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YouScience: mitigating the skills gap by addressing the gender imbalance in high-demand careers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 November 2020

Rodney A. McCloy ,
Patrick J. Rottinghaus ,
Chan Jeong Park ,
Rich Feller  and
Todd Bloom
Rodney A. McCloy*
Affiliation:
Human Resources Research Organization, Louisville, KY, USA
Patrick J. Rottinghaus
Affiliation:
University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO, USA
Chan Jeong Park
Affiliation:
University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO, USA
Rich Feller
Affiliation:
Colorado State University, School of Education, Fort Collins, CO, USA
Todd Bloom
Affiliation:
Western Governors University, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Email: rmccloy@humrro.org
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Abstract

The U.S. labor market continues to grapple with a “skills gap” (Marshall & Craig, 2019): a disconnect between the skills employers need and the number of job-seekers with those skills. Compounded by historically low unemployment rates, this gap is leaving employers with unfilled jobs and narrow talent pipelines. Concurrently, there are lingering concerns regarding underrepresentation of women and minorities in certain sectors of the labor market—particularly occupations in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). This article examines how the traditional interest-only career guidance tools used in education significantly influence the gender-based skills gaps that persist in high-demand careers and introduces YouScience, a company that is helping ameliorate the skills gap by combining measures of aptitudes and interests in a new career discovery platform. We close by presenting action steps for students, parents, educators, and counselors, as well as positing possible effects of COVID-19 on career exploration and counseling.

Keywords

aptitudesinterestsvocational assessmentskills gapcareer readiness
Type
Practice Forum
Information
Industrial and Organizational Psychology , Volume 13 , Issue 3 , September 2020 , pp. 426 - 441
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology.

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