Building America's Skilled Technical Workforce (2017) / Chapter Skim
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1 The Skilled Technical Workforce Development Challenge
1 The Skilled Technical Workforce Development Challenge
Pages 5-20
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From page 5... ...
Addressing this workforce development challenge requires understanding the scale and dynamics of the skilled technical workforce, as well as the complex and rapidly changing environments within which Americans provide and acquire skills and training for the jobs of the future. 1.1 KEY CHALLENGES FOR DEVELOPING A SKILLED TECHNICAL WORKFORCE Globalization and scientific and technological change are affecting nearly every aspect of modern life, from how people communicate with each other to how they shop, how they make things, and how and where they work.
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This reported shortage of skilled workers raises questions about the role of postsecondary credentials, the value of technical skills, and whether the U.S. education and workforce development systems are meeting the skills development challenge.
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Those with technical skills need to determine how best to maintain their employability, pursue career advancement, and respond to unexpected changes in demand for their current skill set. Low skill levels make it more difficult for workers to attain additional education or training when structural changes require adaptation to new methods and processes (OECD, 2013)
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Likewise, the nation's approach to workforce development and skills acquisition must also adapt to changing realities at the federal, state, and local levels. Although some skilled technical jobs in such occupations as production and transportation are being eliminated through automation and outsourcing, others are in high demand.
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1.3 STUDY CHARGE, SCOPE, AND APPROACH Recognizing the challenges outlined above, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened the Committee on the Supply Chain for Middle-Skill Jobs to examine the coverage, effectiveness, flexibility, and coordination of programs that prepare Americans for skilled technical jobs. In carrying out its charge, the committee considered such topics as gaps in coverage and fluctuations in the labor market, the current and preferred publicand private-sector roles in financing and providing employment training and skills certification, and the incentives and information resources available for individuals to improve their work skills (see Box 1-2)
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Collectively, these papers provide comprehensive coverage of salient definitions, labor market dynamics, pathways and pipelines, the role of community colleges, the role of employers, apprenticeship programs, federal workforce development programs, pathways to skilled technical allied health care occupations, veteran unemployment benefits and transition assistance, information resources, and competing on innovation. In addition to commissioning this research, the committee organized a national symposium, held in June 2015, that brought together researchers, representatives from various industry sectors, policy makers, and other stakeholders involved in technical workforce education and training (NASEM, 2015)
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• Melinda Mechur Karp, Columbia University: "Community College Pathways" This paper examines sub-associate degrees offered by community colleges, both in terms of their stand-alone impact and in terms of their connection to a broader education and training system. • Robert L
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program affects how the program is used to facilitate ex-service members' transition back into the civilian labor market. • Andrew Reamer, George Washington University: "Information Resources to Facilitate Middle Skills Workforce Development" This paper begins with a summary of the types of labor market participant decisions that require good information, follows with an overview and assessment of currently available information resources, and then offers recommendations for enhancing these information resources.
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2 The committee convened a further four times in 2015 and 2016 to gather additional evidence from experts on topics including the scope and nature of applicable federal legislation, the role of state programs and policies, the value of online learning technologies, impediments to transitioning military personnel into the civilian skilled technical workforce, and the challenges facing efforts to collect data on the market for skilled technical workers. The agendas for these meetings are presented in Appendix A
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The committee noted that some analysts use slightly different definitions of and analytical approaches to measuring the skilled technical workforce, and therefore derive different estimates of its size. Box 1-4 provides an overview of the estimation challenges, which are discussed in more detail in Chapter 2.
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. By contrast, absolute rankings of skilled technical jobs use predefined skills criteria for specific jobs (e.g., education beyond high school but less than a 4-year degree)
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As Figure 1-3 shows, the American system for skilled technical workforce development encompasses two broad components. The first is public and private academic and career and technical education and training in grades K-12, which are governed by more than 98,000 public schools in more than 18,000 public school districts, as well as more than 30,000 private schools.
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1.6 A NETWORK-CENTERED APPROACH Understanding and making recommendations for improving the nation's skilled technical workforce amid a complex and rapidly changing market is a considerable challenge. In addressing this challenge, the committee sought to take advantage of the diversity of experience across the nation and the efforts of many business leaders, educators, labor organizations, and policy makers to integrate academic education, technical training, and hands-on work experience to produce better outcomes for students, workers, businesses, and states and regions (see Box 1-5 for an example)
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For example, a lack of information on job opportunities available in their region may lead community college students to select courses that do not adequately equip them with the skills demanded by local firms. In turn, firms in a regional industry may need to determine how to share investments in worker training in ways that can also produce sufficient private returns.
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They begin with child care, nutrition, and the quality of primary education, and extend to working opportunities and living conditions and the quality and quantity of postsecondary education and training. Workforce policies at the federal and state levels, which are described in Chapter 3, and the components of the workforce development system, which are described in Chapter 4, further influence the character and performance of the skilled technical workforce in significant ways.
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20 BUILDING AMERICA'S SKILLED TECHNICAL WORKFORCE overcoming these challenges to training skilled technical workers. Chapter 7 concludes with a summary of the committee's findings and recommendations for policy and program design to enhance the nation's skilled technical workforce.
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