Preparing Today's Students for Tomorrow's Jobs in Metropolitan America

Chapter 8: Strengthening the Education and Workforce Connection: What Types of Research are Required to Determine How Well Career Pathways Programs Prepare Students for College and Careers?

CHAPTER 8 Strengthening the Education and Workforce Connection: What Types of Research Are Required to Determine How Well Career Pathways Programs Prepare Students for College and Careers? Lashawn Richburg-Hayes, Michael Armijo, and Lisa Merrill Globalization, technological change, and the rise of a knowledge-based economy have spurred the need to improve educational attainment and ensure a rising standard of living for American citizens (Council on Competitiveness 2008). As a result of these changes, employees require greater knowledge and skills to compete for new labor market opportunities across the nation and the world (Carnevale, Smith, and Strohl 2010). As described in the introduction to this volume, business and education leaders nationwide have called for the United States to better prepare young people to be career and college ready after finishing high school, and for all working-age adults to attain some postsecondary training (Business Roundtable 2009; The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation 2009; Lumina Foundation 2009; National Governors Association 2011; Council on Competitiveness 2008). These leaders recognize that national and global demographic trends signal trouble ahead if we maintain the current course. Unfortunately, our current system for providing education and workforce training is not likely to rise to the challenge of adequately preparing the current and future workforce for jobs that guarantee a living wage for several reasons. First, as Anthony Carnevale and his colleagues describe in 178 Richburg-Hayes, Armijo, and Merrill this volume, a high school degree alone will not provide the skills needed for today’s workforce. In fact, there is a fairly well-established decline since the 1970s in the real average earnings of full-time workers with a high school diploma or less (Mishel, Bernstein, and Allegretto 2007), making a high school diploma a poor choice of terminal degree. Second, while unprecedented numbers of students are attempting college, rates of college completion have not changed for as long as statistics have been kept (Eaton 1997). While there are many explanations for the lack of change in college graduation rates, underpreparation for college-level work and the financial burdens of college represent two large barriers. Finally, our educational system does not provide adequate access for workers to pursue additional education or training. The most affordable institutions are often not flexible enough to be convenient for workers who are students, and financial aid programs often penalize the working poor student by assuming that the bulk of the previous year’s income will be available to cover education costs (Long 2007). The above shortcomings of our educational system may disproportionately affect low-income populations and those living in urban areas. While population growth in cities and low-income suburbs has increased rapidly, growth in employment opportunities has lagged behind (Holzer and Stoll 2007). Since low-income people, minorities, and immigrants in urban areas are less than half as likely to enroll in college as people living in suburban areas (Richardson and Bender 1986), the result is a combination of lower educational attainment and fewer employment prospects. If the urban areas are segregated by income or race as well, education and employment outcomes may be further depressed (Cutler and Glaeser 1997). Career pathways appear to be a promising strategy to address these issues . Defined as a series of connected education and training programs combined with support services, career pathways are geared to securing employment within a specific industry or occupational sector, with each step along the pathway designed to prepare the participant for the next level of employment and education (Jenkins 2006). The career pathways model differs from traditional occupational skills training in that participants can enter and exit the career pathway at various points, yet the pathway eventually leads to employment in specific occupations in a specific sector. The idea behind career pathways is not new; it emerged over two decades ago out of the separate efforts of career and technical education programs in high schools, workforce development programs, and professional and technical education programs at community colleges as an institutional response to a Education and Workforce Connection 179 changing student body (Agrawal et al. 2007). Since that time there have been numerous initiatives advancing career pathways models, such as the College and Career Transitions Initiative (Warford 2006), the National Career Pathways Network (Institute for a Competitive Workforce and National Career Pathways Network 2009), and the Ford Foundation’s Bridges to Opportunity Initiative (Bridges to Opportunity 2008). While there are a number of guides, toolkits, and...