New partnership strengthens career readiness at DSU
DOVER, Del. – “Our founder saw students who she prepared to go to school do all the right things, follow all the rules, and do everything their teachers, moms, and mentors told them to do. Yet, they still couldn’t get connected with a strong first job,” Braven’s Delaware Managing Director Kia Williams said.
That’s what the national nonprofit, Braven, was built upon. Their goal is to integrate career readiness into higher-education learning for underserved students.
A new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) makes Delaware State University the newest institution part of their network. “Our graduates do very well once they leave, but this partnership is going to better position our graduates to enter into those spaces and have higher economic mobility,” DSU Associate Provost Dr. Clytrice Watson said.
The Braven experience will become part of the HBCU’s general education curriculum for sophomore students. Within a semester, the three-credit accelerator course will pair fellows into cohorts under a leadership coach. Programming is geared towards five areas of professional development: operating and managing, problem solving, team building, networking and communicating, and leadership. “How do you get your resume right? How do you connect your passions to something that is profitable? How do you tell your story in an assets-based way,” Williams said.
“It’s intersecting with different units across campus. Career services will also have a role to play as we’re helping students develop their career plans and prepare to apply for jobs as they graduate,” Dr. Watson said.
Braven also looks to close the wage gaps students from low-income backgrounds and other marginalized communities face when seeking job opportunities. Williams says their research shows first-generation students actually make $0.66 on the dollar compared to their counterparts. “If we can help close that gap in the beginning where you’re getting an equitable salary, we want them to understand what a strong job is versus taking whatever job you then you can get or not getting a job at all,” Williams said.
Dr. Clytrice Watson says the program will not only remove systemic barriers but also give students options. “We expect to see entrepreneurship develop out of this. We are just expecting great things from our fellows,” Dr. Watson said.
Braven said nationally 56% of students get a strong job within six months of graduation, adding students who go through their program actually beat that average sitting at 61%.
The program will launch in January 2024 at DSU and will serve upwards of 2,000 students over the five-year partnership. 100 students are expected to take the course in the spring semester.
DSU also told us Braven’s curriculum aligns with their strategic plan (REACH 2026) to support academic success.
DSU is also the second HBCU a part of Braven’s network. The Braven experience is currently offered at eight colleges and universities across the U.S.
