It’s always a treat when I learn about a book on the topic of job and career readiness that truly resonates with me.

After reviewing an early manuscript of “Who Will Train the Already Educated?” by Mary L. Walshok and John D. Skrentny, I’m confident that it’s a winner.

Their treatise is written from the perspective of how they feel UC San Diego — where both authors have a long history — does it right, while other colleges and universities need to embrace different forms of preparing students for their futures.

In their view, the goal of a college education should also include “specialized units with design blueprints that meet this challenge.”

Many large-scale universities, including UC San Diego, have these units, variously known as extension, extended studies, continuing education and professional studies. 

It wasn’t so long ago when going to such classes, often after-hours, conveyed something “less than” as compared to a “real” university. 

Yet most of these programs are taught by working professionals who teach their students at “the speed of business, not the pace of faculty governance.”

And while the post-graduate students are often older than the average college student, they’re likely more engaged in the learning process. 

For them, success is measured by whether they get and keep better jobs – or change careers – that have their futures in mind. Another benefit: Class fees are far less expensive.

As the authors state, “We call these units career sustainers — because that’s precisely what they do.”

By their reckoning, there are 58 million such college grads who need up-skilling, re-skilling and support as working adults in today’s economy – one that’s constantly transformed by advances in technology and the ebbs and flows of modern life.

Each year produces about 4 million college graduates, all of them eager to take on the world on their terms. Good luck to them.

But these days, earning a four-year degree is no longer enough to keep graduates gainfully employed across a lifetime. And it’s no secret that confidence in the intrinsic value of that sheepskin has slipped to historic lows. 

The facts are indisputable and troubling.

According to the Federal Reserve, current student loan debt stands at more than $1.8 trillion and is growing fast with no signs of letting up. 

That’s because more than 25% of those who took out student loans have opted to stop paying. They simply can’t afford to keep up.

At the same time, overall college enrollment has been in steady decline, a trend not likely to slow as tuition costs continue to soar. 

Meanwhile, too many employers have a common complaint: They can’t hire enough skilled, trained or qualified workers, college grads or not, because their basic skill sets are substandard or worse, are about to become obsolete, thanks to the wonders of AI.

As the authors point out, the underlying problem rests with the growing gap between those better-off students that public and (especially) private universities have been gladly serving, and those they mostly ignore.

From adolescence to adulthood

“Since the founding of Harvard in 1636,” the authors state, “American higher education has organized itself almost entirely around one life stage: the transition from adolescence to adulthood. 

“Policymakers, university leaders, and students have settled on the idea that higher education is primarily about launching careers, not sustaining them—and they’ve stuck with this model.”

As a result, they add, “We expect working college grads — often with families, mortgages, and elder care responsibilities — to fend for themselves in skill development and labor markets, even as predicted AI displacement gathers momentum.”

“Who will train the already educated?”

Good question.

Let’s make sure we work toward more sustainable careers, not just our next job. 

That means taking ownership of our own skill development, pushing our employers to invest in our growth, and holding our universities accountable for staying relevant long after graduation day. 

None of us can afford to sit back and assume someone else is managing our career for us. 

As I’ve often said, we are each our own career coach, and the sooner we embrace that, the better positioned we’ll be for whatever comes next.

Blair is co-founder of Manpower West Staffing and can be reached at pblair@manpowerwest.com.