To address workforce shortages, employers may need to focus their efforts on building awareness of and interest in career opportunities in K-12 students, according to a report released Tuesday by YouScience, a college and career readiness platform.
The report analyzed data from 450,000 middle and high school students who took the YouScience Aptitude & Career Discovery assessment and found that several high-demand industries may struggle for talent without some early career exposure programs due to a “frequent mismatch between student aptitudes and interests.”
YouScience defined aptitude as “an individual’s natural ability to learn or perform in given areas,” while interest was defined as “self-reported activities someone wants to know or learn about.”
Some examples of these mismatches include:
- A 28% gap in students who had aptitude for health science but no reported interest
- A 24% gap in students who had aptitude for information and technology but no reported interest
- An 18% gap in students who have aptitude for advanced manufacturing but no reported interest
“This report highlights a critical challenge we see across industries: the gap between student potential and career awareness. Without early exposure and engagement, we risk losing untapped talent in sectors that desperately need it,” Chelle Travis, executive director of SkillsUSA, which endorsed the report, said in a statement. “By aligning education with workforce needs, we can create a stronger pipeline of skilled professionals who are ready to drive innovation, productivity, and economic stability.”
To ease these potential gaps, employers can partner with schools to create mentorship programs and provide site visits; and offer work-based learning opportunities to students, including internships and apprenticeship programs, YouScience said.
A separate YouScience report published in November 2024 also indicated that employers need to improve collaboration with K-12 and post-secondary institutions, in part because a vast majority of entry-level hires still needed “substantial additional training” to succeed in their roles.
