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ACT Panel: Sweeping educational changes needed for today’s workforce

The national testing organization hosted a panel on the future of workforce development in Washington D.C. and WorkingNation's Jane Oates provided her insight on solving the skills gap through education.
By Matt Parke
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Closing the skills gap and reskilling the workforce will require sweeping changes to our educational system WorkingNation’s Jane Oates said at the ACT Policy Platforms launch in Washington D.C.

Oates, who serves on WorkingNation’s executive committee, spoke at the ACT-hosted panel on improving workforce development, the subject of one of four updated policy platforms released by the Iowa-based testing organization on Tuesday. These platforms contain recommendations for all education levels to ensure that students and adult learners have the workforce-aligned skills for new and emerging jobs.

“In the 21st Century, no one in the United States can stop learning,” said Oates.

The panel, “Aligning our Education and Workforce Systems: A Look Ahead” also included Chauncy Lennon of JPMorgan Chase, Martha Kanter of the College Promise Campaign, Deb Delisle of ASCD and was moderated by Andy Rotherham of Bellwether Education Partners. The panelists touched on the problems affecting students and employers in the current job market.

Loving the great panel discussion – thanks @DebDelisle, @MarthaKanter, @ChauncyLennon, @Oates_jane, and of course moderator @arotherham! #ACTPolicyPlatforms pic.twitter.com/ZapB8Q2bLa

— Shannon Hayes (@shannonkhayes) January 23, 2018

Oates noted that college costs are “out of control” and the current scale of solutions are not enough to meet the demand for skilled workers. She suggested that higher education must become more inclusive and affordable.

“We need to articulate that post-secondary education is an option for everyone,” Oates said.

Lennon reiterated the problem of student debt and said that a majority of students are working to finance their education, but the amount of debt is growing. This debt, now totaling $1.4 trillion, has become the second-largest category of debt in the nation behind housing.

With public perception of the value of a four-year degree overshadowing other viable training pathways, such as vocational training or Career and Technical Education (CTE), Lennon remarked on the difficulty in advertising their value. “Our challenge is saying that college is a great thing, but there are other things to do,” said Lennon. He also encouraged more research into how young people and families make decisions about higher education.

RELATED STORY: Shaping the Future Workforce – Chauncy Lennon

Oates said that technology will open more minds to the promise of CTE. New and emerging programs at the community college level are showing career pathways in industries facing critical labor shortages. California Community Colleges recently announced a fully-online community college which will be targeted for adult learners looking to gain industry-aligned skills and certifications.

@oates_jane talks at #ACTPolicyPlatforms about how technology will be the great equalizer in the CTE world to enable kids in fully understanding the digital world. pic.twitter.com/U28FRG3yvV

— Cindy Cisneros (@CindyCisneros8) January 23, 2018

To attract more nontraditional learners to consider acquiring new skills, Oates suggested that there should be more attention paid to the stories of those who have found success without going to a four-year school.

For another look at the ACT Policy Platforms event and for more quotes from Jane, Click Here.

To learn more about ACT’s updated Policy Platforms: Click Here.

To read Jane’s blog for ACT on the future of workforce development: Click Here.

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Dana Beth Ardi

Executive Committee

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.

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