"The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly brought a great deal of pain and sadness to the lives of Americans. COVID-19 also exposed the cracks in our education and employment systems that make it next to impossible for the working class to achieve social and economic mobility. Millions of Americans are now unemployed, yet skills gaps continue to grow in some industries. At the same time, some smaller employers need to upskill or reskill their employees immediately but lack the resources to do so. Our higher education system is scrambling to decipher its future, while our workforce development system is overwhelmed. In addition, there is no national infrastructure in place to coordinate an education-and-work ecosystem that can effectively and efficiently educate working learners for continuous learning that will cover multiple career changes."—Source: The EvoLLLution
WHY THIS MATTERS:
The upheaval caused by COVID-19 has presented higher ed with myriad challenges, but there have been some important lessons as well. This moment gave clarity to issues that had been at play long before the pandemic began, and many schools are now taking active steps in the right direction.
