Map to the Middle Class
Questions at work
The Map to the Middle Class is a project that will explore what it takes to get to the middle class in an evolving economy
The story of work is one of deepening economic polarization. Good jobs are disappearing for people with only a high-school diploma, while wage and employment gains increasingly accrue to people with higher education. In this series, we’ll explore how trends such as automation could reshape the types of jobs that are available. And we’ll find out how schools can help young people prepare for a landscape where middle-class life is increasingly out of reach.
But to do that, we need to hear from you.
Here’s how it works: You ask. We report. We share the answer.
You could ask questions such as: Is my job safe from automation? Is getting a four-year college degree worth the cost? Are good jobs for people without college degrees ever coming back?
So what questions do you have about school, training programs and the path to the middle class? Ask your question here
OPINION: Higher education must not leave working families behind
Why short-term training programs make sense for both careers and budgets
What does ‘career readiness’ look like in middle school?
School districts are pushing career exploration into middle and lower grades, convinced the preparation necessary for tomorrow’s jobs needs to begin earlier
Automation is remaking Mississippi jobs: Are workers ready?
New educational pathways are needed to prepare workers of all ages for tomorrow’s jobs
COLUMN: The paradox of working while in college
Work interferes with studies but boosts adult earnings, researchers say
What if we hired for skills, not degrees?
The last decade has seen widespread ‘degree inflation.’ But a growing movement of employers, workers and training groups offers a rebuke to a culture that exalts a bachelor’s as the gold standard for upward mobility
How colleges can help their students out-compete robots
A reader asks: What do colleges need to offer students so they can succeed in an era of automation?
Test prep to get into vocational education? Yup, it’s a thing
New Jersey’s county-run career and technical high schools are helping to revive vocational education — but critics say some cherry-pick the best and the brightest
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OPINION: Three ways to help more low-income students get through college
The challenge of not knowing 'the unwritten rules of life'
OPINION: How one liberal arts college is pushing students to up their job game
A mandatory 'nudge' toward future goals and decisions
Going back to school after 50
A reader asks: How common is it for people seek out vocational training later in life?