Upskilling, STEM and More: Recent Education News Trends

A look at the education news from PR Newswire in November and December that you might have missed.

By Rocky Parker | Published Jan. 2, 2024

Even though the busy back-to-school season has ended, education news has not stopped and our team at PR Newswire has been watching the headlines. During November and December, we distributed nearly 1,400 press releases related to the education industry.

In this post, we’ll review a few of the trends we spotted, which cover less “traditional” education topics like professional upskilling and trade/vocational education. Plus, we dive into the latest STEM headlines.

But first, let’s look at some of the period’s most-read education releases.

Most-Read Education Releases

In November and December, readers on prnewswire.com were drawn to these newsworthy education press releases:

• Education as a Benefit: USAA announced that it will begin providing 100% tuition-free education options for its employees and, for the first time ever, for USAA employees' eligible family members.
  
• Personnel Announcement: Online education platform 2U, Inc. appointed a new CEO and CFO.
• University Lawsuit: A lawsuit filed against New York University (NYU) alleges that “NYU has egregiously violated the civil rights of the three Jewish students, who have faced pervasive acts of antisemitic hatred, discrimination, harassment, and intimidation while attending NYU.”
• Acquisition News: Academic Partnerships announced its plans to acquire Wiley University Services. The acquisition will allow the combined company to expand access to high-quality online education for students.
• New STEM Program: MiraCosta College, a community college in California, announced a new specialized biomanufacturing bachelor's program designed to meet industry demands.

Education News Trends

Throughout November and December several trends kept popping up among education news on the wire. Let’s take a closer look.

Upskilling for Professionals

Education doesn’t end with graduation and brands across the U.S. and Canada drove that point home with their press releases over the past two months. As industry-specific technologies are rapidly advancing, companies are working to expand employees’ skill sets – a practice that benefits both the employee and employer.

Upskilling “focuses on improving current employees' skill sets so they can advance in their jobs and find different roles and opportunities within the company.” It also saves companies money by allowing them to develop the skills of existing employees rather than spending valuable budget dollars on hiring new workers.

Announcements regarding opportunities for and benefits of upskilling showed up on the wire in November and December. During the period, PR Newswire distributed more than 70 releases that mentioned “upskill.”

Here are just a few of the recent professional development releases:

• Deloitte partnered with MIT, NYU and ASU to create a sustainability, climate and equity learning program for its employees.
• BetterLesson announced that it would provide Teach for America corps members with high-quality coaching and research-based instructional resources.
• New research from CYPHER Learning revealed businesses don't have the resources to meet the demand for upskilling, and many are now looking to Generative AI to expand their L&D capabilities.
• Global eTraining integrated AI into its course building tool for the architecture, engineering, construction and manufacturing industries, “streamlining the path towards comprehensive company and project-specific training."
• Research from Express Employment Professionals looked at the benefits of employers implementing mentorship programs to prevent talent drain, a practice that most use as a means of upskilling/reskilling employees (81%).
• A November study from D2L looked at the end results of employee training programs and found that organizations in North America are struggling to measure the return on investment of these initiatives.
• A new AI alliance between Microsoft and labor union organization AFL-CIO will educate workers, incorporate labor's voice in tech development, and help shape policy that supports workers.

STEM

STEM-related releases are a regular occurrence on the wire, and November and December were no exception. As technology like AI develops rapidly, companies are encouraging students to develop their skills in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields.

The development of STEM skills is important to the economy as well. A recent survey found that nearly 70% of respondents said the quality of the country's STEM education system is fair or poor. Many also blamed the "lack of adequate K-12 STEM education" for stalling science and technology developments in the U.S.

Releases announcing STEM scholarships, contests, and more crossed the wire in recent months. Brands were also highlighting the importance of diversity and inclusion in STEM by recognizing and supporting underrepresented groups. Closing the gender gap in STEM should be a critical goal, according to a new Gallup report.

In total, nearly 500 STEM-related releases were distributed via PR Newswire in November and December, including these ones:

• EXPLR and the U.S. Department of Education announced the first-ever National STEM Festival will take place in April 2024. “This event is an exciting opportunity to celebrate our future scientists, creators, and innovators, and to help more students recognize they too belong in STEM," said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona.
• Code.org released the 2023 State of Computer Science report. “We've made remarkable progress in 2023, but without graduation requirements for computer science, students from diverse backgrounds are going to miss out on this fundamental knowledge," said Cameron Wilson, president of Code.org.
• In November, L'Oréal USA announced the recipients of its 2023 For Women in Science (FWIS) Fellowship program, which grants awards annually to five female postdoctoral scientists to support their research endeavors.
• Altair announced that more than 3,500 high school teams competing in the 2024 season of FIRST Robotics Competition would have free access to the company's leading technology.
• Imagine Learning debuted a Python course designed for 8^th graders that offers students “a hands-on, interdisciplinary approach, enriching their STEM learning journey.”
• A unique program from Connected Nation and A&T called Teens Teach Tech helps bridge the digital divide by having teenagers share their technology skills with adult learners. As of early December, more than 12,000 adult learners had gone through the program.
• IBM announced its partnership with several universities in the U.S., Japan and Korea to “advance the training of up to 40,000 students over the next 10 years to prepare them for the quantum workforce and promote the growth of a global quantum ecosystem.”

Training for Trade Careers

For those looking for a more hands-on career or a less traditional school journey, trade jobs offer many benefits.

Trade schools generally cost less than tuition at traditional four-year undergraduate schools. Paid apprenticeships are also attractive to many learners – who wouldn’t want to get paid to learn? Over the past decade, college enrollment has declined roughly 15%, while the number of apprentices has increased by more than 50%, the Wall Street Journal reported back in March. 

Another benefit of this route: After receiving a certificate from a trade or vocational school, the jobs are there. Since the beginning of 2023, there have been more than 770,000 skilled job postings from nearly 95,000 different employers across the country, according to data from PeopleReady Skilled Trades.

Throughout November and December, our team saw several companies offering scholarships to students looking to pursue a trade job or apprenticeship. During the two-month period, a dozen releases mentioned “trade school” and 49 mentioned “apprenticeship.”

Check out these releases:

• The Battery Workforce Challenge tasked 12 selected universities, along with their vocational partners, to design, build, test and integrate an advanced EV battery into a future Stellantis vehicle. The three-year competition will culminate in 2026.
• During National Apprenticeship Week, the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation celebrated the benefits of apprenticeship in the industry. "I was looking for another option besides college, so this was the perfect opportunity to learn, work and grow in this program,” said Daniela Fernandez, a participant in the NRAEF's apprenticeship program.
• SkillHero expanded its Career Explorer module, which includes detailed information on more than 30 trades and 245 trade specialties. It’s a ready-to-use, comprehensive tool for career path exploration.
• For GivingTuesday, Bosch Power Tools donated $20,000 worth of power tools, measuring tools and accessories to four high school and pre-college construction trade programs.
• The National Institute of Innovation and Technology announced new competency-based programs designed for the tech sector and advanced manufacturing-related industries.
• Trade Jobs, a recruiting platform built specifically for the HVAC, electrical and plumbing industries, launched in November to address the ongoing and increasing employment crisis in the trades.

Takeaways

Education news on the wire isn’t always about K-12 learning or the traditional college path. It’s a topic that spreads to the workplace as companies work to educate their employees to provide them with new skills adapted to changing technology. It covers trade and vocational programs for those looking for something other than the 4-year college experience.

Our team will continue watching education headlines into the new year and will keep an eye on the changing trends. How will AI continue to impact the education space? Will there be education-related news coming out of the presidential election? How will students, teachers and parents continue to recover from the pandemic and its negative effects on education?

Stay tuned for our next news trends recap!

About the Author

Rocky Parker is the Manager of Audience and Journalist Engagement at Cision PR Newswire. She's been with the company since 2010 and has worked with journalists and bloggers as well as PR and comms professionals. Outside of work, she can be found trying a new recipe, binging a new show, or cuddling with her pitbull, Hudson.