Reskilling America: Learning to Labor in the Twenty-First Century By Katherine S. Newman and Hella Winston.
Katherine holds holds a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Sociology from the University of California, San Diego and a Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley.
Today Katherine is Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, University of California. She was formerly the Provost of UMass Amherst and Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Johns Hopkins University, professor at Princeton University and Harvard University, and professor of anthropology at Columbia University.
Hella was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, The Johns Hopkins University, and Princeton University. Today she is pursuing her Ph.D. in sociology at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. She is a Senior Fellow at Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism.
The book begins with a certainly sobering assessment of the current state of American secondary education. They highlight misguided policies that have driven economic inequalities for decades.
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They support their case with compelling examples and data. Many readers should obviously be pleased to see America’s dedication to vocational careers made a strong impact. The book addresses a very successful airplane program in New York City. Amazing dedication created solid careers. So the success stories are well established.
They advocate in fact, for our country to learn from Germany and Austria, where robust technical education systems have kept youth unemployment low and provided clear pathways to stable, well-paying jobs. They deliver a foundation for reevaluating America’s vocational education:
- Elevating the Value of Vocational Education
- Adopting International Best Practices
- Investing in Vocational Institutions
- Industry Partnerships and Apprenticeships
- Combating Inequality, and
- Preparing for an Industrial Renaissance
In addition, Katherine and Hella are providing a much needed analysis of our country’s underinvestment in vocational education and the dire consequences for our American workforce. They certainly reveal our legacy, singular focus on ‘college-for-all’ policy has sidelined millions of workers who are not prepared for the demands of our country’s rapidly changing labor market. This book was published prior to the pandemic.
In conclusion, Reskilling America delivers a very strong call to action for policymakers, educators, and employers. It challenges deeply held assumptions about education and work. They certainly provide a blueprint for building a more equitable and dynamic labor force. This book is simply a must-read.