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Skills and Equity

The brunt of redundant and inefficient learning pathways is borne by low-income students, immigrants, students of color, and student parents; those who lack many of the privileges - namely excess time and money - afforded to the traditional student body.  

Honoring All Learning and Competency  

Data show that people of color and immigrants are more likely to have skills and competencies earned from work or informal educational experiences as opposed to formal educational institutions. Recognition of competency, regardless of where that competency was attained, is an issue of equity, and to allow skill attainment to go unrecognized has a disproportionate impact on the economic mobility of disenfranchised communities. 

Development of a shared skills language, credit for prior learning, and personalized pathways are strategies to increase the accessibility and relevance of education, training, and professional development for these communities. This is a Universal Design approach – an education and workforce ecosystem designed for our most underserved learners and workers will have numerous benefits for traditional learners as well.  

Reengaging Learners with Barriers  

Roughly 400,000 students ages 25 to 44 in Washington State have some college but no degree. According to the Washington Student Achievement Council, students who postpone their education most often cite family-care responsibilities or a need to work and make money as their reason for stopping out. Across the country, there are more than 36 million individuals with some college, no degree.  

For these learners, flexible, supportive educational models are key to re-engage. It is also imperative that institutions of education recognize and honor these students’ past learning and competency-development. By skillifying content, awarded credit for prior learning, and developing personalized, flexible pathways, we are easing the roadblocks for former learners to re-engage their education.