Business and education leaders discuss classroom to workforce pathway opportunities and challenges

Students graduating from the Nashville GRAD and Nashville Flex program in May 2024 (Photo by Nashville State Community College)

Leaders in business and education came together to discuss new pathways for Tennessee students to find success in their journey from the classroom to the workforce during the Tennessee State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) annual Future Forward Summit.  

The February 13th summit focused largely on how to improve the state’s classroom to workforce pipeline. During a panel discussion, leaders in K-12 education, higher education, and industry fielded questions about the changing demands of the workforce, and how best to create new pathways to ensure Tennessee students are successful in the classroom and beyond. 

How to accomplish a dynamic post-secondary education environment, and how to adequately prepare students for it, sparked plenty of discussion. Much of it focused on so-called high impact credentials, which are degrees or certifications in high demand, high paying fields.

Dr. Nicole Smith, Chief Economist at the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce, said that by 2031, 72 percent of all jobs in the United States would require some form of post-secondary education. 

“We are now in an era of lifelong learning,” said Dr. Smith. “At the end of the day, it’s important for us to remember that we need to get there, get our credential, and perhaps come back to re-up that credential to make sure that we are relevant for the future.”

Tennessee Department of Education Commissioner Lizzette Reynolds spoke about the importance of focusing on high school courses that would equip students with the skills needed to transition into the post-secondary environment and ultimately, the workforce.

“We’re talking about really adding issues like business management, digital technology, finance, entrepreneurship so that kids can take whatever it is their passions are and take it to the next level,” said Commissioner Reynolds. “We do not need to be offering courses anymore in high school or in higher education that are going to lead to jobs where you can max out at $35,000 a year before you have to go somewhere else.”

Randy Boyd (Photo by University of Tennessee)

University of Tennessee President Randy Boyd agreed that pathways to impact credentials are important. However, he also urged caution, stressing the vital roles of some other career fields.

“I worry about the focus on the return on investment on a college degree,” he said. “I think it’s important that we are transparent and make sure students can see what that return would be. However, there are really important skills we need like social work, and in some cases, some of our educators, that really don’t make that much, but it’s so critical for our society.” 

He went on to discuss the benefits of expanded opportunities for high schoolers to take college courses through dual enrollment programs, and of scholarship programs such as TN Promise, which affords students exposure to the workforce through job shadowing. 

“So, imagine students in high school before they go to college spending a day with somebody in the line of work that they plan on doing,” said Boyd.

Kelli Rhee is President and CEO of Arnold Ventures, which is a non-profit focused on public policy reforms. She pointed out that nationally, three out of five students in the post-secondary environment do not complete their degrees or certificates.

“Education is economic development, but it’s actually not for a lot of students,” said Rhee. “Many students don’t complete their post-secondary education, and they end up with debt and no degree, and some end up with a degree that doesn’t have value.”

She says student support at all levels is critical and focused on four key factors that data has shown to make students more successful: Structured advising, dedicated financial support, incentives to enroll full time, and a sense of community. She highlighted the Nashville GRAD program at Nashville State Community College as an example of the type of support shown to improve graduation rates.

All panelists agreed that more collaboration between K-12, higher education, and workforce leaders is needed.

“We have been working together but we really need to eliminate the silos,” said Commissioner Reynolds. “We need to be aligned in what we’re actually offering our students all the way from kindergarten, all the way until graduate school.”

“At the university level, we need to be more nimble and more innovative and more connected to employers,” said Boyd.

“Let’s look to data and evidence,” said Rhee. “When we think about programs that work, does the data, real causal data show that students are better off because they were a part of that program.”