Columbus New Skills
Ready Network
Activating Student and Community Voice
October 1, 2021
Introductions:
Marketing and Outreach Team
Yohannan Terrell, CEO
Warhol & WALL ST.
Donna Marbury, Director of Client Services
Warhol & WALL ST.
About Columbus News Skills Ready Network
The Columbus New Skills Ready Network Partners:
Project Scope & Objectives
Phase 1 of the project includes:
Focus Group Participation
Total Participants to Date: 71
•Students (34 participants)
Downtown High School
Fort Hayes Metropolitan Education Center
Wedgewood Middle School
•School counselors/Internship coordinators (11 participants)
•Parents (14 participants)
•Principals and Administrators (12 participants)
“Children can’t be
what they can’t see.”
-Focus group participant
Most students are exposed to their desired career through family and family friends
Focus Group Results
Initial interest and exposure to their desired career came from discussions, job shadowing and hands-on experience with family and family friends
The consensus among principals and administrators, school counselors/internship coordinators is most students haven’t decided on a career path
Students lose motivation and discipline between middle school and high school if their desired career and the process to enter or perform in those professions aren’t bridged
Focus Group Results
Students use TV and social media to augment their knowledge about careers of interest
School staff and parents desire more information about potential careers, career paths and career planning to share with students
Students are focused on more immediate employment and students feel pressure to provide responses to questions about their desired careers
Focus Group Results:
Healthcare
Students have a favorable opinion about healthcare professionals
Responses across focus groups indicated students have less familiarity with other healthcare careers that are less visible than doctors and nurses
This is based on students’ positive interactions and experiences with doctors and nurses
Focus Group Results:
Healthcare
The healthcare work environment is described to be “sad”, “grueling”, and “hard to do” emotionally. It can be reasonably inferred the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly influenced this perception.
Students have an overall negative opinion about the healthcare work environment.
Focus Group Results:
Information Technology (IT)
Students have an overall neutral opinion about careers in IT and view them as being mundane based on more commonly known activities in the field
Gaming, computers, and technology were words predominately associated with information technology
Several parents stated their child’s current interest in information technology is primarily as a hobby such as gaming
Focus Group Results: IT
Principals, administrators, and parents mentioned students view themselves as the end-user but not necessarily a creator of content or technology
Graphic design and fashion design were mentioned by parents as being their child’s interest in information technology
Overall opinions of the information technology field were neutral with it being associated with being “hard” and “boring”
Focus Group Results: IT
Most students depicted information technology as performing routine office tasks and primarily associated it with corporate settings and performing procedural business activities
Parents of female and racial and ethnic marginalized students who are interested in information technology expressed a need for representation in the field beyond white males
Provide parents and Columbus City Schools staff with information about different career options within fields and examples of activities performed
Help students align personal interests and identify a sense of purpose with potential careers
Expose students earlier to careers:
4th and 5th grade
Provide students with a formal career plan based on aspirations to help chart a path for resources, relationships and experiences
Increase students’ exposure to the diversity of race, ethnicity, and gender of people in information technology and healthcare careers
Opportunities
Next Steps
Additional parent and student workshops to get more insight on visual and brand messages
Creating a communication plan for asset development and implementation based on focus group and workshop learning
Thank You
Questions? Contact Us!
Yohannan Terrell, CEO
Warhol & WALL ST.
yterrell@warholandwallst.com
Donna Marbury, Director of Client Services
Warhol & WALL ST.
dmarbury@warholandwallst.com