Outcomes
I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the outcomes of this accelerator. For so long, the ACA team has head their heads buried in their computers coding and building a training program that successfully places students in jobs. After so much time working so hard, it’s time to look outward and open our eyes to our partners in this work.
We are not doing anything new. Vocational training/apprenticeship has been around along time, and I would argue it’s even more natural than the 4-year university system that dominates the present. There are organizations that we can learn from and partner with.
It’s clear that our goal for the Impact Hub Workforce Accelerator is to increase access to the education we provide, build support structures to ensure success, and partner with companies who share our dedication to the community to help us with student placement.
Increase Access
Most of our students have attended some or completed college. Helping college students retool to start a career in a different field is awesome and a vitally important function in our society. Deciding your lifetime career when your 18 is tough, and we often get it wrong. The opportunity to retrain and switch into a tech career is very precious, especially for us Psychology majors.
Finishing college is not a given; only 55% of college students graduate within 6 years. Our program allows these students the opportunity to earn a professional education and enter into a tech career.
Only 56% of high school graduates attend college in the state of Texas. Our approach provides more support and hands-on learning than colleges. We can serve these students, yet we do little to attract these students. Fortunately we are developing a relationship with Goodwill and other organizations to serve attract and serve students who do not have a college degree.
Build Support Structures
Success means job placement. Job placements depends on skills and confidence. Our program must equip students with skills and confidence. All of our classes are taught by professionals who work with the subject they are teaching. Our instructors have the skills, and I’ve worked with them to define these skills and create learning experiences which teach these skills.
Confidence comes from doing things successfully over time. Our students gain confidence by building 6 major projects on their own throughout their time in our program.
We can do a better job of providing additional support to students who are struggling. I’m working with Goodwill to understand more about what they do to provide wrap-around support. Additionally we need to spend more time teaching our students how to access and learn from our curriculum. As we push to accept more students who have not taken college classes, we’ll need to provide support to supplement the learning “how to learn” that happens in college. Instructors also need to be trained to support different learners with different backgrounds.
Placement Partners
If our graduates don’t find jobs, we aren’t helping them. Luckily for our first 3–4 years, we’ve been able to find jobs for our students relatively easily. However as we expand access to our program, we must expand our list of hiring partners. If we can secure more hiring partners, we can scale up and serve more people. I’m looking for companies who care about Austin and want to provide opportunities to its community members.
