Supporting learners’ STEM-oriented career pathways with digital badges
| Date | 14 January 2019 |
| Published date | 14 January 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/ILS-06-2018-0050 |
| Pages | 87-107 |
| Author | Caroline R. Pitt,Adam Bell,Rose Strickman,Katie Davis |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Librarianship/library management,Library & information services |
Supporting learners’
STEM-oriented career pathways
with digital badges
Caroline R. Pitt
University of Washington Information School, Seattle, Washington, USA
Adam Bell
College of Education, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA, and
Rose Strickman and Katie Davis
University of Washington Information School, Seattle, Washington, USA
Abstract
Purpose –This paper aims to investigatethe potential for digital badges to support alternatelearning and
career pathways in formal and informallearning environments. Stakeholder groups in higher educationand
industry discussed how digital badges might transform current processes of admitting undergraduate
studentsand hiring young professionals.
Design/methodology/approach –This researchuses a thematic analysis of in-depth interviewswith 30
stakeholdersin higher education and the technologyindustry.
Findings –Interview participants expressed optimism about the potential for digital badges to make
learning pathwaysvisible to learners and external audiences and to promote equityin STEM (STEM: science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics) education and careers. Participants noted several obstacles,
largely focusedon issues of credibility and logisticsof working with badges across settings.
Research limitations/implications –Though the researchapproach is limited in geographic scope, the
findings havebroad applicability and insight for the use of digital badges in general.
Practical implications –Educationpolicymakers, employers and scholars will be ableto use the insights
from this investigationin their efforts to find innovative ways to expand and diversify the STEM workforce,
as well as support a widerrange of learners than is currently supported by initiativesaligned with the school-
to-workforcepipeline metaphor.
Originality/value –This paper directly confronts issues of real-world applications of digital badges by
discussing practical implications with college admissions officers and employers. The current study fills a
need for researchthat investigates the use of digital badges across –as opposed to within–contexts.
Keywords Lifelong learning, STEM education, Informal learning, Digital badges,
Media in education, Human-computer interface, Learning pathways
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Despite rising demand, the USA continues to face a shortage of workers skilled in science,
technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields (Deming, 2017). At the same time,
too many youth experiencea disconnect between what they study in school, what genuinely
The authors thank the National Science Foundation for its support of this research under grant DRL-
1452672. They would also like to thank Ada Kim for her work on this project, as well as the science
center staffand students who participated in the research and all interviewees.
STEM-
oriented career
pathways
87
Received16 June 2018
Revised3 October 2018
Accepted4 October 2018
Informationand Learning Sciences
Vol.120 No. 1/2, 2019
pp. 87-107
© Emerald Publishing Limited
2398-5348
DOI 10.1108/ILS-06-2018-0050
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/2398-5348.htm
interests them and the careeropportunities that are open to them upon graduation (Ito et al.,
2013). Moreover, a substantialportion of these youth never even get a chance to seek career
opportunitiesbecause they do not make it to graduation.
Policy initiatives have largely approached this problem from the perspective of the
school-to-workforce “pipeline”(Cannady et al., 2014). These initiatives focus attention on
preventing “leaks”at certainpoints along the pipeline. By focusing on a singular path to the
STEM workforce, such efforts failto account for the multiple trajectories that learners may
pursue toward a STEM-oriented career (Cannady et al., 2014). As a result, they miss key
opportunitiesto expand and diversify the STEM workforceand increase educational equity.
In the current study, we investigatedthe perspectives of stakeholders in higher education
and the technology industry regarding the potential for digital badges to support multiple
trajectories to a STEM career. We ask: How do college admissions officers and human
resource managers perceive the value of digital badges in education? What implications do
these perspectives hold with respect to the potential for digital badges to support learners’
STEM-orientedcareer pathways?
Digital badges –or credentials–are Web-enabled representations of a person’s skills and
accomplishments (Gibson et al.,2015;Grant, 2016). Their metadata can be used to indicate
important information, such as when the badge was earned, what the earner had to do to
gain the badge and the institution that issued and/or endorsed the badge. Because digital
badges are Web-based, they can be shared across boundaries and contexts to highlight the
expertise of the individual who has earned them (Hickey et al., 2015,2018). These boundary
objects can help learners communicate their expertise across settings and provide
documentation of their experiences (Bowker and Star, 1999;Star and Griesemer, 1989).
Previous research has suggested that badges have strong potential inthis role, but there is
still progress to be made towards theirwidespread acceptance (Bell and Davis, 2016;Davis
and Fullerton, 2016;Kleinand Davis, 2016).
We conducted interviews with 30 stakeholders in higher education and the technology
industry, including 19 collegeadmissions officers and 11 human resources managers whose
portfolios focused on technology-centered positions. We presented interview participants
with a prototype of a digital badge system for use in an afterschool high school science
program and asked them to reflect on its potential usefulness in their specific professional
context.
Our analysis of the interviews revealed an overarching optimism among stakeholders
with respect to digital badges’ability to make learning pathways visible to learners and
external audiences and to potentially promote equity in STEM education and careers.
Stakeholders also identified specific hurdles that would prevent the viability of digital
badges. These hurdles, which align with previous research investigating digital badges
(Davis and Klein, 2015;Davis and Singh, 2015), included challenges establishing the
credibility and value of individual badges and the logistics associated with introducing a
new practice of credentialing.
Although prior work has investigated opportunities and challenges associated with
using digital badges in learningand employment contexts, still missing is an understanding
of the specific situations and contexts in which digital badges could be used to address
failures in existing policy initiatives aimed at promoting STEM career pathways. College
admissions officers and human resources managers are well positioned to provide this
insight due to their role as traditionalgatekeepers to learning and career opportunities. The
findings from the current studywill be useful to policymakers, employers and scholars who
are interested in exploring innovative ways to expand and diversify the STEM workforce
while, at the same time, supportinga wider range of learners.
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