Preparing Students of Color for the Future Workforce | Lessons From Communities in Indiana and New Mexico (Shared Article from American Progress)

An excerpt from an article written by Ashley Jeffrey and Laura Jimenez:

Community members in Indiana and New Mexico provide context on how Black, Latinx, and Indigenous students should be fully prepared for the future workforce.

How to prepare students of color for the future of work

After discussing existing barriers to student preparation, participants discussed some misconceptions and potential solutions. Participants considered what future careers and jobs will look like, how students can enter into those careers, and how to develop students holistically by strengthening their academic and social-emotional skills.

What the future workforce will look like

Participants in Indiana and New Mexico had different ideas about what the workforce of the future will look like, including what jobs will be available in the next few years.

Educator, parent, and student participants in Indiana thought that traditional occupations such as doctors, lawyers, and engineers would be relevant in the future but said manufacturing jobs would plummet. They believed that automation, such as robots and artificial intelligence, would replace workers in most industries. As one student at 21st Century Charter School in Gary said, “I think the future won’t be more hands-on but more computerized … When I think of the future of work, I think of artificial intelligence taking over.”36 McKenya Dilworth, a teacher at the school, agreed: “We know that some of these jobs are going to be obsolete through automation. That has [already] happened.”37

Manufacturing jobs have indeed largely declined due to new technologies, and automation is likely to increase worker displacement in some industries.38 Some service sector occupations such as retail and hospitality—which are disproportionately staffed by people of color—are also at high risk of job loss due to automation.39 However, research shows that technology tends to create new tasks for workers and more jobs in different industries.40 Automation does not have to lead to catastrophic job loss,41 especially if employers ensure that the labor market functions better for its workers.42 For example, as the auto manufacturing industry shifts toward electric vehicles, the United States will need to ramp up domestic electric vehicle production. They will also need to transition manufacturing jobs, such as those related to internal combustion engines, to high-quality, good-paying jobs across the electric vehicle value chain.43 K-12 schools, districts, and employers should better understand and work to clarify which industries will change and what job creation will look like in order to prepare students for jobs that are unlikely to be affected by future industry shifts.44

K-12 schools and districts should partner with employers and use a race equity lens to understand and create solutions for unequal employment trends in Black, Latinx, and Indigenous communities. This can include providing students with transferable skills and stackable, industry-recognized credentials45—meaning a sequence of credentials that can be accumulated over time along a career pathway—that may stay relevant amid changing industry demands.46 Stackable credentials also help to fulfill the requirements of higher degree programs, ensuring that students can continue their education without paying for credits that will not transfer to the higher credential. One study suggests that policies that support stacking credentials can reduce racial inequalities in labor market success.47 By utilizing these tailored solutions, K-12 schools and districts can ensure parents, educators, and Black, Latinx, and Indigenous students have clarity about and are prepared for future job availability.

Building knowledge about career options

Participants in Indiana and New Mexico identified strategies that would help families, teachers, and students learn more about career options. The most commonly mentioned strategies included communicating with students’ families, providing professional development for teachers, and encouraging students to explore different careers.

K-12 schools and districts should communicate and engage with families

Parent participants advised that K-12 schools and districts engage and communicate with families to strengthen relationships and improve student preparation. As Carol Hernandez, a parent from New Mexico, shared, “I think [there] definitely needs to be more participation with parents and schools; more of a bridge.”48 Another parent, from Indiana, discussed the significant communication from their child’s school, saying, “[Our school] is constantly letting the parents know what’s going on at the school, the progress of the student, and if there are any changes. You always get a call or e-mail or text—whatever you’re set up to get. And I think communication is very important.”49

This desire for schools to provide consistent communication and partner with parents is in line with a recent CAP survey on family-school communication. As part of the survey, parents selected “resources and information about preparation for college and/or career opportunities” as the third most important type of information to receive.50

Strong communication between schools and parents leads to stronger communication between parents and children.51 This is significant, as parental values and expectations influence K-8 students’ career aspirations.52 Students are more likely to have a successful occupational future when they have support and open lines of communication with their parents.53

To foster communication, especially communication that is culturally and linguistically responsive, K-12 schools and districts should partner more frequently with parents to help support students. One strategy to do so is to frequently share college and career information with students and families, especially in light of increased distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Puget Sound College and Career Network (PSCCN) in Renton, Washington, found success when it not only shared information with families but also engaged families in students’ college and career path planning.54 To ensure equity for Spanish-speaking families, PSCCN also broadcasts a weekly Spanish radio program to discuss financial aid and college access.55

By strengthening communication channels, K-12 schools can engage parents and families and increase their participation in the knowledge-building process.

Professional development helps teachers build career knowledge

Participants in Indiana and New Mexico emphasized that K-12 teachers should have current information on career options, as they are students’ and families’ primary communicators of career knowledge.

“How our students are going to learn about these jobs is through us. We see their strengths, we see what their motivation is, and we point out, ‘Hey, have you thought about this? … Have you considered this career?’”56

– Erika Dilosa, director of special education, 21st Century Charter School, Gary, Indiana

To ensure teachers are prepared, K-12 schools should offer professional development to teachers on building knowledge about various careers. By partnering with local and state employers, teachers can access labor market information and incorporate that data into their career curricula.57 Teacher externships are also beneficial, as they immerse teachers in a company for a few weeks to learn about needed skills and competencies in an industry.58 Teachers can bring that real-world knowledge back to the classroom to help their students understand and develop certain skills and discuss what career options exist.

Students need to widely explore career options

Participants in Indiana highlighted their school’s partnership with local employers and dual enrollment classes. These partnerships and classes help students build knowledge on various career options such as barbering, social work, and robotics. Educator participants in both New Mexico and Indiana spoke about encouraging students to explore careers online, in books, and through life experience. Rural participants from New Mexico emphasized that online research is important in areas with limited job diversity.

“If [students] can’t see it, they can’t be it. The [professional role] models out in our community are limited … There’s not anybody that they know who’s doing what they think they want to do.”59

– Elizabeth LeBlanc, director of teaching and learning, Taos Academy Charter School, New Mexico

A recent CAP report supports this idea, noting that students of color, especially younger ones, benefit from accessing role models who deviate from cultural and occupational stereotypes.60 One educator in New Mexico identified virtual career talks, such as those offered at DreamWakers,61 as helpful in exposing students to various career role models from the comfort of their classroom. DreamWakers aims to “close the opportunity gap” for underresourced students through consistent exposure to professionals with diverse backgrounds.62

K-12 districts should increase family communication as well as opportunities for teachers’ professional development and students’ career exploration. If they do so, educators, families, and students will have access to essential career information.

Helping students prepare for college and careers in an equitable and holistic manner

Participants in Indiana and New Mexico highlighted strategies to ensure equitable and holistic preparation in their individual communities. They discussed the importance of developing academic and 21st-century skills; cultural competence for all students, especially Black, Latinx, and Indigenous students; and social and emotional learning skills. Additionally, participants noted that in order to be equitable, schools need funds for student supports related to issues outside of school such as internet access and wraparound services.

Defining equitable preparation

Equitable preparation means tailoring preparation efforts to students’ unique needs, including addressing disparities in student outcomes. Holistic preparation ensures that students develop all skills needed to succeed in the future workforce, including academic skills, technical skills, and 21st-century skills.63 The Employability Skills Framework, which lists nine key skills that make up holistic preparation, is one example of this.64 Under this framework, skills are organized into three categories: 1) applied knowledge, which includes applied academic and critical thinking skills; 2) workplace skills, which includes resource management, information use, technology use, communication skills, and systems thinking; and 3) effective relationships, which includes interpersonal skills and personal qualities.65

Cultural competence is important, as is fostering social and emotional learning skills

While holistic preparation includes improving academic, technical, and 21st-century skills, participants in Indiana and New Mexico suggested that, for Black, Latinx, and Indigenous students, it should also include cultural competence and social and emotional learning skills. Cultural competence means students learn about their own and other cultures.66 It also means that academic content is accurate, cultivates curiosity, and encourages critical thinking. Social and emotional learning efforts teach students to manage their emotions, create meaningful relationships, and make responsible decisions.67 When asked about holistic readiness for grades K-8, Andrea Thomas, a teacher in Central Consolidated School District in New Mexico, emphasized that students should understand their culture before entering the workforce:

Ninety-eight percent of my students are Navajo or identify as Native American. One thing I think is missing from helping the growth of students is … allowing students to understand their culture [to] help solidify their foundation before they go out and start to get the other skills that are going to help them [in a career]. If you get just the skills, you’re missing a deeper part of who you are as a Diné person.68

Participants also believed that both students and teachers should develop cultural competence. One report suggests that the “self-awareness” component of social and emotional learning69 could help students build a positive racial and ethnic identity.70 Doing so could help students of color develop buffers from the negative impacts of institutional oppression71 such as when their culture is devalued in school or work.72 For teachers, understanding their students’ cultures means they can connect students’ cultural assets to academic skills73 and, ideally, promote students’ academic success.74

Increased funds for student supports are necessary

Educator participants in both New Mexico and Indiana also desired more funds for student supports, including wraparound services that address poverty-related issues that exist outside of school but affect students’ academic success.75 Participants also mentioned increasing student access to laptops and the internet, providing food for students, and increasing staff members’ ability to provide academic and emotional support. One study found that students who received wraparound services had half the high school dropout rate as students who did not receive such services.76 With these supports in place, students will face fewer barriers on their pathway to success after high school.

By incorporating cultural competence and social and emotional learning into instruction and curricula and increasing funds for wraparound services, K-12 schools and districts can ensure that Black, Latinx, and Indigenous students are holistically and equitably prepared for college and careers.

By Meaghan Wood (She/Her)
Meaghan Wood (She/Her) Career Coach