The Urgent Need for Social Mobility
Our society, the workforce, and individuals benefit from more education, especially among the underrepresented.
In 2022, the share of American adults with a bachelor’s degree decreased for the first time since the U.S. Census Bureau began tracking the stat in the 1960s. It was a small dip—two-tenths of a percent—but still the first decrease in six decades of data.
The timing couldn’t be worse given the changing nature of our workforce. Technology’s accelerating rate of change is taking on a hyper speed pace because of advances in artificial intelligence. Many workers don't have the skills they need in today's workforce, much less the jobs of the future that are being rapidly created now.
Even more troubling, the U.S. has dramatic degree attainment gaps by race and ethnicity. Data from the Lumina Foundation shows that 37.3% of Americans ages 25-64 have a bachelor’s degree or higher, but that drops to 26.3% for Black Americans, 21.6% for Hispanic Americans, and 16.7% for Native Americans—meaning those most likely to be left behind in the workforce are those underrepresented in higher education.
As higher ed leaders know, whether you get a college education also determines a lot about the rest of your life beyond your career path and earnings. Princeton researchers found that the life expectancy for Americans with a bachelor’s degree is 8 years longer than for those without—a gap that has widened significantly in the past two decades.
Higher education must adapt quickly to meet the needs of our workforce and society. More than just increasing bachelor’s degree counts, we must offer certificates and microcredentials so workers can reskill quickly, streamline stackable credentials so students can level up in their careers, and promote lifelong learning to ensure everyone has access to education when they need it.
To fill our workforce, and for the U.S. to remain competitive internationally and for Americans to thrive, we need greater participation rate from all segments of society and innovative educational programs for more learners.
A Colorado case study
Colorado has the highest college attainment rate of any state, according to the same Lumina report, after postsecondary credential attainment rate increased from 48% to 60% over a decade.
There are two reasons for that. First, Colorado universities like mine have done a great job educating more students. Second, Colorado is a popular place to move for adults with degrees.
However, that doesn’t tell the story. During that decade of growth in degree-holders, the percentage of Colorado high school graduates enrolling in college actually dropped from 57% to 50%.
This doesn’t add up well for Colorado’s future.
It’s great that Colorado attracts educated workers, but we’re still not meeting our economy’s needs. Colorado’s Talent Pipeline Report says that 94.7% of “Tier 1 Top Jobs”—in industries with job openings, industry growth, and livable wages—require postsecondary education. To truly offer social and economic mobility in our state and the U.S., we must do more than just move educated adults around. We need to reimagine education to work for all.
Sustained social mobility opportunities
U.S. News and World Report has ranked my institution, the University of Colorado Denver, as Colorado’s No. 1 university for social mobility the past three years. CU Denver is in the middle of downtown Denver, and like other urban universities we’re focused on serving a diverse population that cities often attract—the populations that have been traditionally underserved by higher ed.
Among our undergraduate students, nearly half are first-generation college students, nearly half are students of color, and a quarter are at least 25 years old. Consistent with our mission and aspirations, we achieved federal designations as both a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) and an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution (AANAPISI). Reimagining education isn’t just about who we enroll, or how we prepare students for their next job, but how we truly serve them and set them up for a long life and a successful career in a rapidly changing workforce.
In these times of economic and technological transformation, we need to get more people from more communities and a wider set of backgrounds access to education and career preparation not just at the beginning of their working lives, but throughout their lives, to keep our economy competitive and our societies equitable. Here are three ways CU Denver is doing just that:
1. Our First-Generation and Multicultural (FaM) Business Program provides vital financial support for diverse students, as well as additional student support and access to mentoring which helps them grow their confidence and networks. Employers who hire our students have been generously supporting this program, and it has shown to have extraordinary results in terms of retaining these students semester after semester. Ninety students participated the first year, including one student named Veronica who had been a restaurant server; through mentorship and experience in our program, she’s now working to help restaurants market themselves through storytelling about their meals, cultural traditions, and community events.
2. We created a new “Change Makers” program designed for experienced professionals at or near the end of their careers who are navigating transitions in work and life, preparing for “encore careers” or other productive activities. Industries need this: with mass retirements of the Baby Boomers coming, more degree-holders and workers who can upskill and reskill quickly are needed to fill talent gaps. One of our Strategic Plan goals it to be a "University for Life,” and adult learners are a key part of our mission and our enrollment strategy.
3. Along the same lines as our Change Makers program for older adults, we are finding ways to serve adults learners across the university to help them learn new skills to continue in their jobs or to find new ones. One of the ways we do that is by offering nearly 40 degrees entirely online and expanding our certificates and microcredential offerings. These flexible options enable students to learn at their own pace and get industry-recognized credentials that are useful sooner than they could earn a degree, but stackable so that they can build up to a degree if they choose to. For example, we have a four-course certificate in Sustainable Urban Agriculture, which includes field research and the option to complete an internship with a local food community organization. If a student earns the certificate and decides they want to keep going, those credits would count toward a full degree in Urban Studies and Planning.
This is education for society’s sake: serving learners at every age and stage of life, regardless of background, and ensuring they have the opportunities they need to support workforce needs, contribute to their communities, and have a better life.
If we make education work for all, we can change the world for the better.
CU Denver Chancellor Michelle Marks is an innovator dedicated to making higher education equitable for the good of society. Since joining the university in July 2020, Dr. Marks has led a highly collaborative process to develop CU Denver’s 2030 Strategic Plan: Make Education Work for All.
This content was paid for and created by The University of Colorado Denver. The editorial staff at The Chronicle had no role in its preparation. Find out more about paid content.
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