The Partnership Imperative: Community Colleges, Employers, & America's Chronic Skills Gap

Format:Print
| Language:English
| Pages:82

Abstract

The nature of work has changed dramatically across industries in the last few decades due to rapid and repeated waves of automation. Nowhere is this more evident than in middle-skills positions—those that require less than a four-year college degree but more than a high school diploma. America’s community colleges have been, and should remain, the education portal through which these workers pass. But increasingly, the ecosystem is in imbalance due to the growing gulf between those who teach and those who hire. Both educators and employers are failing to meet the challenge of the moment: how to create a steady pipeline of workers required to keep the U.S. economy competitive and prospering.

Keywords

Future Of Work; Human Capital; Competency and Skills; Training; Higher Education; United States

Citation

Fuller, Joseph B., and Manjari Raman. "The Partnership Imperative: Community Colleges, Employers, & America's Chronic Skills Gap." White Paper, Harvard Business School Project on Managing the Future of Work, December 2022. (In partnership with the American Association of Community Colleges.)