Americans without degrees are turning to skills education to advance their careers. But employers are still struggling to find candidates qualified for open positions. Jon Mott, Chief Learning Officer at Cengage's Learning Objects, argues that to close this gap, we must provide employers with greater insight into learner performance.
More and more Americans without college degrees are turning to skills-based education to advance in their careers and achieve a better quality of life. But more than 80% of employers still have difficulty filling open positions due to a lack of qualified candidates. How can we close the gap?
Jon Mott, Chief Learning Officer at Cengage's Learning Objects, argues that the problem is a matter of providing employers with greater insight into learner attributes and performance. When searching for job candidates, Mott argues that today’s employers are offered an incomplete picture—and that traditional degrees and transcripts do little to provide real understanding of a candidate’s competencies. Employers are looking for insights into skills that are deeper (relative to specific competencies) and more holistic, providing a view of a candidate’s integrative experiences and capabilities.
By designing competency and skills-aligned education programs that offer employers a more detailed, evidence-backed look at the whole person—rather than just the transcript—Mott argues we can provide much-needed transparency to land learners in suitable positions and help them progress within their desired careers.