The Global Apprenticeship Program (GAP): Bridging the Gap Between Talent and Opportunities.

This innovative practice full paper presents a novel educational program that aims to improve work readiness of emerging talent around the world through remote, paid, global apprenticeships, and human skills training for both apprentices and managers. In the last decade, multiple technical and socioeconomic factors, along with the COVID-19 pandemic, have radically changed the job market, the way companies interact with their employees and customers, and how universities train their students. In response to these changes, we have identified three core aspects of the modern workforce that need attention from academic institutions and industry to promote a more diverse, inclusive, and stable working environment for entry-level and emerging talent, across the world: 1) remote work readiness, 2) real-life mentored learning (apprenticeships), and 3) manager and supervisor preparedness. Remote work, when properly implemented, has presented advantages and opportunities to students, workers, and companies: it improves performance and facilitates innovation through cross-pollination of ideas between diverse groups and gives opportunities to emerging talent globally. Internships and apprenticeships are mechanisms implemented to promote a smoother transition from academia to the workplace. Both internships and apprenticeships promote real-life work experience but differ in that the latter includes a predesigned learning experience guided by a mentor (a seasoned manager). Senior undergraduates are frequently ill-prepared to face the difficulties of work because of a disconnect between their academic training and the needs of a job. This is especially critical in engineering students, who focus mainly on technical skills, leaving behind human and professional skills necessary to thrive in the workplace. Internships and apprenticeships offer opportunities to bridge this gap, though several evaluation criteria must be defined and met to consider them successful. To enhance remote work readiness, as well as success in internship and apprenticeship programs, manager and supervisor preparedness is critical for properly guiding engineering students, apprentices, and entry-level employees in their first job experience. With these core concepts in mind and using the Agile Continuous Education (ACE) framework, The Intern Group (TIC) and MIT Open Learning (MIT OL) created the Global Apprenticeship Program (GAP), an initiative focused on bridging the gap between talent and opportunities around the world. The program aims to 1) increase apprenticeship performance and facilitate full-time employment for students and diverse emerging talent, at a global scale; and 2) support how companies successfully recruit, onboard, and retain emerging talent. Innovation in this approach lies in the particular focus placed on the apprentice-mentor (intern-manager) dyad, including tailored training for managers and supervisors. In this paper we present in detail the different programmatic components of the learning tracks. These consist of a variety of individual self-paced asynchronous learning activities, group learning synchronous workshops, community building and cultural exchange events, and a real-life mentored learning experience (apprenticeship). We conclude with implementation challenges, opportunities for improvement, and lessons learned regarding content, pedagogies, and technologies used throughout the program, and effect on participation and engagement.