“Career pathways will ultimately change. We’ve just seen in the past 20 months that—from the perspective of workers – career pathways are changing perhaps faster than they are for employers,” says G. Gabrielle Starr, president of Pomona College in Claremont, California. “That puts it squarely in your lap to think about what path is going to suit you.”
WorkingNation sat down with Starr at the Milken Institute Global Conference 2021 in Beverly Hills as part of our #WorkingNationOverheard interview series. With Charting a New Course as the guiding theme, thought leaders and innovators shared ideas about the changing economy, worker development, education, tech, philanthropy, and more.
Starr says you don’t have to figure out that pathway on your own. She says higher education has a responsibility to help learners find the right institution – one that matches their career goals. “If you ask [the institutions] what employers are asking of their students and the institutions, that can help you understand exactly where you should be going,” notes Starr.
“A liberal arts education like we provide at Pomona College really begins to engage you at the very beginning on a variety of paths. So, if you haven’t already chosen exactly where you want to go, a liberal arts education can be right,” says Starr. She adds, “When you’re looking at short-term training, then you’re going to think more pointedly about where you want to be and the skills that you need to get there.”
Starr says even with shorter-term degrees or credentials, cost should be considered. “The total cost should not just count the amount of money that you spend to obtain the degree, but what you’re going to forego while you attain it – whether it’s work or it’s other kinds of opportunities.” Also, think about the additional costs you might incur, such as childcare or elder care. Starr says it is important to look at “whether or not you need to borrow in order to meet the cost of attendance and the other kinds of supports that are going to get you to where you want to go.”
When choosing the right education or training, Starr says you need to understand what is happening outside the classroom. “What kind of support for study skills are there? What kind of supports for career advice? What kind of mentorship are you going to get? Who is going to write you a letter of recommendation and is it going to be personalized to you and to your achievements?”
“All of those things go together when you’re thinking about what the most value is for you and how long it’s appropriate for you to spend pursuing your dream.”
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Dana Beth Ardi, PhD, Executive Committee, is a thought leader and expert in the fields of executive search, talent management, organizational design, assessment, leadership and coaching. As an innovator in the human capital movement, Ardi creates enhanced value in companies by matching the most sought after talent with the best opportunities. Ardi coaches boards and investors on the art and science of building high caliber management teams. She provides them with the necessary skills to seek out and attract top-level management, to design the ideal organizational architectures and to deploy people against strategy. Ardi unearths the way a business works and the most effective way for people to work in them.
Ardi is an experienced business executive and senior consultant who leverages business organizational transformation through talent strategies. She uses her knowledge and experience to develop talent strategies to enhance revenue and profit contributions. She has a deep expertise in change management and organizational effectiveness and has designed and built high performance cultures. Ardi has significant experience in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, IPO’s and turnarounds.
Ardi is an expert on the multi-generational workforce. She understands the four intersecting generations of workers coming together in contemporary companies, each with their own mindsets, leadership and communications styles, values and motivations. Ardi is sought after to assist companies manage and thrive by bringing the generations together. Her book, Fall of the Alphas: How Beta Leaders Win Through Connection, Collaboration and Influence, will be published by St. Martin’s Press. The book reflects Ardi’s deep expertise in understanding organizations and our changing society. It focuses on building a winning culture, how companies must grow and evolve, and how talent influences and shapes communities of work. This is what she has coined “Corporate Anthropology.” It is a playbook on how modern companies must meet challenges – culturally, globally, digitally, across genders and generations.
Ardi is currently the Managing Director and Founder of Corporate Anthropology Advisors, LLC, a consulting company that provides human capital advisory and innovative solutions to companies building value through people. Corporate Anthropology works with organizations, their cultures, the way they grow and develop, and the people who are responsible for forming their communities of work.
Prior to her position at Corporate Anthropology Advisors, Ardi served as a Partner/Managing Director at the private equity firms CCMP Capital and JPMorgan Partners. She was a partner at Flatiron Partners, a venture capital firm working with early state companies where she pioneered the human capital role within an investment portfolio.
Ardi holds a BS from the State University of New York at Buffalo as well as a Masters degree and PhD from Boston College. She started her career as professor at the Graduate Center at Fordham University in New York.
