P-TECH: Disrupting traditional Corporate Philanthropy to educate the workforce of today and tomorrow by Maria Martinez

At a time of high disruption due to technologies like AI, companies are having to continuously adjust to change. Emerging technologies are changing not only how we do work, but also the skills the workforce needs perform the work. This poses the challenge of, how can companies maintain an educated workforce? Here’s one possible way: Over the last eight years, IBM has pioneered a corporate social responsibility and public-private partnership model called Pathways in Technology Early College High schools (P-TECH), with the goal of closing the skills gap by educating young people in academic, technical and professional workplace skills.

In 2011, IBM, New York City Department of Education and The City University of New York opened the doors to the first-ever P-TECH high school, in Brooklyn, New York. Today, P-TECH has grown to 200schools, 75 community colleges and 600 industry partners across the United States and internationally. The school is a first of kind, providing students an opportunity to not only earn a free, public high-school diploma, but also a no-cost Associate’s Degree within six years, although some have completed the program in as little as 3.5 years. Each P-TECH is affiliated with at least one private sector partner in any number of industries; these provide mentors, site visits and eligibility for paid internships. The curriculum encompasses traditional areas of study such as writing, Math and Art, but is also supplemented with classes such as Problem Solving in the Workplace, Presentation Skills, Economic Literacy, and Computer Hardware and Software.

Fast track to 2017, the inaugural P-TECH school class in Brooklyn achieved:

· A 100% high school graduation rate

· An on-time community college graduation rate four times higher than the national average, with over 100 students graduating with both their high school and associate STEM degrees

· More than 174 students completed paid internships at IBM

Results at other IBM-affiliated P-TECHs:

· Up to 50% of the inaugural class from the IBM-affiliated Baltimore P-TECH in 2016 is on track to graduate early with high school and associate’s degrees, in just 4.5 years versus the standard six years.

· The college completion rates for African American female students at IBM P-TECHs exceeds 80 percent, and for African American male students it approaches 70 percent.

· At the IBM program in Norwalk, Conn., at the end of year-five in 2019, close to 50 percent of students in the original cohort had already completed their associate’s degrees.

From the founding class’ graduation rates to its international expansion and bi-partisan, apolitical recognition, it is evident P-TECH is achieving its goal of educating young people and preparing them for a successful career in technology. So, what has made this CSR and public-private partnership model so successful? I believe the secret lies in the innovative partnership model which provides the ability to align goals and incentives, maintain an integrated partnership, and scalability that stays true to the core model.

One Mission: Aligning Incentives & Resources

The P-TECH partnership model’s high success has been in-part due to aligned incentives of achieving the shared goal of “forming an educated workforce leading to socio-economic growth by addressing the global skills-gap and providing underserved youth with an innovative education experience.” In the P-TECH partnership model, each party, the School District, Industry Partner, College Partner and State Partner, provides unique resources and gains distinctive benefits from achieving the goals of the initiative.

The Industry Partner provides: industry and technology expertise, mentorship volunteers and internship and employment opportunities. In return, it receives a local marketplace of more young people, many from marginalized communities, prepared for careers that involve STEM in some way. The initiative can also create employee and customer loyalty, who appreciate the industry partner’s community participation. Meanwhile, the School District provides: day to day leadership, funding via the Government Partner, facilities and education expertise. The Community College Partner also provides similar resources, but at the higher education level. In exchange, the School District, Community College and Government parties can achieve their societal mission of preparing the youth for successful and sustainable careers, leading to long-term socio-economic growth. Each parties’ unique resources and expertise together create a holistic synergy enabling the success of the initiative.

One Team: An Integrated Partnership

The active collaboration and coordination of the partners has also allowed the partnership model to flourish. Specifically, the active involvement of the Industry Partner, IBM, is a distinct quality of the P-TECH model. From donor to integrated partner, P-TECH achieves the upmost stage of collaboration in a CSR initiative — the organizational stage. At this stage, the partnership is embedded into multiple aspects of the participating company. Unlike traditional CSR models, the Industry Partner does not solely provide financial resources, but is engrained into the initiative by providing other resources, such as engagement form employees via mentorship. The active participation and advocacy of the Industry Partner also allows the initiative to benefit from the Industry Partner’s business network.

One Core Model: Scalability and Repeatability

Due to the mix of partners involved in the P-TECH partnership, the initiative can scale rapidly. Since its launch in 2011, P-TECH has been announced or launched in 16 countries, with IBM-affiliated schools already open in South Korea, Morocco, Australia and Taiwan. In the US, as of July 2019, 10 states so far have P-TECHs or have announced intentions to open P-TECHs. The integration of the Industry Partner has allowed the opportunity for P-TECH to take advantage of IBM’s global presence enabling expansion. After all, School, Community College and Government Partners can be found all over the world as well.

Additionally, the model also allows for other type of Industry Partners to be included in P-TECH partnership further guiding the school’s curriculum and providing employment opportunities. Or better yet, the partnership model can also be replicated and adapted to a specific Industry Partner. Similarly, the scalable and repeatable model can be used towards achieving other goals such as enabling “Returnship” — women returning to the workforce.

With the P-TECH education stylel, guided by an innovative CSR and public-private partnership model, IBM has paved the way for industry, government and education to come together and work towards achieving common goals: economic growth, a more adaptable workforce, and fewer socioeconomic-based education disparities. Where and how will the partnership model be used next? Stay tuned.

Learn more about P-TECH and how to become a partner at: http://www.ptech.org.

Views expressed in this article are my own.