Article 2018

Building community bonds, bridges, and linkages to promote the career readiness of high school students in the United States

HV
Hernández-Gantes, Victor M.
 KS
Keighobadi, Sasha
 FE
Fletcher, Edward Charles
Journal of Education and Work
Journal · Vol. 31 · Issue 2 · pp. 190-203
Abstract

The career readiness of high school students has been a longstanding issue that has received renewed attention in recent years. To document an approach to promoting career readiness in the United States, we conducted an exploratory case study of a distinguished information technology career academy. Using the premises of capital building as a frame of reference, we found a community who viewed career readiness as a form of investment in human capital development. As such, a network of business partners collaborated with academy staff in providing school- and work-based learning opportunities for academy students. This approach was complemented by an emphasis on the development of social capital with social bonds, bridges, and linkages in place to sustain the network identity and development. © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Keywords

Author Keywords

Employability skills career and technical education Career Academies career readiness

Index Keywords

Author Affiliations
Department of Leadership, University of South Florida, Tampa, Tampa, FL, United States
Funding & Acknowledgements
National Science Foundation, NSF
Grant: 1614707
This work was funded by the National Science Foundation’s Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program [award 1614707]. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
References 10 References
1 Journal of Information Systems Education, (2009)
2 College and Career Readiness of U S High School Graduates, (2016)
3 Workplace Essential Skills Resources Related to the Scans Competencies and Foundation Skills, (2000)
4 Alignment of Common Core and Acts College and Career Readiness System, (2010)
5 Adler, Paul S., Social capital: Prospects for a new concept, Academy of Management Review, 27, 1, pp. 17-40, (2002)
6 Reinventing the American High School for the 21st Century, (2006)
7 Au, Alan Kai Ming, Employee training needs and perceived value of training in the Pearl River Delta of China: A human capital development approach, Journal of European Industrial Training, 32, 1, pp. 19-31, (2008)
8 Azim, Syed, The importance of soft skills in complex projects, International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, 3, 3, pp. 387-401, (2010)
9 Defining the Importance of Employability Skills in Technical Education, (2006)
10 Boahin, Peter, A disciplinary perspective of competency-based training on the acquisition of employability skills, Journal of Vocational Education and Training, 65, 3, pp. 385-401, (2013)
Quick Actions
Full Text via DOI
Citation Metrics
9
Times Cited (Scopus)
References 10
Document Identifiers