The Certification Challenge
Calgary’s labour market is facing three big challenges that is limiting it from reaching its full potential.
Challenge 1: The Trust Gap
Skill certification involves a thorough process to confirm that an individual has a defined combination of aptitude, ability, knowledge, and skills. Certification is often deeply connected with a skill development process in a model defined as integrated certification.
Integrated certification became the primary model because all skills certification is rooted in the rigour, trust, and legitimacy of the process and the body certifying the skill. For this reason, government or professional bodies often certify skills, such as provincially accredited education (e.g., diplomas, degrees), forms of professional certifications (e.g., medical licensing, professional engineering), and proprietary credentials (e.g., Cisco certifications).
However, countless ways to develop skills exist, including formal education, forms of self-directed learning, and on-the-job experience. A recent study of Calgary’s educational ecosystem found that only 19% of skill development programs in Calgary incorporate a path to skill certification.
Challenge 2: Risk Management
The hiring process has some of the highest risk decisions an employer makes. Employers look to lessen their risk by using a candidate’s background as a predictor of future performance. For example, in job postings an employer may ask for specific education or work experience experience. Then during the recruitment process, employers may also request professional references or additional evidence (e.g. testing) that a candidate can has the skills to complete a job.
We found that employers in Calgary use a combination of three of these informal methods of skill verification during the hiring process. The challenge is evidence shows that there is little relationship between many of these informal skill verification methods and future job performance.
For this reason, consistent, rigorous and trusted methods of skill certification is essential for both employers and candidates.
Challenge 3: Systemic Bias
Not only is there little relationship between informal methods of skill confirmation and future performance, but there is decades of research demonstrating that these informal methods are filled with systemic bias and prejudice:
In Calgary, 20% of executive positions are held by women, which is the lowest among major cities in Canada.
Women in Canada represent 5% of CEOs.
Women represent 21% of board positions in Alberta.
Though 40% of Calgary’s labour force is from racialized communities, they represent 9% of board positions.
Indigenous and LGBTQ2+ communities are not represented on boards.
Equally qualified visible minority candidates must submit 50% more resumes than non-minority candidates to be invited for an interview.
61% of Calgarians believe we are not accepting of people from diverse backgrounds.
The systemic bias embedded in informal skill verification has a real impact on employers, candidates and our city. Firstly, employers limit their access to the best talent by believing informal methods are effective in predicting future performance. Secondly, many of the best candidates are systematically excluded from jobs not because they don’t possess the skills, rather because their professional path was different.
The goal of Trusted Skills professional certification is to unlock the potential of every Calgarian by removing much of the bias, guesswork, and risk embedded in informal methods of skill verification .
