Meeting Regional
STEMM Workforce Needs
in the Wake of COVID-19
PROCEEDINGS OF A VIRTUAL WORKSHOP SERIES
Lida Beninson and Joe Alper, Rapporteurs
Board on Higher Education and Workforce
Policy and Global Affairs
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, DC
www.nap.edu
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001
This activity was supported by contract No. 2005-1112031 between the Lumina Foundation and the National Academy of Sciences. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of any organization or agency that provided support for the project.
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-25628-5
International Standard Book Number-10: 0-309-25628-3
Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.17226/26049
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Suggested citation: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. Meeting Regional STEMM Workforce Needs in the Wake of COVID-19: Proceedings of a Virtual Workshop Series. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/26049.
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COMMITTEE ON MEETING REGIONAL STEMM WORKFORCE NEEDS IN THE WAKE OF COVID-19: A VIRTUAL WORKSHOP SERIES1
JEFF BINGAMAN (Chair), Former U.S. Senator for New Mexico
STUART ANDREASON, Director, Center for Workforce and Economic Opportunity, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
JOSH CARPENTER, Director, Economic Development, City of Birmingham, Alabama
KAREN ELZEY, Associate Executive Director, Workcred
AL FITZPAYNE, Executive Director, Future of Work Initiative, Aspen Institute
MARIA FLYNN, President and Chief Executive Officer, Jobs for the Future
VAN FREEMAN, Director, Future Workforce Development and Strategy, Aerospace Industries Association
DONNA GINTHER, Roy A. Roberts Distinguished Professor of Economics and Director for the Institute for Policy and Social Research, University of Kansas
RACHEL LIPSON, Director, Project on Workforce, Harvard University
ELOY ORTIZ OAKLEY, Chancellor, California Community Colleges
LEE WELLINGTON, Executive Director, Urban Manufacturing Alliance
Project Staff
TOM RUDIN, Senior Board Director (until December 2020)
LIDA BENINSON, Senior Program Officer
INEZ ADAMS, Senior Program Assistant (until November 2020)
SELAM ARAIA, Senior Program Assistant
FRED LESTINA, Research Associate (until September 2020)
Consultant
JOE ALPER, Consulting Writer
___________________
1 The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s planning committees are solely responsible for organizing the workshop, identifying topics, and choosing speakers. The responsibility for the published Proceedings of a Workshop rests with the workshop rapporteurs and the institution.
BOARD ON HIGHER EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE1
KUMBLE R. SUBBASWAMY (Chair), University of Massachusetts, Amherst
ANGELA BYARS-WINSTON, University of Wisconsin-Madison
JAIME CURTIS-FISK, The Dow Chemical Company
MARIELENA DESANCTIS, Broward College
APRILLE J. ERICSSON, National Aeronautics and Space Administration Goddard Space Flight Center
JOAN FERRINI-MUNDY, University of Maine
GABRIELA GONZALEZ (NAS), Louisiana State University
TASHA R. INNISS, Spelman College
SALLY K. MASON, University of Iowa
DOUGLAS S. MASSEY (NAS), Princeton University
RICHARD K. MILLER (NAE), Olin College of Engineering
PATRICIA SILVEYRA, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
KATE STOLL, Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Washington Office
MEGHNA TARE, University of Texas
MARY WOOLLEY (NAM), Research! America
___________________
1 The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s boards, forums, and roundtables do not issue, review, or approve individual documents. The responsibility for the published proceedings of a virtual workshop series rests with the workshop rapporteurs and the institution.
Board on Higher Education and Workforce Staff
LEIGH MILES JACKSON, Acting Director
THOMAS RUDIN, Director (until November 2020)
AUSTEN APPLEGATE, Research Associate
ARIELLE BAKER, Associate Program Officer
ASHLEY BEAR, Senior Program Officer
LIDA BENINSON, Senior Program Officer
FRAZIER BENYA, Senior Program Officer
IMANI BRAXTON-ALLEN, Senior Program Assistant (until April 2021)
MARIA LUND DAHLBERG, Senior Program Officer
ALEX HELMAN, Program Officer
REBEKAH HUTTON, Program Officer
PRIYANKA NALAMADA, Associate Program Officer
LAYNE A. SCHERER, Senior Program Officer
JOHN VERAS, Senior Program Assistant
MARQUITA WHITING, Senior Program Assistant
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Acknowledgment of Reviewers
This proceedings of a virtual workshop series was reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in making each published proceedings as sound as possible and to ensure that it meets the institutional standards for quality, objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the process.
We thank the following individuals for their review of this proceedings: LaChaun Banks, Harvard University; Maria Cormier, Columbia University; Anna Duran, Avatar Research Institute; and Alexandra Beatty, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
Although the reviewers listed above provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the content of the proceedings nor did they see the final draft before its release. The review of this proceedings was overseen by George Boggs, Palomar College. He was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this proceedings was carried out in accordance with standards of the National Academies and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content rests entirely with the rapporteurs and the National Academies.
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Acknowledgments
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Board on Higher Education and Workforce thanks the Lumina Foundation for its support of this workshop series and wishes to express its sincere gratitude to the planning committee chair Jeff Bingaman for his valuable contribution to the development and orchestration of this virtual workshop series. We also wish to thank all the members of the planning committee, who collaborated to ensure a workshop complete with informative presentations and rich discussions. Finally, we want to thank the speakers and moderators, who generously shared their expertise and their time with workshop participants.
Support from the many annual sponsors of the Board of Higher Education and Workforce is critical to the board’s work. The sponsors include the Department of Health and Human Services, National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Institute for Education Sciences, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Burroughs Wellcome Fund, Elsevier Corporation, Helmsley Charitable Trust, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Lumina Foundation, National Math and Science Initiative, and Spencer Foundation.
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Contents
Understanding the Economic and Workforce Impacts of COVID-19 on Birmingham
Birmingham’s Economic Outlook Prior to and During COVID-19
Changes in Workforce Training Programs in Birmingham
Higher Education Programming for the Birmingham Workforce
Understanding the Economic and Workforce Impacts of COVID-19 on Boston
COVID Response and Workforce Transitions in Greater Boston
Understanding the Economic and Workforce Impacts of COVID-19 on Richmond
Response of Richmond’s Education and Training Infrastructure to the COVID-19 Crisis
Understanding the Economic and Workforce Impacts of COVID-19 on Riverside
Greater Riverside Economic Outlook Prior to and During COVID-19
Regional Ecosystems and Opportunities
Higher Education’s Role in Economic Mobility
Understanding the Economic and Workforce Impacts of COVID-19 on Wichita
State and Local Policy Responses
Response of Wichita’s Higher Education Workforce Training Efforts to the COVID-19 Crisis
Response of Wichita’s Workforce Training Infrastructure to the COVID-19 Crisis
7 REGIONAL OBSERVATIONS WITH NATIONAL IMPLICATIONS
Regional STEMM Workforce Training Responses in the Wake of COVID-19
Digital Infrastructure to Equitably Support Workforce Training
Key Services That Support Equitable Access to Workforce Training
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Box and Figures
BOX
7-1 Common Themes Across the Six Workshops
FIGURES
2-1 Demographics of the city of Birmingham and the Birmingham metropolitan area
2-2 Educational attainment in the city of Birmingham and the Birmingham metropolitan area
2-3 Unemployment claims for Alabama by age and race
2-4 Unemployment claims for Alabama by industry
2-5 The impact of Innovate Birmingham
3-1 Demographics of the greater Boston metropolitan area and the city of Boston
3-2 Educational attainment in the city of Boston and the greater Boston metropolitan area
3-3 Unemployment claims for Massachusetts by age and race
3-4 Unemployment claims for Massachusetts by industry
3-6 Skill shapes for digital marketing roles in Denver, Atlanta, and Boise
4-1 Demographics of the city of Richmond and the Richmond metropolitan area
4-2 Educational attainment in the city of Richmond and the Richmond metropolitan area
4-3 Unemployment claims for Virginia by age and race
4-4 Unemployment claims for Virginia by industry
5-1 Demographics of the city of Riverside and the Riverside metropolitan area
5-2 Educational attainment in the city of Riverside and the Riverside metropolitan area
5-3 Unemployment claims for California by age and race
5-4 Unemployment claims for California by industry
6-1 Demographics of the city of Wichita and the Wichita metropolitan area
6-2 Educational attainment in the city of Wichita and the Wichita metropolitan area