Career Pathways for All Youth

Career pathways (CP) has gained prominence as a strategy to ensure that high school students and displaced workers acquire the college and career readiness skills needed in a fast-changing, globalized economy. In an effort to ensure future success for CP, Stephen F. Hamilton examines the School-to-Work (STW) movement of the 1980s and 1990s and explores how the lessons learned from that campaign’s demise can pave the way for a CP program that endures and serves the most deserving.

Hamilton recounts the history and trajectory of STW and CP and outlines the components of a career pathways program that can stand the test of time. He recommends a plan that includes work-based learning, dual enrollment opportunities, coordination at the K-12 and post-secondary levels, private and public funding, and above all, the creation of a CP infrastructure or “system” rather than a loose collection of programs that characterized the earlier STW initiative.

Guided by the latest research, Career Pathways for All Youth features vignettes and interviews with educators, leaders, and school-to-work industry veterans, including High Tech High, YouthBuild, Linked Learning, CareerWise Colorado, and Apprenticeship Carolina. Showcasing CP’s many manifestations and possibilities, the book will help educators learn from the past and secure a more equitable future.