When adolescents and parents sit down to talk about education, training, and work, the atmosphere is often riddled with anxiety on both sides. One study found that 93 percent of American parents would encourage their child to go into engineering mostly as a pathway to economic security. Teenagers, picking up on parental fear, often end up choosing majors that sound like they will lead to a job and then end up switching majors mid-stream, or worse, drifting and dropping out.

One of the reasons this happens is that we often put the
“cart” of economic outcomes ahead of the “horse” of vocational interests that
drive educational and career persistence. One way around this dilemma is to
provide opportunities for older teens to explore and experiment in core
interests and in the job market itself. Two programs I recently encountered are
helping students do just that.

Teen Innovators is a peer mentoring initiative that supports teens in creative and innovative thinking. The program’s emphasis is on helping youth gain a sense of personal agency in their own development as they meet in peer groups to work on projects like developing job search strategies for part-time employment, practicing effective communication techniques, and building healthy technology habits. These activities sound simple, but they help teens discover and sharpen their interests as well as support the development of noncognitive or “soft” skills that are necessary for post-secondary educational and employment success.

First Workings is another youth-focused program that offers young people from disadvantaged and under-served boroughs exposure to New York City’s financial services, legal, media, and health sectors. Participating firms offer First Workings students paid employment and mentoring for college prep and transitions to employment. While still relatively small, First Workings boasts a 100 percent college attendance rate among its alumni, which is significant given that 70 percent of its 2020 cohort and 75 percent of its 2019 cohort are first-generation college students.

The relationships and professional linkages that work experience provides helps ease the transition from childhood to adult life. Kids who participate in programs like Teen Innovators and First Workings can build connections to and skills for otherwise hard-to-attain occupations and futures. They also allow the space and support for young people to consider and construct options they may not have been able to articulate alone.

Our current and future labor shortage means that we need educational and training approaches that make the most of our human capital. That process begins with programs like Teen Innovators and First Workings that help young people discover and apply their gifts to the art of earning a living.

The post Which comes first, the job or the vocation? appeared first on American Enterprise Institute – AEI.