SBIR-STTR Award

This SBIR Phase I project serves a national need for stronger career readiness by connecting youth to project- and work-based learning experiences that will help them to apply and extend classroom learning. These experiences will increase their career self-efficacy and skills, and help them to develop a critical understanding of careers and the work environment, at an age when it matters the most?before they become disengaged and potentially disconnected from school and work. This investment in career readiness also reduces the societal costs associated with millions of youth that are currently disengaged and marginalized. The cost of this disconnection in the United States is staggeringly high; one study estimates the annual cost to taxpayers for addressing its direct negative effects to be $26.8 billion. Successful and widespread adoption of this project will increase the pool of qualified applicants for employers in industries across the U.S., especially in STEM fields for which there are two to three million unfilled positions due to a shortfall in qualified candidates. By helping youth to engage in meaningful career-related learning experiences this project will have the broader economic impact of increasing their likelihood to stay in school, find good employment, and contribute to the country's vitality over the long-term.The project combines compelling youth-centered visual and interactive design with analysis of open labor data, personal user data from individual and aggregate usage, and empirically-tested career development inventories. Users explore a range of career pathways and career readiness competencies, as well as recommendations for both proprietary and third party career education content and programs. The project consists of a cross-platform app that allows users to build a profile, explore STEM and other industries of interest, and gain understanding of the relevancy of key career readiness practices. Through data generated by usage, simple assessments and self-reflections, the user profile is strengthened and more specific careers can be explored through leveled online and real-world activities. The project also includes a web-based reporting dashboard that tracks usage and performance data. The project will address the technical hurdles for both the young user to identify meaningful project and work-based activities, and for public and private providers of such activities to reach more youth and improve the impact of their programs. The research team will design surveys, conduct usability tests and analyze usage data to gather evidence against impact criteria. These data will inform an iterative design process for improved user-experience, algorithm adjustments and feature improvements.

This SBIR Phase II project serves a national need for stronger career readiness by building the confidence of youth at an age when researchers believe it matters the most. A key objective is to close equity and opportunity gaps by equipping youth and their advocates with a data-driven, motivational career development solution - one that taps into existing initiatives and connects users to meaningful career-building experiences online and in their communities. The intended outcome is a web-based career platform that fosters career self-efficacy and increases knowledge of occupations and career pathways. The proposed platform consists of (1) an engaging app for youth ages 14 to 25 based on popular game mechanics; (2) a Web-based advocate (educator) dashboard that reports on individual and aggregate user career exploration and skill-building activity, and supports public and private organizations? need for visibility into youth interests and skills as a way to prioritize funding; and (3) an implementation toolkit, featuring 30+ lesson plans as well as professional development videos for integrating the platform in a wide range of formal and informal academic and advisory settings. This project's broader impact is to help youth foster career readiness and, thus, increase their likelihood of staying in school, finding good employment, and gaining greater social mobility. This increased career readiness ensures a pool of qualified applicants for employers in industries across the U.S. This project combines empirically-tested career development methodologies, proven game-based learning principles, and open big data about careers to provide personalized, accurate career guidance. The app engages youth in building personal profiles using visualized psychological assessments (based on validated inventories). A proprietary system then recommends Hats (careers) to explore and Ladders (activities) to complete that provide real-world learning supported by a range of motivators (level design, self-reflections, achievement badges, social sharing, and mentor communication). Data generated during Ladder activity and self-reflections strengthens the user's profile and, thus, the accuracy of the recommendation engine. The project employs design-based methods as the overarching research approach. A final evaluation of the completed program will be conducted in both high school and after-school settings. Career readiness, persistence, and perceptions of ability and of the H&L program will be assessed using quantitative methodologies. The anticipated result is a highly effective career development program that engages 21st-century learners with foundational career-building experiences. Students will be able to identify career aspirations, based on interests and occupational data, and gain greater confidence in their ability to navigate and adapt to changing career pathways.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.