“Are we just doing surface-level fixes for career readiness in higher education?”
Brian F. LeDuc’s insightful question in a recent piece hits home. For too long, preparing students for the workforce has meant isolated solutions: a standalone internship here, a transactional tech platform there. These approaches often miss a big problem: our systems don’t truly create shared value for students, faculty, or employers.
At Journeys Map, we get it. We see the challenge: faculty struggle to link learning to real work, employers face a “syllabus gap” with new hires—graduates may know the material but struggle to apply it on the job. And students are often unsure how their academic path leads to a meaningful career. Strong careers grow from strong relationships, but current educational setups limit deep, scalable connections.
The Core Problem: Disconnected Systems and the “Syllabus Gap”
Today’s higher ed environment presents tough hurdles for everyone involved:
- For Employers: New graduates often struggle to show what they’ve learned or apply it effectively. There’s a gap where students lack experience with real-world ambiguity, making it hard to navigate complex professional challenges after structured school settings.
- For Faculty: There is pressure to add professional skills and real-world relevance to courses. This often means time-consuming efforts to find partners or manage projects that are tough to scale.
- For Staff: Engaging diverse students, especially first-gen learners or those working outside school, is a challenge. Traditional support systems often don’t fit their busy lives.
- For Institutions: Many campuses lack the strong, integrated infrastructure needed for comprehensive career success and building talent pipelines at scale.
Well-intentioned traditional practices often fall short. Internship courses might give academic credit but sometimes don’t provide quality, paid experiences for all. Classroom projects, while valuable, often depend on individual faculty going above and beyond to find outside partners. And many tech solutions for employer connections are just transactional, missing the chance to build strategic partnerships crucial for long-term talent flow.
Designing for the Future: Building Real Shared Value
To fix these systemic issues, we need solutions that naturally create shared value. This means approaches that:
- Deepen Relationships: Move from quick transactions to genuine, collaborative partnerships between schools, students, and employers.
- Integrate Learning & Work: Blur the lines so hands-on experience becomes a core part of learning, and academic knowledge immediately applies to practical situations.
- Ensure Scalability & Accessibility: Make career readiness resources available to all students, including those with busy schedules or diverse backgrounds.
- Simplify for Educators: Provide tools that let faculty seamlessly weave career relevance into their teaching, without adding extra work.
That’s the kind of connected approach Journeys Map is built to support.
Journeys Map: Your Bridge to Real Career Readiness
Journeys Map acts as a catalyst, directly building the bridge for true collaboration. It transforms how students, educators, and employers connect and achieve shared value. We move beyond quick fixes by giving you the tools for deep change:
1. Empowering Faculty & Counselors with Smart Insights: Our AI-powered career navigation offers interactive tools for personalized career planning. We provide real-time skill gap analysis, looking at users’ current abilities (from resumes and experience) to pinpoint growth areas for future roles. This data gives faculty precise insights to improve curriculum, foster continuous learning, and integrate forward-looking development paths.
2. Guiding Students Through the “Syllabus Gap” and Into the Real World: The “syllabus gap” refers to the disconnect between what students learn in class and the expectations they face in the workplace. Journeys Map helps close this gap by offering students a holistic, integrated view of career realities rarely found in traditional settings. Our platform brings together scattered information, giving unmatched clarity on career path nuances. Students deeply understand:
- Diverse Commitments: The varying educational and financial investments, school pathways, and job market realities (like openings and growth) for each career.
- Authentic Context: Through “a day in the life” videos, detailed job descriptions, and clear requirements, students easily grasp the practicalities and differences between roles.
- Skills & Personal Fit: We give vital insights and the exact language for both human and technical skills needed for specific jobs. This helps students understand not just what a job involves, but who thrives in it, addressing the often-unspoken personality fit for various careers.
3. Connecting Employers to Vetted, Skilled Talent: Our platform is a powerful link for employers seeking qualified talent. Journeys Map’s employer tools let organizations find individuals with the specific experience and skills for their open positions. We streamline connections for internships and work-based learning through partnerships with colleges and non-profits, who use Journeys Map to manage cohorts and track hours. These direct connection opportunities foster lasting mentorships with industry pros dedicated to building strong talent pipelines.
Trusted by Industry Leaders: Journeys Map’s Real-World Value
This commitment to driving change is why Journeys Map is already a trusted partner. As Lisa Easterly, President and CEO of the San Diego Cyber Center of Excellence (CCOE), a leader in advancing the cyber economy (as highlighted in this NIST Industry Spotlight), says about their collaboration on the Cyber Career Map:
“Myth: I must have an advanced degree and 10 years-experience to work in the cybersecurity field. Cybersecurity career pathways have evolved and now include certifications, military to commercial tracks and boot camps… To help, CCOE partnered with the State of California, Journeys Map and cyber industry leaders to develop the Cyber Career Map, featuring customized career pathways based on the NICE framework. Similar to Google Maps, users can create personalized journeys catering to their skills and interests including education, certifications and personal work-based learning resources.“
The Journeys Map Difference: Your Gap, Our Bridge
Journeys Map provides comprehensive information that truly empowers users. You can:
- Gain self-awareness with in-depth interest and skills surveys.
- Articulate your valuable skills using precise language.
- Better understand potential careers through rich, data-driven insights.
- Clearly identify your “gap”—the difference between your current skills and what you need for your desired path—giving you a clear roadmap for development.
This complete approach turns career uncertainty into clear pathways. It brings clarity and fulfilling opportunities for students, streamlined tools and data for educators, and robust, skilled talent for employers.
Partnering for Real Impact
The call for change is clear: we must move past surface-level fixes. Higher education leaders now have a real chance to embrace solutions that build shared value and fully prepare every student for a dynamic workforce. Journeys Map is ready to partner with you to build these connections and cultivate the next generation of talent.
Ready for a refreshing solution where students, schools/faculty, employers, and learning & work truly connect? Discover how Journeys Map can support your programs. Contact Erin Tanner at: ETanner@edgate.com
