience Discovery aptitude-based career guidance assessments taken in U.S. high schools (grades 9 through 12) across all 50 states in 2021. They outline our findings and suggest solutions that address the challenge in a holistic, practical way in this report.
Research Report
Education at a Crossroads
This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.
This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.
High school graduates no longer see the traditional 4-year college pathway as their only postsecondary option, according to the latest research from YouScience®. This report contains insights into pathways students are choosing instead, where they turn for influence and guidance, and where there are opportunities for improvement. The report includes data and solutions for:
- Career and Technical Education (CTE) awareness.
- Post-graduation satisfaction.
- Educator/student interactions.
- Counselor impact.
- Aptitude discovery.
Research Report
The Value of Community Colleges: Recent Students’ Motivations and Outcomes
This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.
This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.
This study offers new insights about value community colleges provide and the range of needs that they serve. It examines recent community college students' motivations for enrolling, and their self-reported perceptions of the value of their education and training experiences, and the degree to which they acheived their goals for enrolling.
Research Report
High School Awareness Research
This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.
This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.
This is a report containing the results of a study on new approaches in higher education, funded by the Charles Kock Foundation.
Article
What it will take to change the narrative about career education
This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.
This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.
The article discusses the growing issue of young Americans aged 18-24 not engaging in college or work, exacerbated by the pandemic. Despite high job vacancies, there's skepticism toward non-college education and job-training programs. The article highlights policy recommendations to integrate workforce training and higher education, stressing that both traditional and non-degree credentials are essential for economic mobility. The purpose is to advocate for a broader, more inclusive approach to postsecondary education and workforce training, aiming to enhance economic opportunities for all.
Research Report
Preparing our Students for the Real World
This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.
This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.
This is a thought paper for school and community leaders. It takes an honest look at the reality of what was facing America students and its workforce in 2019 and what brought America to this reality. It also provides clarity and direction to bring greater effectiveness and scalability to Career Connected Learning practices.
Book
Choosing College
This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.
This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.
This report looks at how people make decisions regarding higher education through “Jobs-to-be-Done” theory which interrogates and exposes the real reasons people make personal choices, from buying a milk shake to make life-changing decisions. The analysis based on this theory, provides important insights, both for college-bound students and their families, but also institutions of higher education, many of which might be tooling themselves to perform the wrong job.
Research Report
Pathways Matter to Families: What Parents and Young Adults Believe and Want to Know About Education to Workforce Pathways
This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.
This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.
Pathways Matter to Families offers insights and actionable resources for students and families. The two complementary resources linked are informed by original research investigating what parents and young adults think and want to know about education-to-workforce pathways and experiences.
Filters
Toolkit
From Insights to Action: Communicating Career Pathways With Confidence
This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.
This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.
This communications toolkit is designed to help organizations and advocates effectively engage learners and employers regarding the value of career education and training programs as well as skill-based hiring. It offers research-backed messaging that reflects what people care about most—and what motivates them to take action. These messages don’t just describe the benefits of pathways programs, they also help audiences see these options as relevant, accessible, and worth pursuing. The guidance in this manual is grounded in science-based communication practices and shaped by extensive research, including a landscape analysis of messaging in the field and media, a nationally representative survey with message testing, roundtable discussions with learners and employers, and a series of pulse surveys.
This toolkit offers adaptable, ready-to-use messages, language, and themes to support outreach, engagement, and storytelling. Use them to strengthen your communications—whether you're writing a social post, developing a presentation, or talking with partners and stakeholders. The messages are designed to be flexible; feel free to use them as written or tailor them to fit your audience and voice.
Toolkit
Roadtrip Nation Storytelling Toolkit
This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.
This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.
This storytelling toolkit outlined the fundamentals of Road Trip Nation's storytelling approach, developed over two decades of co-creating these stories with young people, so that other nonprofits and impact-minded organizations can amplify young people’s voices and stories in their own work.
Research Report
Student Ability Report
This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.
This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.
The State of the Future U.S. Workforce: Student Ability Report analyzes anonymized data from the YouScience Discovery aptitude-based career guidance assessments taken in U.S. high schools (grades 9 through 12) across all 50 states in 2021. They outline our findings and suggest solutions that address the challenge in a holistic, practical way in this report.
Research Report
Education at a Crossroads
This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.
This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.
High school graduates no longer see the traditional 4-year college pathway as their only postsecondary option, according to the latest research from YouScience®. This report contains insights into pathways students are choosing instead, where they turn for influence and guidance, and where there are opportunities for improvement. The report includes data and solutions for:
- Career and Technical Education (CTE) awareness.
- Post-graduation satisfaction.
- Educator/student interactions.
- Counselor impact.
- Aptitude discovery.
Research Report
The Value of Community Colleges: Recent Students’ Motivations and Outcomes
This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.
This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.
This study offers new insights about value community colleges provide and the range of needs that they serve. It examines recent community college students' motivations for enrolling, and their self-reported perceptions of the value of their education and training experiences, and the degree to which they acheived their goals for enrolling.
Research Report
High School Awareness Research
This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.
This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.
This is a report containing the results of a study on new approaches in higher education, funded by the Charles Kock Foundation.
Article
What it will take to change the narrative about career education
This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.
This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.
The article discusses the growing issue of young Americans aged 18-24 not engaging in college or work, exacerbated by the pandemic. Despite high job vacancies, there's skepticism toward non-college education and job-training programs. The article highlights policy recommendations to integrate workforce training and higher education, stressing that both traditional and non-degree credentials are essential for economic mobility. The purpose is to advocate for a broader, more inclusive approach to postsecondary education and workforce training, aiming to enhance economic opportunities for all.
Research Report
Preparing our Students for the Real World
This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.
This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.
This is a thought paper for school and community leaders. It takes an honest look at the reality of what was facing America students and its workforce in 2019 and what brought America to this reality. It also provides clarity and direction to bring greater effectiveness and scalability to Career Connected Learning practices.
Book
Choosing College
This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.
This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.
This report looks at how people make decisions regarding higher education through “Jobs-to-be-Done” theory which interrogates and exposes the real reasons people make personal choices, from buying a milk shake to make life-changing decisions. The analysis based on this theory, provides important insights, both for college-bound students and their families, but also institutions of higher education, many of which might be tooling themselves to perform the wrong job.
Research Report
Pathways Matter to Families: What Parents and Young Adults Believe and Want to Know About Education to Workforce Pathways
This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.
This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.
Pathways Matter to Families offers insights and actionable resources for students and families. The two complementary resources linked are informed by original research investigating what parents and young adults think and want to know about education-to-workforce pathways and experiences.