We commissioned a series of brief writings to inform our July discussions. They are available below for public consumption.
University of Arizona sociologist and higher education researcher Regina Deil-Amen offers an aerial view of how the evolution of the US racial-political economy has substantially grown the ranks of working learners in college, creating new opportunities for individual and institutional transformation, but also new forms of precarity for working learners.
Northwestern University sociologist Lauren Rivera offers a concise brief on the importance of attending to the the assumptions, beliefs and behaviors of employers as they consider working learners at the point of hire.
Stanford learning scientists Dan Schwartz and Kristen Blair introduce the distinction between routine and adaptive expertise, and consider strategies that educators and employers might pursue to nurture the development of adaptive expertise among working learners.
UC-Irvine sociologist and education researcher Richard Arum offers a big-picture framework for conceptualizing collaboratively built infrastructure to observe how working learners accumulate skills, credentials, occupational titles and earnings as they move through the life course.
Urban Institute economist Sandy Baum provides a high-level overview of the task of building a strong evidence base to inform government policy-making around services to working learners.
UC-San Diego’s John Skrentny and Mary Walshok summarize the rich legacy of university extensions and suggest how they remain powerful tools for opportunity creation in the US today.