Meet Sam, a new dad who taught high school math in Hawaii before the birth of his first son. Sam decided to move into the in-demand field of data science by enrolling in theIBM Data Science Professional Certificateon Coursera. In the program, he not only gained job-ready skills, but he also discovered ways to combine his passion for music with his data science practice. Read his full story, below!
My name is Sam, and I have always loved math and numbers. While working as a math teacher in Hawaii for 7 years, my wife and I had our son. When you have a child, your whole world changes. You want to provide for them and give them the best life possible. For years, I had been telling my high school math students, ‘Data science is a great job,’ but, finally, I decided to heed my own advice. I knew I was good at math, but I did not have any computer background, so I was always wary about getting into programming. Nobody had ever explained to me that programming is basically logic and number theory. Which I love! After some research and an initial Python course, the IBM Data Science Professional Certificate on Coursera was the first one I picked up, I dove right in, and it was great!
I chose the IBM Data Science Professional Certificate because it had depth and breadth, which was great, especially for my first experience with data science. I was eager to learn all the skills I could, and this course definitely provided a deep, detailed learning experience. I also chose IBM’s program because I did not want to go to just a random place; I wanted to go to a company or institution that had a meaningful name in the industry. My dad and grandpa had both worked at IBM their whole lives, and I also worked there for a summer, so I knew about IBM, and I trusted what they would produce and offer. And I was right – the program was really great!
When I took the IBM Data Science Professional Certificate, I realized that I could combine data science skills with any other passion. I’ve always been interested in music—I actually used to be a drummer in a reggae band—so, once I started playing around with Spotify APIs, taking the skills I learned in the course and doing my own projects with them in my own interest areas, that’s when my growth really exploded. I would encourage people that are struggling or stuck to try to find some area of their life where they think they can apply these skills, and immediately start trying to do that, and you will be so motivated to keep learning.
The IBM Data Science Professional Certificate gave me a lot of confidence. I never saw myself as a computer person, but the program has you do all these complicated things like working in the Cloud and connecting to APIs, and it was so cool to me, to see how easy Watson Studio actually was to use, and how much you could do on it. I ended up messing around with the Spotify API, and I was the first person on the Internet to pull out their podcast data and do visualizations. It’s not that crazy of a task, but you can’t really say too often that you’re the first person on the internet to do something. I even made a tutorial about it to show other data scientists how they can do the same thing, and it felt really good to be able to provide something back to the community of data scientists. You read all these tutorials from other data scientists, but you don’t really imagine yourself being able to provide back. It was a really cool experience to be able to do that with something I’d created myself!
The modern workplace requires new skills, and students and underemployed workers need access to flexible, affordable, and fast-tracked learning and career pathways to enter well-paying jobs in the new digital economy. In a recent Coursera survey, 53% of U.S. employers said finding applicants with the specific skills needed for the job was the biggest challenge they face when hiring recent graduates.
State higher education and workforce development systems will be crucial to addressing skilled talent shortages amid economic uncertainty, and new university and government-led initiatives in Louisiana offer an innovative model for states to provide learning pathways to in-demand jobs and remove barriers to career development.
Louisiana Tech and the University of Louisiana System: Creating college prep and professional development pathways for students, faculty, and staff
In 2021, Louisiana Tech University launched LA GEAR UP, an initiative administered by the Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance (LOSFA) via the Louisiana Board of Regents that aims to increase the number of low-income high school students and graduates who succeed in post-secondary education. In partnership with 37 schools and 15 school districts, LA GEAR UP is offering free entry-level professional certificates from Google on Coursera to prepare students for college and career paths related to in-demand fields including IT Support, Data Analytics, and UX Design.
Now, Louisiana Tech University and the University of Louisiana System (ULS) are expanding access to Coursera certificates to all ULS faculty and staff as an extension of the ULS Bridging the Divide Professional Development Series.
“Through our partnership with Coursera and Google, we are able to provide support and opportunity for learners at multiple levels,” said Louisiana Tech Provost, Dr. Terry McConathy. “We are able to leverage the resource to recruit future students, provide added value for current students, and supplement professional development for our colleagues across the UL System interested in critical needs areas such as UX Design and Data Analytics.”
“Technology provides access to an overwhelming number of opportunities for personal and professional growth,” said ULS President, Jim Henderson. “We value lifelong learning and this partnership with Coursera opens the door to high quality professional development opportunities for the faculty and staff across our nine member institutions.”
The Louisiana Workforce Commission: Removing barriers to economic opportunity with broadband access and career training for underemployed workers
The Louisiana Workforce Commission (LWC), a state government agency that administers programs designed to enhance workforce growth and provide family-sustaining jobs for Louisiana residents, is offering lifelong learning opportunities to Louisianians across the state. LWC is partnering with Coursera to launch “Tech Ready Louisiana,” a new statewide workforce development initiative providing free career training to thousands of Louisianans.
“Tech Ready Louisiana will take people from courses to careers,” said LWC Secretary Ava Cates, “Everything from learning Microsoft Office, to skills in the IT or healthcare industries. This is about giving Louisianians the opportunity to learn new, marketable skills to advance in their current job or get the career they’ve always wanted.”
The program includes Career Academy from Coursera, which prepares workers – even those without a college degree or prior work experience – for over 30 in-demand digital careers in roughly six to eight months when studying part-time. Louisianans can explore careers, develop key skills and competencies, build a portfolio of hands-on projects using actual workplace tools, and earn industry-recognized credentials from Google, IBM, Meta, Salesforce, Hubspot, and Intuit to help them land good jobs. Many of these credentials have ACE Credit Recommendation, which makes it easier for learners to earn credit towards a local degree program for the eligible certificates they complete.
In addition, LWC is opening up its American Job Centers (AJC) for people to access the online training if reliable internet access at home is an issue. According to a recent study, more than half of all Louisianians either don’t have access to or can’t afford high-speed internet, a challenge many Americans face keeping many out of the running for a growing number of remote work opportunities.
“We know Louisiana struggles when it comes to making broadband available and affordable for our people,” said Cates, “We have almost 60 American Job Centers and affiliate sites across the state available for people to come in and use reliable internet to complete these courses.”
Given the pace of digital transformation, many traditional university degree and workforce development programs often lack a strong connection to today’s in-demand jobs, the fast-changing skills landscape, and evolving employer expectations. By building stronger relationships between their college and career development programs and top companies, higher education and government systems can unlock new career opportunities for students and workers, diversify and expand talent pipelines for employers, and build a competitive state workforce to support the local economy.
“If there was a leading edge in education, then this was it.”
Dr. Dennis Nasco
We recently spent time talking with Dr. Dennis Nasco, a passionate educator with over twenty years of experience teaching at the university level. When the pandemic changed the face of education, Dr. Nasco was one of the first to consider Coursera as an option for students to continue their studies. Since then, he’s taught thousands of learners on the platform with the University of North Texas (UNT) in both the Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences and the Bachelor of Science in General Business. We’re thankful that he’s here to share his insights with our community about his teaching experience and his predictions for the future of education. Let’s meet Dr. Nasco!
Dennis, thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us. Let’s start at the beginning–how did you get into teaching?
I always wanted to teach. I got my MBA and had gone out into industry, and it was always my goal to go back. I had an opportunity to do that in the early 2000’s, and was able to get a PhD from Southern Illinois University while teaching. Since I already had a Master of Science in Human Resources Management (MSHRM) and worked a lot in HR, that was the subject area that I was hired to teach in.
I started teaching professional courses, career courses, human resources and organizational behavior courses. I did that at Southern Illinois University for about 17 years, but after a while, I wanted to do something a little different. We had an undergraduate degree completion program and an MBA program at SIU, so I taught in both of those, and was an adjunct for the University of Illinois’ iMBA program.
I finally joined UNT during the height of COVID in 2020 and I was eager for more flexibility and to teach online. As an R1 research university, UNT has a great reputation and allows me more professional opportunity and growth.
How do you think the pandemic affected education worldwide?
When COVID happened, it solidified in my mind that the future of education was changing, and the expectations of what students want in their education was shifting. How universities are going to deliver education is probably never going to be the same moving forward. And I thought that working with Coursera was an opportunity to be at the forefront of this change.
Could you tell us a bit about your students? What are some of their reasons for getting degrees?
The demographic of my students are people in their 30s and 40s mostly, with families, working full-time, who have a very specific purpose for why they want to go back and get an education. They’re looking to move up in their current organizations or to make career moves, and they need this degree to facilitate that for them.
In traditional education, people are 18 to 25 years old and in the process of finding their purpose. Most of my students don’t fall into that category. They’re very specifically looking for a degree to advance themselves and their family, and they need a flexible, high-quality, affordable solution for that. And this is exactly what we’re able to do in the Coursera platform. That puts us in a very unique place. It is truly innovative, the things that we’re doing here, and the steps that we’re taking with Coursera.
Do the courses that you teach have real-world applicability?
Yes, absolutely. One of the things that we hear consistently from students is they’re actually taking stuff from the courses and applying it to their careers. They see the value immediately in what they’re learning.
What will it take for someone to succeed in today’s business world?
Businesses today are saying that they need highly adaptable employees. What that means is the business world is in flux – things change much more rapidly than they did in the past. People have to be able to deal with that ambiguity. This is where Coursera fits in perfectly. You can’t just earn a degree and you’re done. You’re probably going to need to go back and earn additional certifications or degrees to remain relevant and to advance in the work world.
How do you envision UNT providing value to online students in the future?
With the Coursera platform, we’re going to see a lot more non-traditional students, a lot of people who are working full-time, have families, and don’t have access to education in the traditional sense. What I see is an opportunity for institutions like ours to move in, create structure, and bring a large-scale, high-reputation institution into the online world. Partnering with a platform like Coursera gives those students access to us, so it’s a great partnership from that perspective. I think that’s key to the future of education.
Where do you envision your program will be in five to six years?
I truly see us having rapid growth. The number of students that we’ll be able to impact in this program is going to be dramatic. We’ve created a program with Coursera where people who didn’t have access to education before now have that access. To me, that’s really exciting.
Spoken like a true educator!
Thank you, Dennis, for sharing your insights. We look forward to partnering with you in the future!
This biologist is learning to lead so he can pave the way for science.
Jadson C. Santos, became a biologist because he wanted to address real-world problems with scientific solutions on a global scale. As an undergraduate, Jadson studied at the University of São Paulo to earn his degree in biology. There, he soon realized it takes more than science to change the world. It takes leadership.
To complement his bachelor’s degree and pursue his ambitious professional goals, Jadson began learning about culture, diversity, and inclusion on Coursera. As of today, he has taken 41 courses to expand his scientific knowledge and grow his leadership skills.
Jadson now serves as co-chair of the Career Development Subcommittee at the Genetic Society of America. With all his newfound knowledge, Jadson has created a free mentoring program to help low-income students build career skills. He also writes a newsletter about scientific leadership that has over 7,400 subscribers.
Jadson continues to be an active learner on Coursera, saying, “None of this would have been possible without Coursera and all the knowledge I’ve gained there.”
Jadson is a great example of how you can always add new skills to your existing knowledge and continue to reach even your most ambitious professional goals. If you are looking to learn career-transforming, life-altering, world-changing skills, you too can do it on Coursera.
“No matter where you want to get to in your life and career, learning will always be part of the journey.” – Jadson C. Santos
By Betty Vandenbosch, Chief Content Officer, Coursera
In a recent Coursera survey of university students from around the world, 86% of respondents said earning an industry microcredential would help them stand out to employers and secure jobs when they graduate – a testament to the importance of integrating industry-led learning into a degree curriculum. Historically, however, collaboration between industry and academia has been slow and piecemeal.
We’re partnering with Google to announce a curated offering on Coursera to prepare learners for entry-level roles in specialized and growing industries, such as construction and sustainability project management, finance and public sector data analysis, and health IT. Learners on Coursera can now choose from five university-taught Specializations in high-growth industries, each designed to align with an existing Google Professional Certificate.
By participating in university and industry learning programs, learners are exposed to both the practical and theoretical knowledge needed for one of these in-demand, specialized roles. The complementary offerings serve students and early-career learners, as well as those who may be further along in their careers and looking to switch to a new track. The curated pairings are as follows:
Data Analytics in Financefrom the University of Illinois and Google – Learn foundational skills for a variety of entry-level financial analyst and accountant roles.
Data Analytics in the Public Sectorfrom the University of Michigan and Google – Explore data analytics in the public sector, developing skills that can be used in entry-level jobs such as policy analyst and data analyst.
Healthcare ITfromJohns Hopkins University and Google – Examine the crossroads of healthcare and big data, preparing for an entry-level role such as health IT specialist or healthcare customer support.
Project Management in Constructionfrom Columbia University and Google – Help build tomorrow’s infrastructure by gaining skills and tools for entry-level construction management analyst and construction estimator jobs.
Project Management in Sustainabilityfrom Arizona State University and Google – Prepare to enter the growing “green collar” industry with the foundational knowledge needed for entry-level roles such as sustainability analyst and sustainability coordinator.
“Google is thrilled to offer Google Career Certificate graduates additional pathways to great jobs through our collaboration with Coursera and some of the world’s leading universities,” said Lisa Gevelber, Founder, Grow with Google. “These new courses provide a unique opportunity for people to learn from experts at Google and renowned university faculty to learn the skills needed for growing industries.”
Upon completion of any of the Google certificates, learners will be able to apply for relevant jobs at 150 companies in the Google Career Certificates Employer Consortium, including Rocket Companies, Verizon, Deloitte, and of course, Google. The Google certificates also have ACE Credit Recommendation, so learners may be eligible to receive up to 12 credits at a participating college or university in the US, or the equivalent of four college courses at the associate’s degree level.*
We’re proud to partner with Google and leading universities to help learners quickly develop the skills needed to launch well-paying careers.
Launch your career today with Professional Certificates from Google and Specializations from top universities onCoursera.
* Each college and university has its own policies around credit for prior learning, including whether or not to accept certificates for credit toward a degree. The ACE Credit Recommendations mentioned here do not currently apply to any of the university Specializations listed above, nor do universities listed here necessarily accept ACE Credit Recommendations.
By Kevin Mills, Vice President, Coursera for Government
A new IDC white paper, sponsored by Coursera, explores the benefits and organizational value of workforce development programs provided through Coursera for Government.
Despite initial gains following the onset of the pandemic, the global economic situation is uncertain. The International Labor Organization projects global unemployment has surpassed its 2019 level by nearly 21 million. Workers in low-wage jobs have felt this impact the hardest with global management firm, McKinsey and Company estimating that low-wage workers may comprise 43% to 64% of global workers displaced due to the trends influenced by COVID-19.
Meanwhile, employers are facing an unprecedented shortage of talent trained in digital skills. IDC reports that digital transformation-related IT skill shortages will affect 90% of all organizations by 2025, “costing over $6.5 trillion globally through 2025 due to delayed product releases, reduced customer satisfaction, and loss of business.”
To face these challenges, workforce development leaders are tasked with providing relevant and engaging skills development programs that prepare job-seekers for the in-demand jobs of today and for the jobs of the future.
Organizations partner with Coursera for Government to launch large-scale online programs that enable thousands of job-seekers to learn career-relevant skills. Based on interviews with seven Coursera for Government customers, who represent a broad and significant portion of the types of governments currently using Coursera’s services, IDC calculates that these benefits resulted in an average of a 27% increase in job placement among these customers.
While the experiences of each customer and their learners in adopting learning tools and programs may differ based on a number of factors, this report captures the real experiences of a select number of C4G customers at this important and dynamic time, as self-reported to IDC.
Additional benefits include:
Lowered training costs: The Coursera for Government customers interviewed reported a 50% reduction in the number of learning platforms used to meet their workforce development needs.
Job-seekers trained in less time: One organization reported that candidates were ready for the job market in half the time compared with other learning programs, while another reported that learners were able to shorten the time to complete courses from 24 weeks to 6 weeks.
Learner-reported career benefits: According to another organization, 80% of learners reported career benefits from Coursera such as increased confidence to switch to a different field, increased opportunities for promotions, and an increase in interviews secured.
High learner satisfaction: On average learners enrolled in the programs of the Coursera for Government customers interviewed provided courses with a rating of 4.8 out of 5 with one organization reporting that 90% of learners plan to continue using Coursera to build their career pathways.
The COVID-19 pandemic likely impacted the effects of learning and learning outcomes. For example, displaced workers may have had more time to complete online training programs and a greater number of jobs relying on digital skills taught by such programs may have been available.
However, the experience of these Coursera for Government customers demonstrates the value of quality online skill development programs, particularly at a time when these services are greatly in demand by governments and citizens.
As one Coursera customer interviewed by IDC shares, “Coursera is a valuable gateway back into learning.”
In 2017, I came to Coursera for the same reason that has attracted over 100 million learners, 275 university and industry partners, and 7,000 institutions to our platform to date: a fundamental belief in the power of education. We’ve made substantial progress by embedding this belief within our mission and our commitment as a Certified B Corporation to transform lives through learning.
As the world continues to change, a new era of learning and work is emerging. And we’ve continued to expand the products and services we offer and the regions in which we operate to help more and more learners advance their education, careers, and ultimately, thrive in this new digital economy. To meet the demands of this evolving landscape, I’m excited to announce a few changes to our organizational structure that will simplify how we operate to serve customers and grow the business.
Effective Oct. 1, 2022, Shravan Goli, formerly Coursera’s Chief Product Officer and Head of Consumer Revenue since 2018, has assumed the role of Chief Operating Officer. Combining product management, engineering, design, data, services, and business operations under one team, Shravan will be responsible for delighting customers with an end-to-end learner, customer, and partner experience and doing so with operational excellence and leverage.
Additionally, Leah Belsky, formerly Coursera’s Chief Enterprise Officer and a Courserian since 2015, has assumed the role of Chief Revenue Officer. With formal organizational responsibility for overall revenue, Leah will be responsible for managing our three segments – Consumer, Enterprise, and Degrees – enabling Coursera to more effectively identify and pursue opportunities for global revenue growth across segments and regions.
As we continue to grow and expand the size and scope of our business, this structure will help simplify and clarify the responsibilities for creating products and services that meet the needs of our customers and managing revenue growth. Shravan and Leah have been driving forces of Coursera’s growth for several years, and we’re excited for them to step into these critical leadership roles.
By Kevin Mills, Vice President, Coursera for Government
Today’s employers are tasked with filling vast amounts of roles within their companies. However, Europe’s Digital Economy and Society Index reports that nearly 60% of employers say they are struggling to find the right people to fill available jobs. Meanwhile, 75% of workers surveyed by Salesforce in 2022 admitted they did not think they had the right skills for a digital-first world.
Furthermore, many workers now find themselves in roles that are increasingly vulnerable to shifts in the labor market, a situation that threatens to increase inequality and poverty globally.
We’ve seen first-hand at Coursera how workforce development leaders worldwide are developing reskilling programs that deliver digital skills training, prepare workers for in-demand roles, and provide opportunities to underprivileged or marginalized groups.
For instance, in 2021, Barbados partnered with Coursera to launch the National Transformation Initiative (NTI), which helped to upskill thousands of citizens through online training—and provided 20,000 scholarships for Barbadian women, many of whom did not have a degree.
In this new e-book, we explore how digital skills training can be an effective way for workforce development leaders to make their communities more attractive to employers and to change the lives of their community members for the better.
Digital skills have never been more in demand. Microsoft estimates up to 149 million new technology-related jobs could appear by 2025 in fields such as advanced IT, computer programming, and scientific research and development. By learning digital skills now, workers can access jobs in different fields with better pay and prospects, participate in the global digital economy, and potentially reduce the risk of their jobs becoming automated by as much as 59%.
In this e-book, workforce development leaders will discover:
How digital skills training can address inequality and unlock the full potential of job seekers’ existing skillsets
How to prepare job seekers for entry-level, in-demand digital roles that pay more and offer more opportunities for advancement and personal growth
How to build impactful reskilling strategies that are driven by data on regional and global learning trends
Looked at together, the stories and experiences in this e-book can serve as a helpful resource for workforce development leaders as they continue to provide their constituents with the skills needed for the labor markets of today and tomorrow.
