Reflections from Lightcast leaders
The ASU+GSV Summit is one of the premier events at the intersection of education, workforce, and technology—bringing together innovators, policymakers, educators, and business leaders to explore bold ideas shaping the future of learning and work. As an organization focused on unlocking opportunity through the power of labor market insight, Lightcast and our partners are proud to be part of this important conversation.
This year’s summit in San Diego offered a chance to hear directly from changemakers across the ecosystem, dive into the latest trends, and connect with partners who share our mission. Two of Lightcast's senior education leaders were on the ground, and we asked them to share their top takeaways and reflections from the event.
Key takeaway: Skills can be the language Higher Ed uses to hedge against uncertainty.
ASU-GSV brought over 10,000 people together who represent education stakeholders who are grappling with uncertainty from various sources:
Disruption from AI and automation (e.g. Lightcast research shows that in-demand skills changed more over the past three years than the prior five, with a quarter of jobs seeing 75% of skills change);
Declining relevance of degrees to employers (e.g. 26 states and territories now focused on skills-based hiring for public sector jobs, with some states dropping degree requirements for up to 90% of roles).
Potential change in Federal funding sources; and
Shifting demographics mean the US is producing fewer and fewer college-ready students to recruit (e.g. just 1-in-5 high school graduates met ACT readiness benchmarks in 2023, and more than half of high school grads opted out of 4-year colleges in 2023).
Over the past decade, higher ed has leveraged technology to “meet students where they are.” Those efforts have been critical to enable reskilling and upskilling for students who are overwhelmingly working while learning. Today, higher ed can meet employers where they are by focusing on SKILLS rather than degrees when communicating with the job market about their graduates.
This pivot doesn’t necessarily require programmatic change – a great start would be simply tagging up existing programs to a broadly understood skills taxonomy. This shift will help employers see what they are looking for in potential hires, but it will also have another benefit: it will help labor-market-focused funders of education understand and see a strong ROI for continued investment in education.
3 key takeaways:
1) AI grew up in the past year. It’s still only a toddler, but it is being tactically employed in practical, time-saving ways as opposed to the broad brush, blue-sky thinking of a year ago.
2) The skill-based movement is coming of age. Higher education and industry are now beyond merely conceptual use and acceptance of skills. Now we are in “meaning and measurement” mode. It seems like the question of how to measure and prove proficiency came up in every conversation about skills.
3) Everyone wants to show outcomes. Education is looking for ways to demonstrate relevance and impact, and that puts outcomes in the spotlight.
Interested in skills data or alumni insights for your institution?
Navigating the future
The conversations at ASU+GSV made it clear: the future of education and work will be shaped by how well we understand—and act on—skills, outcomes, and opportunity. At Lightcast, we’re helping institutions and organizations navigate that future with data-driven insights that connect people to meaningful careers. If you're exploring how to better measure outcomes, align programs to skills, or communicate impact to legislators, employers, and learners, we’d be glad to connect. Get in touch with us to learn more about how Lightcast can help, or explore some of our latest research below.
