A new article published by EvoLLLution explores how standardizing terminology in the learn-and-work ecosystem can support education, employment, and credentialing landscapes. Toward a Shared Vocabulary: Lessons from Employer Standards is co-authored by Roy Swift, executive director of Workcred, and Holly Zanville, a professor at George Washington University and founder of the Learn & Work Ecosystem Library.
The article emphasizes the importance of shared language, highlighting the interoperability challenges that arise as a result of underdeveloped or fragmented terminologies. To that end, employers—particularly those in globally-integrated industries—have long embraced standardization to mitigate issues caused by unclear language.
“Organizations like ANSI, along with their global counterparts, facilitate frameworks for standardized terminology and job requirements in fields like engineering, cybersecurity, healthcare, and other industry sectors,” the authors note. Such standards help to enable alignment across geographic borders and among vendors, suppliers, and regulators.
The authors explain how Workcred and the Learn & Work Ecosystem are working to make education, training, and workforce terminology more visible, understandable, and usable. The Learn & Work Ecosystem Library provides a comprehensive glossary system with nearly 600 terms, along with a free glossary widget for organizations to embed on their websites. As an ANSI affiliate, Workcred is engaged in developing credential-related standards and terminology, analyzing how employers and issuers use credentials and how shared terms can improve quality assurance across systems, transparency, and trust.
These approaches go beyond simple descriptions to include terms defined with clarity and context, such as “skills-based hiring,” “nondegree credential,” “learning and employment record,” and “intermediary organization.”
Ultimately, the authors explain that the glossary work is about building bridges across communities, rather than gatekeeping language.
“While a single, unified vocabulary across the learn-and-work ecosystem may be out of reach any time soon, we can still improve clarity in our language use and alignment,” the authors explained. “Glossary tools built with both technical rigor and stakeholder input can enhance navigation, search, and collaboration throughout the ecosystem. Employers may point the way for us. Their need for standards has led to real-world progress that others might learn from.”
Read Toward a Shared Vocabulary: Lessons from Employer Standards to find out more.