Social Networks: Connecting Today’s Youth with Tomorrow’s Careers

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Before Facebook, MySpace, Linked-In, Twitter, and other Internet-mediated social networking sites became widespread circa 2003, social networking was known as the process that connected people to one another, usually in-person, to foster relationships and create opportunities. Internet-mediated social networking can help do this, especially for adults with social connections and kids with their peers, but is a poor substitute for authentic processes that can connect today’s youth with tomorrow’s careers, esspecially disadvantaged youth. This was the theme of a landmark study conducted by our team at Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network and A. T. Kearney in 2001 and 2002. -- Bob, 2009

1. New Ingredients for Student Success: Social Networks, [PowerPoint 2000 file, 1.0 MB]

2. “2002 Workforce Study: Connecting Today’s Youth with Tomorrow’s Technology Careers”, Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network

“Social networks that can bridge across geography, race and class are key to success in the new economy. ‘Hard’ skills are essential, but it’s the connections and mentoring that provide information about what skills are necessary and a vision of how acquiring them can lead to new opportunities for all our residents”.
-- Professor Manuel Pastor, Jr., University of California, Santa Cruz

3. Strategies for connecting youth:

4. Articles by Bob Pearlman