Awareness is a Prerequisite for Mobility and Prosperity

You can’t pursue what you don’t know exists. 

At QA Commons, we’ve come to see awareness as a through-line across all our work. Whether we’re certifying academic programs for Essential Employability Qualities (EEQ CERT), evaluating a workforce training initiative, or supporting continuation high school students, the same patterns emerge: success in the labor market depends not just on what learners know or can do.

That includes awareness of opportunity—knowing what’s out there and how to access it. It means understanding how labor markets function—how jobs are filled, what employers value, and how career paths vary in mobility and pay. It involves recognizing the skills developed in academic and training programs—and being able to articulate their value. It requires familiarity with workplace expectations—often unspoken norms that can shape trajectories and influence long-term success. 

In our work, we’ve seen that this kind of awareness is often missing across very different student populations. Whether in four-year liberal arts programs or learners navigating education and employment outside of college systems, learners frequently lack exposure to the job landscape, how industries function, or even why businesses operate the way they do.

QA Commons defines employability not just as the possession of skills, but as the capacity to recognize, apply, and communicate those skills in real-world settings. That’s where awareness comes in. Without it, even well-developed skills can go underutilized or unrecognized—by both the learner and the employer.

We are struck by the work of economists Suresh Naidu and Aaron Sojourner, whose research highlights how information asymmetries distort labor market outcomes. Their paper on “Employer Power and Employee Skills” reminds us that skills alone do not determine wages or opportunities; what matters is how, when, and to whom those skills are visible and valued. In low-awareness environments, skilled workers may accept lower-paying jobs or miss opportunities entirely—not because they lack ability, but because they lack the information or social positioning to act on it. Their findings reinforce the need for institutions to equip learners not just with skills but with the insight to position those skills effectively in real-world contexts.

Awareness depends on whether people are given the information, guidance, and exposure they need to navigate opportunities. It is shaped early, often by family background—whether someone grows up with access to networks, career knowledge, or models of how the world of work functions. Awareness can’t be left to chance—it must be built into how institutions educate and support learners. If educators, workforce trainers, and institutions fail to build awareness into their programs, they are not preparing students for the world of work—they are preparing them for continued precarity within it.

Awareness is not an add-on or soft skill—it’s what enables students to use their skills strategically and confidently. And building awareness—systematically, equitably, and intentionally—is the work we must continue to do if we want to foster real opportunity and economic mobility. 

Institutions can’t assume awareness happens on its own—it must be built into how we teach, train, and support every learner.