What does it take to turn Apprenticeship Degrees from promising ideas into sustainable pathways that support working adults earn credentials of value, advance their careers, and meet employers' needs?
In this episode, hosts Joe E. Ross and Dr. Anastasia Wickham sit back down with Matt McKenney, President and CEO of Job Forward, and Dr. Holly Smith, Executive Director and VP of Apprenticeship Degree Design at Reach University's National Center for the Apprenticeship Degree. Recorded in the wake of Reach's annual International Convening for the Apprenticeship Degree (ICAD), the conversation explores what it will take to build Apprenticeship Degree programs that can scale and endure.
The guests discuss why lasting programs require more than enthusiastic champions: They need strong partnerships among employers, colleges, workforce organizations, and policymakers. They also explore how to make learning on the job count toward a degree, prepare workers for an AI-driven economy, and design pathways that people can realistically afford to complete.
In this episode:
Why the hardest part of building an Apprenticeship Degree is aligning employers, colleges, and workforce systems
How to create programs that can survive leadership changes and evolve with partners' needs
Why employers should help define the skills workers need—and how those skills can be taught and assessed on the job
How Apprenticeship Degrees can incorporate AI literacy and prepare workers for changing jobs
What intermediaries can do to coordinate partners without adding unnecessary complexity
Why affordability and access depend on designing pathways that people can actually complete
More resources:
Learn more about ICAD: https://www.ncad.org/convening
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Music by PaulYudin from Pixabay.