Posts

AI is making networking and social skills more critical. Are your students prepared?

By Robert Markle, Reprinted from SmartBrief In an AI-driven future, social skills aren’t just a plus; they’re a prerequisite. Between 1980 and 2012, jobs requiring social skills surged by almost 12%, while their less social counterparts dwindled by 3.3%. By 2030, demand for social skills is projected to skyrocket 26% across all industries. But social […]

Students’ hidden networks: Relationship mapping as a strategy to build asset-based pathways

By Julia Freeland Fisher, Reprinted from The Christensen Institute Download Paper. To grow their students’ support and professional networks, schools frequently depend on hiring more staff on the margins, enlisting existing faculty and staff to take on additional responsibilities like mentoring and advising, or launching initiatives that recruit volunteers or alumni to engage in pro […]

Networking as a First-Generation Student Can Be Hard. Here’s How to Get Started.

By AiLun Ku and Ray Reyes, Reprinted from the Harvard Business Review If you’re a first-generation college student, you might have heard people tell you to network for better opportunities. If you’ve rolled your eyes at that piece of advice, you’re not alone. The truth is that, for students from underrepresented backgrounds, including low-income households […]

If we truly want a level playing field, we must focus on social capital

By Andy Chan & Kristina Francis, Reprinted from The Campus Nearly 80 per cent of current students now say they’re worried about finding any kind of job after graduation, let alone a good job, and two-thirds say university is no longer worth the cost. Those concerns are especially acute among Black and Latinx students and […]

Opinion: I’m a big advocate of mentorship. Here’s a sample of things I tell college students.

By Inez González Perezchica, Reprinted from The San Diego Union-Tribune Education is the path toward upward social mobility. Yet, it is education plus social class that may determine the type of job a person is able to get after graduating from college. Obtaining a college degree is simply not enough to ensure that first-generation college […]

Network As Net Worth: Increasing Access To Social Capital For Young People

By iMentor, Reprinted from Forbes Research shows that anywhere from 70 to 85 percent of jobs are filled through networking. And others are filled before they are even posted. When we talk to young people about career aspirations, we often center that conversation on the academic and professional preparation that entails – the degrees they […]

These connections are currency; some young people need our help to form them

By Stephanie Malia Krauss, youthtoday.org The other day I attended a diversity training at work. The facilitator talked about who and how we hire. She said something that really stuck with me: You get hired based on who you know; you get promoted based on who knows you. This is true in my own life. Since […]