AGC To Fund YouScience For Schools After Successful Hoover Pilot

BIRMINGHAM, AL - The Alabama Associated General Contractors and its member employers today announced a new effort to provide enhanced career guidance tools in several Alabama school districts, after a successful pilot program concluded at Hoover High School in 2017.

The AGC and its partners will provide the funding to support YouScience, an aptitude assessment tool, for 20 school districts. The AGC believes the tool can help expand students’ vision of career opportunities in the region and strengthen the local school-to-workforce pipeline.

Alex Whaley, president of the Alabama AGC, said, “Alabama employers face a skills shortage, and, at the

same time, our students fear uncertainty in the job market. YouScience allows these students to more
effectively set a direction for education and career success, aligning their aptitudes, interests, and education
with high-growth careers. I am particularly pleased with the tool’s positive affect on young women, minority
students, and low-income students who may not understand how valuable their skills are to in-demand
career fields. We are excited and hopeful that, by providing this career guidance tool to more students, we
can play a proactive role in creating a larger and more diverse workforce in Alabama.”

Unlike traditional interest-based career aptitude programs, YouScience captures real measures of students’ aptitudes and interests through a series of fun and engaging “brain games.” The program uses a scientific algorithm to provide students with a highly-personalized overview of their best-fit careers, along with detailed information on average salary, regional and national job demand, and education requirements.

In 2017, students from Hoover and Pell City High Schools took part in a pilot that allowed them to use
the YouScience program. More than 1500 students participated in the pilot.

“The feedback we received from students, parents, teachers and administrators about YouScience has
been extremely positive,” said Dr. Ron Dodson, Assistant Superintendent of Instruction for Hoover City
Schools. “By engaging students in intentional career exploration earlier in the education process, we
think students will be able to make more informed career and education decisions.”

Alabama school districts interested in this program can contact YouScience directly or reach out to Josh Caton at the Alabama AGC by calling (205) 451- 1420 or emailing joshc@alagc.org.

Image via YouScience