Ask most people about work-based learning and they picture an internship. Kevin Grubb, Vice President for Work-Based Learning at the Strada Education Foundation, describes it as a continuum instead: learning about work, learning at work, and learning through work, from a job shadow all the way to an apprenticeship.
Watch the full-length version on YouTube (47 mins)
Creating a structure around work-based learning isn’t about finding every student one internship, it’s designing a path that moves them across the whole continuum, and. It takes an enormous number of people, good data most schools don’t have, and a recognition that great work-based learning looks completely different in nursing than it does in business.
In our discussion we talk about where to start: not with some big new employer push, but by looking inward. Every school is already an employer, with campus jobs and work-study roles that could be turned into real, resume-worthy experiences. The opportunity is often already sitting right there on campus.
As states and systems rally around this, the temptation will be to chase numbers and let quality slip. If we grow work-based learning but the experience is hollow, especially for the students who need it most, we’ve missed the point. Getting it right is the whole thing.
Big Themes This Week
Work-based learning is a continuum, from job shadows to apprenticeships, and the real work is designing a path across all of it, not landing one internship.
It’s hard for concrete reasons: it takes a lot of people, the data barely exists, and good work-based learning looks different in every discipline.
Start where you already are. Every school is an employer, and campus jobs and work-study can become real experiences.
Team Discussion Questions
Are we thinking about the whole continuum, or just internships?
Could our own campus jobs and work-study roles become stronger, resume-worthy experiences?
As we scale, how do we protect the quality of the experience, especially for students with the most barriers?
Upcoming Member Events
Agora
Behind the Scenes of a Signature Alumni Event: Lessons from the Bentley Alumni Conference
A great alumni conference can do more than bring people together — it can create the conditions for relationships to grow, alumni expertise to strengthen the institution, and university priorities to become meaningful and relevant to graduates.
In this Agora, Allison Kerivan, Executive Director of Advancement Relations, will take attendees behind the scenes of the Bentley Alumni Conference, the university’s flagship professional development and networking experience, and share how it has evolved into a strategic platform for alumni engagement and donor cultivation.
Date: Thursday, September 3 from 12 - 1 pm
Faculty-in-Residence
For six weeks beginning August 17 - September 25, Speaking Engagement welcomes Mallory Erickson — executive coach, creator and host of the What the Fundraising podcast, and author of the book by the same name — as our inaugural resident.
We’ll have a final live Symposium event for members on September 23.
