Our Research & Reports
Advancing the Field
Though many companies are committed to improving HR and talent outcomes, understanding the complex body of research on what works remains elusive. Through partnerships with premier academic institutions and consultants, including Harvard Business School, Accenture and Bain & Company, we produce groundbreaking thought leadership to help employers take action on skills-first and DEI practices.
Skills-First Change Management
Strong change management is a vital tool that increases an employer’s likelihood of successfully enacting skills-first transformations. Check out the resources we’ve developed for employers to support your skills-first change management:
Resources will be added as they are released over the first half of 2025.
Ten Years of Pioneering Progress in the Skills-First Movement
Grads of Life’s 10-year anniversary report, Ten Years of Pioneering Progress in the Skills-First Movement, is an exciting account of Grads of Life’s progress toward our vision of an America where every person has access to economic opportunity and mobility. It details how we’ve tackled the challenge of changing employers’ perceptions of who counts as talent – and then changing employer talent practices at scale. Check it out to learn more and get a sneak peek at our plans for the future.
Growing the Skills-First Employment Movement Through Measurement
Skills-first employment practices have gained significant momentum among private sector employers, but there are still no standard guidelines for measuring their success. In partnership with influential companies across the country, Grads of Life developed the Impact Measurement Framework to offer specific metrics companies can begin tracking to evaluate the impact of their skills-first practices. In this report, Grads of Life experts dive deeper into the methodology and structure of the framework to help drive wider adoption and rigorous measurement of effective skills-first employment.
Recredentialing: What, Why and How?
Skills-first talent practices are gaining prominence and adoption, but many employers continue to grapple with the challenge of translating theory to practice. This report is designed to help businesses navigate recredentialing, which is a critical step in the skills-first talent journey — and a priority for organizations seeking to combat degree inflation and increase their access to new internal and external pools of talent.
Equity & Career Advancement: Insights from Underrepresented Employees
Between the ongoing impacts of the pandemic and the Great Resignation, employers across all industries are facing a challenging labor market and working hard to retain their talent. In this report, Grads of Life surveyed nearly 2,000 diverse workers from workforce development program Year Up United to understand their needs, priorities, challenges around career advancement and how employers can take action to support them to build greater equity across their organizations.
Building an Equitable Remote Work Strategy: Lessons from 2020
Between COVID-19 and a national reckoning around racial justice, the last year has sparked dramatic changes in the labor market, especially for the most vulnerable workers. In this report, Grads of Life, in partnership with Year Up United, surveyed over 500 young, diverse workers to determine how those employees most affected by the events of the last year really felt about their employers’ responses, and how employers can best support diverse talent to remain resilient and competitive going forward.
Ten Proven Actions to Advance Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Americans are increasingly demanding that businesses prioritize diversity, equity and inclusion as the deep inequities in our society have emerged as a focal point of national dialogue. Yet navigating the evidence to identify proven, effective practices that really move the needle on DEI can be a challenge. In this research paper, Grads of Life partnered with Bain & Company to address this challenge by developing a shortlist of the strongest evidence-based practices that drive positive DEI outcomes.
Dismissed by Degrees
“Degree inflation” is undermining U.S. competitiveness and hurting America’s middle-class. Dismissed by Degrees, a report published by Grads of Life, Harvard Business School and Accenture, looks closely at the impact. The rising demand for a four-year college degree for middle-skill jobs not only harms U.S. businesses, it closes off critical career pathways and excludes millions of Americans from securing gainful employment.
Workforce Wins
Despite high unemployment rates, employers across the U.S. are struggling to recruit the diverse talent they need. Grads of Life and Accenture provide insights and solutions in Workforce Wins, a companion whitepaper to Dismissed by Degrees.
Discover the business benefits of investing in diverse, inclusive pipelines of non-degree-holding talent, including increased retention, more efficient recruiting and improved diversity.
