Looking Beyond the 4-Year Degree, With Kathleen deLaski

The Gartner Talent Angle

The workforce is increasingly exploring learning opportunities outside of the four-year college degree, such as vocational training and apprenticeships. However, organizations struggle to adapt their talent processes to a workforce with changing demographics and preferences. Kathleen deLaski, author of “Who Needs College Anymore? Imagining a Future Where Degrees Don’t Matter,” joins the Talent Angle to discuss how organizations can keep pace with an evolving workforce. By creating alignment between recruiting, training and education, organizations can build talent pipelines that strengthen their workforce and grow the economy.

Kathleen deLaski is an education and workforce designer, and futurist. She founded the Education Design Lab to help colleges reimagine higher education toward the future of work. Her nonprofit has helped 1,200 colleges, organizations and economic regions design new pathways for learners. She is a senior advisor to the Project on Workforce at Harvard University and teaches human-centered design and higher education reform as an adjunct professor in the Honors College at George Mason University. Previously, Kathleen worked as a journalist, including time as ABC News White House correspondent, and was a political appointment as the first female Pentagon spokesperson.

Dion Love is a vice president of research and advisory services at Gartner. Dion is a labor market expert, focusing on global labor market trends and what they mean for organizations’ talent and business strategies, as well as broader social and economic issues. In his work at Gartner, Dion advises clients on key aspects of talent acquisition, including talent acquisition function planning and management, talent needs definition and internal recruiting, employment branding and recruitment marketing, and talent sourcing and selection. He has co-authored more than 12 strategic research studies at Gartner. His work has been featured in the Harvard Business Review and industry publications, as well as Gartner HR Leaders Monthly and Smarter With Gartner.