The Fastest-Growing Workforce Pathways Are the Ones We Know Least About: Dr. Michael Kirst, Professor Emeritus at Stanford University

“The last study of on the job training in the United States I could find was done in 1999, so we need to really get our act together.” That blunt assessment from WorkforceRx guest Dr. Michael Kirst applies to many areas of post-secondary education -- even fast growing ones such as workplace learning -- that he examined as part of a new study co-authored with his Stanford University colleague Victor Chan called Broadening Our Perspective Concerning America's Education Attainment: Growth, Progress, and Data Gaps. On a more positive note, the data that is available tells a story about American education that counters the prevailing view that there’s been a ‘learning recession’ in the U.S. over the past several decades. "When you put the whole system together and look at all of its components, you see not a picture of decline, but a picture of growing years of schooling and education," says Dr. Kirst, a professor emeritus of education and business administration at Stanford. This enlightening conversation with Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan also explores why years of schooling may predict productivity better than test scores, how AI could help students navigate the higher ed landscape and the case for building a K-14 public education system.

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Broadening Our Perspective Concerning America's Education Attainment