Internships Must Provide Equitable Pathways to Opportunity
The Silicon Valley Business Journal and the San Francisco Business Times published commentary coauthored by California Competes Executive Director Dr. Su Jin Gatlin Jez and California Business Roundtable Executive Vice President Kirk Clark on how essential it is for California employers to ensure across-the-board equity in their internship programs, from recruiting and compensation to technological capabilities and training.
In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic and the accompanying economic recession, many employers have cut back on or canceled their internship programs. Those remaining often have high barriers to entry for applicants lacking reliable broadband internet access and computer equipment, those who cannot afford to forgo formal paid work for an internship experience, or individuals with familial commitments or medical conditions that currently bar them from in-person opportunities.
Read their commentary in the Silicon Valley Business Journal.
Article Explores Postsecondary to Prosperity Dashboard
Diverse: Issues in Higher Education published a detailed article on California Competes’s landmark California Postsecondary to Prosperity Dashboard, elevating the gaps in equity that the tool identifies, particularly along racial lines. The Dashboard provides critical insights into statewide and regional data on educational opportunity, economic mobility, and quality of life—and makes important policy recommendations as well as suggestions for using the data in equity-centered conversations.
Reporter Lois Elfman notes, “California Competes has received positive feedback on the dashboard, which provides information about higher education, employment and other areas such as home ownership and health insurance.”
By better understanding existing trends and inequitable pathways to higher education and economic mobility, California can take a first step toward addressing persistent statewide inequities.
Read “California Competes Dashboard Spotlights Data on Black, Latinx Adult Learners” here.
California Competes Executive Director Shares Perspective on Budget Proposal
Dr. Su Jin Gatlin Jez was among several higher education leaders and policy advocates whose comments on Governor Gavin Newsom’s 2021-22 budget proposal were recently published by EdSource.
“Given how many uncredentialed adults have lost their jobs due to our economic recession and the focus on improving higher education’s alignment with workforce, which will attract more older students, we suggest that the Legislature consider investing in more significant reforms to the Cal Grant,” Dr. Jez said.
Click here to read the rest of Dr. Jez’s comments as well as perspective from others including University of California President Michael Drake, California State University President Joseph I. Castro, and California Community Colleges Chancellor Eloy Oakley.
