Human-Centered Labor Force Development in an Age of Advanced Innovation
A Q&A with Marc Booker
Since computer system and interactions technologies became typical in the work environment, educators have actually explored the best usages of those innovations– not just to increase speed and efficiency, but to utilize the most recent innovations with human-centered skills that really empower students as they take their locations in the labor force. How can we feature those abilities in labor force education programs in our institution of higher learnings?
Here, Marc Booker, vice provost of strategy at the University of Phoenix analyzes how to recognize and promote human-centered workforce development in higher education.
< img height="368" alt="University of Phoenix logo" width="644" src="https://campustechnology.com/-/media/EDU/CampusTechnology/2026/07/20260713Humancenteredworkforce.jpg"/ > The University of Phoenix has supported human-centered labor force development for 50 years. (Image Courtesy University of Phoenix)
Mary Grush: Is it fair to say that in its 50 years, the University of Phoenix has prioritized curricula that support workforce development and student success?
Marc Booker: Mary, I believe it’s beyond a fair declaration considered that our institution was developed especially because there weren’t a lot of programs for working adult students to find out to browse and prosper in the labor force or to alter careers. So workforce development is part and parcel of who we are, and it is deeply rooted in our DNA.
Grush: Are we heading into a time when what the labor force really needs is the advancement of new skill sets that are uniquely human– skills that institutional leaders utilize to produce reliable, human-centered programs even in highly technological environments? Is this a brand-new necessary in action to AI or any other existing or emerging technology?
Booker: Really, workforce development has actually constantly been a human-centered endeavor at the University of Phoenix. You see this when you look back– over decades– at what we’ve done to foster the best employees who serve their companies well and ultimately serve society much better.
Labor force development has always been a human-centered venture at the University of Phoenix.
In labor force development efforts the very best place to start is with the person– the human who has the understanding or teachable skill– because even worldwide of evolving and advancing technology, people individualize and add their own imagination and insights to the technical capabilities we already have.
Advanced innovation and tools need to make us more efficient and enable us to work faster and produce more; there’s no argument with any of that. But the human-centered nature of drawing connections and making those connections individual, relevant, and available to other individuals always delivers more. It’s here where you discover the magic of any technology– when it runs through a human lens. And human-centered labor force advancement is how you provide the skills that effect and represent not just the item and the practice, however likewise the individual.
The human-centered nature of drawing connections and making those connections personal, pertinent, and available to other people always delivers more. It’s here where you find the magic of any innovation.