Author: Kelly Parrish

“Getting an inside edge by using help from family and friends is a powerful, hidden force driving inequality in the United States.” Does this affect employment in certain racial groups?

According to Nancy DiTomaso, it does. A researcher at Rutgers University, Ms. DiTomaso authored a recent NYTimes article entitled, How Social Networks Drive Black Unemployment (5/6/13) , Why this is true, according to Ms. DiTomaso, is because the help we receive from family and friends, through our social networks has a strong racial component.

While the article is lean on data to support its claim, a certain truth that caught my attention: our city’s corporate culture is less diverse than our public schools. For many underserved students of color, the landscape of Boston’s downtown skyline is a wilderness. Students don’t know what happens inside the city’s notable buildings, such as 60 State Street, the Hancock Tower, the Federal Reserve Building, or the financial institutions on Federal Street. These office buildings and many more like them are unexplored regions.

What’s missing is the social capital–the connections to adults that help families introduce their children to wider career opportunities. Apprentice Learning hopes to close that gap by helping students venture into these places just as they might venture out into the wilderness on an Outward Bound expedition.

Ultimately, our goal is that the  students’ view of Boston’s skyline be marked with familiarity. All students should dream about their place in vibrant cultures of commerce, medicine, law, biotechnology, innovation, and technology. Especially when these opportunities are within walking distance from their homes.

Apprenticeships give students the chance to work alongside of professionals who can show them the ropes, share their personal stories and come to know students as individuals with the potential to contribute. In turn, Apprentices have an experience that reshapes an unfamiliar environment into one where they can imagine themselves. Experiences like these contribute and strengthen a young person’s social network, academic motivation and ultimately, develop into the type of support so important to landing a highly competitive job.

The Commonwealth Corporation released a report last week, entitled, Signaling Success: Boosting Teen Employment Rates.

The employment news is dismal for teens. In 2012, only 27% of youth 16-19 years old were employed, down from 54% in 1999. Why? Teens are being displaced by older workers. It’s the economy….!

The good news is that Commonwealth Corp offered some salient strategies to help teens gain an edge in the employment market. These tips supported the work we are already doing in AL; strengthening a student’s presentation skills, the traits such as eye contact, learning to ask questions, dressing appropriately and being prepared. The research also supported what we already know: that these types of behavioral traits and proficiencies matter at all levels of employment, whether you are an entry level employee or the CEO.

Thanks Commonwealth Corp for your great research! To access the report:
(http://commcorp.org)

Apprenticeships are often thought about as an old-fashioned way to learn something. One might think about a of shoemaker (they do still exist!) or a fine woodworker who learns at the elbow of a master. 

As I consider what has drawn me to use the term ‘apprentice’, it is the understanding that there is something to be learned that goes beyond reading instructions. ‘Apprenticing’ means being in relationship with someone charged with teaching you to become a skillful, situational problem solver.  It is fundamentally social learning.

Cognitive apprenticeships appeal to me because they teach a mindset: the master craftsperson narrates their thought processes. What’s is behind the action? why might someone choose A, not B? It is a powerful way to teach someone how to think critically! 

Here’s a great article describing cognitive apprentice learning:  Cognitive Apprenticeship: Making Thinking Visible « The 21st Century Learning Initiative.

Has anyone ever asked you the price of one of your dreams? Seems like a ridiculous question, eh? Want to be a rock star? Want to find a cure for cancer? It’ll cost. Truthfully, it will cost but who wants to strip away them inspiration from some one else’s dream?

For many high school students (a recent study called Charting the Path from Engagement to Achievement: A Report on the 2009 High School Survey of Student Engagement) indicated that over 80% of high school students expect to go to college. Our education system, schools, families and our culture has done a good job of messaging the importance of attending college. It is a very reliable way to improve one’s lot in life. College students earn an average of $1M more over the course of their lifetimes than those who do not attend college.

While this is still true, the dream of college has a hefty price tag. This year, the average college graduate will carry the largest student loan debt in history: an average of $22,0000 per student.  Many students have gargantuan loans, more than the cost of a home. A recent story in the NYTimes (5/13/12) described students with loans of $70,000 who are working at restaurants making $260 a week, living at home, and facing a lifetime of daunting loan repayments.

Many quoted in the article mentioned the confusing financial aid process or the ambiguous language to explain the “affordability” of a college education.

How can we better prepare young people and their families–many of whom have not attended college–to navigate the cost of college? What skills might students have before attending college that might arm students with strong marketable skills in a part-time job market? How can we best prepare students for the best ROI on their college experience? Especially, those students who do not have the luxury of family support but are still expected to go to college, earn, and fully support their families.

Start early with exposure to all kinds of jobs and the related skills so that students have a good idea of the kind of work they like–and don’t like.  Begin education about the world of work at an early age so students can understand the meaning of a good job and job satisfaction.

Work experience comes from working. And doing a variety of interesting and uninteresting jobs–some that pay and some that are done for the value of doing for others. College will seem like part of the larger plan, not only a dream.