Education leaders must treat students’ relationships—not just their diplomas and resumes—as critical, writes Bruno V. Manno, a senior advisor at the Progressive Policy Institute and a former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education for Policy, in an Education Next essay.
Students need at least one adult at school—a teacher, coach, or advisor who knows them, believes in them, and talks with them about the future.
The late Gallup psychologist Shane Lopez said young people need three mental habits: (1) goals thinking; (2) a realistic plan to get there; and (3) the confidence and energy to pursue that plan. Adults help students build those habits by offering encouragement, feedback, introductions, and examples.
Teens who participate in “career development activities”—career talks with employers, workplace visits, job shadowing, internships—enjoy better employment outcomes in young adulthood: lower unemployment, higher wages, according to an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development study. Yet only about one in five U.S. students reports having any such experience.
A survey from Gallup, the Walton Family Foundation, and Jobs for the Future finds fewer than 30 percent of 16- to 18-year-olds feel “very prepared” for any of eight postsecondary pathways, from the workforce to job training to college.
The required relationship-building is not happening. Here are concrete steps that educators, employers, and policymakers can take to change that.
1) Treat relationships as outcomes, not accidents. A simple metric—such as whether each graduate can name at least three non-family adults they could call for career advice or a reference—would force institutions to track what they currently ignore. Schools can fill any gaps through advisory systems, structured mentoring, alumni networks, career-connected learning, and partnerships with local employers.
2) Build social capital into every pathway. Programs should be judged not only on completion rates and earnings but also on whether they expand students’ networks. This means more internships and clinical placements, employer-led projects, meet-and-greets with industry professionals, and structured alumni engagement.
3) Require mentorship at work. When mentorship programs are voluntary, those who need them most are least likely to opt in, according to research. Companies that automatically assign mentors or “buddies” to new hires—and that invest in training—see gains in productivity and retention.
4) Invest in community “bridge builders.” Youth clubs, faith-based programs, community colleges, libraries are public-private partnerships that connect young people from lower-income backgrounds to professionals in other walks of life. Research shows that regions with more cross-class ties enjoy greater economic mobility. Make it easier for those ties to form through mixed-income schools and housing, better transportation to extracurriculars, or deliberate cross-community programs.
Opportunity for students is about the density and diversity of relationships that surround a young person as well as geography and other factors. Everyone benefits from a more innovative, inclusive, and cohesive society. We have the tools to ensure that: better-designed schools and pathways, smarter workplace practices, and community institutions that build bridges across social divides. The remaining questions are whether we will prioritize this work, and whether we can reframe students’ success based not only on what they know but also on who is willing to answer when they call.
Education Next
