A Gates foundation study highlights that 47% of high students who drop out do so because they are bored or disengaged in school and don’t see the relevance of their learning. Another recent study called The Equality of Opportunity Project revealed that the educational “opportunity gap” actually had nothing to do with academic achievement — and everything to do with the lack of exposure in students.

So what are companies doing now to address these issues?

Sabari Raja, the cofounder and CEO of Nepris, aims to bridge this opportunity gap and bring equity of access by virtually connecting students to working professionals from over 5,000 different companies and counting.

Like most companies adapting to a post-COVID way of life, Nepris’ transition to this “new normal” required quick action. Though Nepris has always delivered industry connections virtually to classrooms, the team transformed their educational platform to support remote learning, train teachers for this new medium, and allow students to explore career-focused video content at their own pace, and oftentimes, from home.

One of the biggest shifts Raja has seen in the past six months? Parents have been tasked with carrying the educational burden for their children while at home, which places students with lower socio-economic standing at even higher risk for falling behind.

As was the case for most industries, the pandemic highlighted glaring gaps in the current educational system as well as in remote learning. While schools and other educational institutions work to figure things out on their end, forward thinking companies have recognized that the education gap is a community issue with profound impacts to the American workforce – parents.

As things continue to evolve in the United States, it’s clear that this is a shift in education and technology that is here to stay.  The next questions that companies must ask themselves is: How does this affect us as a company? What is our role in engaging with students? How can we adapt and make an impact?  Company leaders would do well to observe these changes and emerge as an innovative leader in helping prepare the future workforce.

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