PLA and Competency Key to Getting People Back to Work

By Scott Campbell - EvoLLLution. 1. What differentiates an individual considered “long-term unemployed” from other unemployed individuals?
Scott Campbell (SC): From a demographic perspective, we know this group is about 55 percent more likely to be male than female. There’s a disproportionate number of single parents who are long-term unemployed. It brings about the complexity of issues going onto a college campus — the idea that programs need to be flexible to meet the unique needs of working adults and that often includes raising children, all of those types of things.
Donna Younger (DY): Qualitatively, there are things academic institutions have to expect from students who have been long-term unemployed. Part of it is attitudinal. There’s a shift sometimes from, “This is a temporary situation and I’m on top of it” to, “I’m concerned now that I’m a failure and I don’t know what I’m going to do.” More...