Initiatives / Career Pathways / New Skills Boston
New Skills Boston
New Skills Boston is a cross-sector partnership making quality career pathways accessible to more Black and Latinx students, multilingual learners, and students with disabilities in Boston. Our work improves systems and eliminates structural barriers in support of creating engaging, relevant, and equitable career pathways that prepare young people for their futures.
Students with disabilities, multilingual learners, and Black and Latinx students face systemic inequities throughout their education and into the labor market. Data shows that these student groups are graduating high school at rates lower than the Boston Public Schools (BPS) average and that the pandemic has exacerbated racial disparities in postsecondary enrollment and completion, with just 50% of BPS graduates enrolling in postsecondary in 2022, a ten-year low. Even for these populations of young people who complete postsecondary education, there are still significant disparities in employment and earning outcomes.
High-quality career pathways built on best practices feature:
- Rigorous academics, including a progressive sequence of at least three career-connected courses.
- College and career planning and advising.
- Exposure to work-based learning experiences.
- Opportunities for students to earn related postsecondary credit in a degree-granting program and industry-recognized credentials.
Through New Skills Boston, we:
- Improve systems and remove barriers through equity-focused, cross-sector efforts that celebrate students’ cultural wealth and assets.
- Develop high-quality pathways that make learning engaging, meaningful, and relevant, leading to high-paying careers.
- Align advising approaches to inform decision-making, provide a clear roadmap, and support students to seamlessly transition to and complete postsecondary education.
- Lead cross-sector partners to solve chronic issues and build cohesive systems that sustain and scale quality student pathways.
- Connect education and industry to boost student participation in high-quality work-based learning, helping them explore careers and gain vital skills.
Our Impact
- All 23,000 BPS students in 6th-12th grade have access to college and career planning resources and support.
- ~3,200 BPS students are enrolled in pathways programs in the 2023-2024 school year, up by 44% compared to the 2019-2020 school year.
- 91% of seniors enrolled in pathways graduated from high school in the 2022-2023 school year, exceeding the district average, up by 17% compared to non-pathways students.
- 44% of all class of 2023 BPS graduates participated in an internship during their high school careers, up by 20% from the class of 2020.
- 400 student support professionals reached through two citywide Seamless Advising summits in 2023 and 2024.
Our Partners
- Boston Public Schools
- Bunker Hill Community College
- University of Massachusetts Boston
- Massachusetts Executive Office of Education
- The Boston Foundation
- City of Boston’s Office of Workforce Development
- Boston Private Industry Council (PIC)
Click here for the full New Skills Boston overview.
