YouScience is an career aptitude assessment utilizing brain games that provide input on skill sets, strengths, weaknesses, career paths and more.
“This event brings together decision-makers from across Ohio to share strategies, spotlight successful models and spark partnerships that ensure every student is prepared for the opportunities ahead,“ Barton said. ”We host this event to convene the right people in one place — to move from talk to action on workforce readiness and student success.”
The role of career guidance
Tuesday’s summit brought together panelists from YouScience, local educational service centers and colleges, the Greater Springfield Partnership and representatives from employers like Dole, Assurant, Woeber Mustard Manufacturing and Night Dispatch.
During the keynote presentation, Betsy Wills, YouScience co-founder and author of “Your Hidden Genius,” talked about the history of career guidance and assessments and how YouScience came to be.
“We wanted to give people a better understanding of self and connect that and link that to their career opportunities as early as possible,” she said.
“The importance of knowing yourself first, your abilities, who you really are, what your potential is, and hold on to that information your entire life and redeploy those attitudes over time to the economies that we can meet and that will pay us is critical.”
She spoke about several people throughout history who have tried and came up with different information about career guidance and assessments, such as Lysander Richards in 1882, Frank Parsons in 1908 and Johnson O’Conner in 1922, who identified 52 different aptitudes that can be measured.
Aptitudes cannot be self-reported but have to be discovered by doing objective performance-based tests, which is what YouScience brings, Wills said. They look at the top 14 aptitudes that give ”the best information to move you forward and propel you to the world of work.”
The mission is to use the different types of aptitudes because people can get discouraged if they “fail” in certain areas or careers, Wills said.
People can improve anything with work and practice, she said, adding that “the idea of understanding your aptitude is to get in the flow of the things that come naturally and easily to you, not things that feel like an uphill battle all the time.”
‘Motivation is sold separately’
People may get discouraged if they don’t score well in a certain aptitude, Wills said, but they don’t have to give up on their aspirations.
“It is not a dream killer if you do not have a certain aptitude pattern to do a certain job. We would never tell someone you can’t do something because motivation is sold separately,” Wills said.
The point of aptitude assessments is to see what else someone might be good at, she said.
“You can do anything with practice. But there’s so many things that fit your aptitude pattern that usually people are leaving on the table because they don’t know what they are,” Wills said.
‘Challenges can’t be solved in silos’
Attendees could engage with leaders, explore data-driven strategies and network with stakeholders during Tuesday’s summit. They could learn about performance metrics tools for increasing student engagement and graduation rates, innovation, building workforce partnerships and career exploration and planning.
“Education and workforce challenges can’t be solved in silos,” Barton said. “It’s about aligning vision, sharing practical solutions and making sure every student has access to meaningful pathways into in-demand careers.”
“When you’re starting with these students, you’re not giving them an answer to their career question, you’re giving them a beginning answer but you’re equipping them for life which is the real magic of understanding yourself better,” Wills said.
This was the first time the FutureFWD Summit — which was hosted by YouScience in collaboration with local and regional education and workforce partners — was held in Springfield and Clark County.
Ohio has been a leader in career-connected learning, Barton said, which helps students understand their strengths, build relevant skills and graduate ready to succeed. It includes everything from aptitude discovery and career awareness to work-based learning and industry-recognized certifications.
“This region has a strong track record of collaboration between schools, employers and community partners. It’s the perfect place to bring people together to keep building momentum,” Barton said. “Ohio is doing incredible work to align education and workforce needs, and FutureFWD is about celebrating that progress and pushing it forward.”
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