Building America's Skilled Technical Workforce (2017) / Chapter Skim
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5 Challenges in Developing a Skilled Technical Workforce
5 Challenges in Developing a Skilled Technical Workforce
Pages 93-122
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From page 93... ...
A key issue for the nation, then, is how effectively these substantial resources are used to develop and sustain a skilled technical workforce. To address this issue, it is necessary to look more closely at the institutions -- the rules, norms, and incentive structures -- that shape the ability of students, workers, employers, educational organizations, and governments to work together to develop and sustain a skilled technical workforce.
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From page 94... ...
Section 5.3 then explores the particular challenges of training the skilled technical workforce in the allied health and manufacturing sectors. It also takes up the unique challenges faced by about 200,000 service members who transition each year from active military duty to skilled technical occupations in civilian life.
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From page 95... ...
5.1.1 Evidence on Returns on Postsecondary Education and Training Overall, there is strong evidence that postsecondary education yields high positive returns. 4 Prior research using national longitudinal survey data has shown that individuals with an associate's degree earn more than those with only a high school diploma (Belfield and Bailey, 2011)
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From page 96... ...
. 5.1.2 Challenges in Completing Postsecondary Programs The large returns on investment in obtaining postsecondary education despite stagnant wage premiums over the last few decades appear still to make this a good investment, for both 2- and 4-year degrees (The White House, 2016)
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From page 97... ...
5 Data from the 31 Complete College America partner states indicate that roughly 22 percent of developmental education students at community colleges complete remediation requirements and associated "gatekeeper courses" within 2 years (see Complete College America, 2017)
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From page 98... ...
• The percentage of Americans aged 18-24 who enroll in degree granting postsecondary education is increasing. • Even though most bachelor's degrees awarded in the United States are in programs of study related explicitly to occupations, such as business, education, health professions, engineering, law enforcement, and agriculture, the number of students who complete a degree by age 30 is much smaller than the number of high school students who say they want to pursue a bachelor's or advanced degree.
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From page 99... ...
6 For example, results of a 2013-2014 Harvard Business School alumni survey indicate that employers are reluctant to hire full-time workers: Forty-six percent of respondents agreed that their firms' U.S. operations prefer to invest in technology to perform work rather than hire or retain employees, while only 25 percent disagreed.
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From page 100... ...
These range from the challenges that students may face in pursuing an education while raising children and managing households, which increase perceived costs, to the lower social prestige some accord to CTE, which reduces the perceived value of its benefits. Funding formulas that incentivize the volume of enrollment over the quality of educational options, inadequate career guidance, inconsistent standards, and limited labor market data, among other factors, also make it more difficult to make informed decisions about investing in joining or growing the skilled technical workforce.
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From page 101... ...
. Some research on access to services at community colleges, for example, has found that although support services are available to all students, few low-income students find them accessible.
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From page 102... ...
is to improve coordination to increase access to opportunities and support services. 12 5.2.2 Perceptions of Career and Technical Education As discussed in Chapter 4, for most of the 20th century and up to the present time, federal and state policies have encouraged schools to develop curriculum for skilled technical work, known today as CTE.
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From page 103... ...
In addition, there is evidence that the additional earnings from obtaining postsecondary education are smaller for individuals seeking skilled technical credentials versus 4-year degrees. Since 2000, the wage premium for a bachelor's degree compared with a high school diploma has leveled off at approximately 80 percent, meaning that college graduates make 80 percent more over their lifetime than those with only a high school diploma (Autor, 2014)
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From page 104... ...
Results of her survey reveal that inconsistent standards for credentialing and limited data on the role of credentials in career outcomes make it difficult to rigorously assess the value and impacts of certificates and certifications. In turn, this difficulty points to a need to adopt consistent credentialing terminology, ensure that credentials are aligned with employer and labor market requirements, and ensure that these requirements are consistently implemented and understood.
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From page 105... ...
5.2.5 Incentives in Institutional Funding The role of community colleges in many communities has expanded from providing relatively easy access to college studies to providing a wide range of credentials, custom education and training, programs in English as a second language, and remedial courses. Their mission, as well as the evidence on effective education strategies discussed above, requires the formation of strong employer partnerships in strategically important economic sectors in their communities.
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From page 106... ...
postsecondary education funds are adequate, but they are not being allocated effectively to achieve the objectives of skilled technical workforce development. 5.2.6 Limited Data and Information A lack of information about skill requirements makes it difficult for policy makers, educators, employers, and workers to coordinate to address quality issues in workforce development policies, processes, and programs.
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From page 107... ...
The states, which own and often collect the data, depend on DOL for supplemental data, technical support, and grants to support data capture, analysis, and research, while federal agencies depend on the states to share good-quality data in a timely and accurate manner. Reviewing the evidence on workforce labor market information issues, Reamer (2015)
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From page 108... ...
Moreover, the federal government does not adequately assess the performance and impacts of its investments in workforce information. There is a need to develop user-friendly tools that provide direct access to information about options and performance to assist labor market participants in their decision-making processes.
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From page 109... ...
5.3 CHALLENGES IN TRAINING AND TRANSITIONING THE SKILLED TECHNICAL WORKFORCE This section turns to the special challenges of educating and training the skilled technical workforce in two major sectors of the economy -- health care and manufacturing. This is followed by a review of the challenges of transitioning the skills acquired by service members over the course of their military careers to the civilian workplace.
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From page 110... ...
In Frogner and Skillman's opinion, however, the cost of postsecondary education may be a barrier to entry in the nursing field for many potential workers. Other health care occupations in high demand, such as personal care assistants, have low educational entry requirements; however, they are among the lowest-paid.
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From page 111... ...
observes that students, parents, and their advisors often overlook manufacturing apprenticeship programs in favor of academic education, reflecting a bias against skilled technical education and training that tends to exist in most advanced economies. Although negative perceptions could make it difficult to attract a new generation of workers to skilled technical occupations in manufacturing, other factors also contribute to this situation.
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From page 112... ...
Over the past several decades, firms have increasingly automated or outsourced tasks and jobs previously held by skilled technical workers, resulting in job losses in specific industries and occupations. In a recent survey of Harvard Business School alumni, for example, nearly half of respondents agreed that their firms' U.S.
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From page 113... ...
. This section focuses on skill transfer possibilities with respect to active duty military personnel in the Armed Services; therefore, the discussion does not include Reserve or civilian personnel.
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From page 114... ...
active duty military personnel and 39,454 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) active duty Coast Guard members (DoD, 2015)
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From page 115... ...
SOURCE: DoD, 2015. DMDC Active Duty Military Personnel Master File.
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From page 116... ...
20 A 2014 U.S. Congressional Joint Economic Committee staff analysis indicates that more than 50 percent of veterans work in industries, such as transportation and utilities, manufacturing, construction, information, wholesale trade, and professional and business trades, that employ skilled technical workers (U.S.
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From page 117... ...
. Unlike civilian workers, departing military personnel may collect unemployment benefits even if they leave the service voluntarily.
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From page 118... ...
, for example, is a formal military training program implemented by the Center for Personal and Professional Development that gives active duty Coast Guard, Marine Corps, and Navy service members the opportunity to improve their job skills and complete their civilian apprenticeship requirements while they are on active duty. The objective of the National Apprenticeship Standards for USMAP is to provide registered certification of the training of individual service members and to achieve recognition for them equal to that of their civilian counterparts.
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From page 119... ...
As Carter and Miller (2015) report, challenges in moving from active duty to civilian life often extend beyond simply having the right skills for available jobs.
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From page 120... ...
They also need to design and deliver relevant programs that meet the changing requirements of workers and employers at the local level. Addressing quality issues in skilled technical workforce development requires 24 Many of these points are echoed in a recent study of USMAP.
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From page 121... ...
; Brigadier General Kathleen Cook, Director of U.S. Air Force Services; and Anish Goel, Senate Armed Services Committee noted that a shift to a more integrated approach to selecting, training, and transitioning service members with technical skills is needed to facilitate the accomplishment of DoD objectives and enable workers to move back and forth between the military and civilian workforces.
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