This National Dialogue on Career Pathways event was a one-day convening of practitioners, advocates, and policymakers to discuss how all sectors can take action to advance the skills and credentials of American workers. Now, you can hear the presentations from leaders in the field such as Judy Mortrude, Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development and FastTRAC; Dr. Ricardo Estrada, Instituto del Progreso Latino in Chicago, Illinois; Shauna King-Simms, Kentucky Community and Technical College System; and Elizabeth Creamer, Advisor for Workforce Development, Office of Virginia Governor Terence R. McAuliffe.

The Literacy Information and Communication Systems (LINC) Initiative, under the U.S. Department of Education established the Moving Pathways Forward: Supporting Career Pathways initiative to assist States in advancing career pathways systems that support low-skilled adults who are transitioning to postsecondary education and employment. This three-year initiative provides career pathways resources for interested stakeholders, as well as offer technical assistance to States.

In April 2012, the U.S. Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, and Labor released a letter endorsing the concept of “Career Pathways” as a promising approach to address the country’s challenge of how to prepare workers of all skill levels to participate fully in the country’s economic future. This challenge lies at the intersection of each department’s domains of expertise, and no solution can become fully functional without engaging each department’s constituency. The Departments defined Career Pathways as a series of connected education and training strategies and support services that enable individuals to secure industry relevant certification and obtain employment within an occupational area and to advance to higher levels of future education and employment in that area. In the Career Pathways initiatives sponsored by the departments to date, we have seen roles for each department’s stakeholders. The education community takes a lead on providing classroom-based learning, and then partners with business and workforce development professionals to create workplace-based learning opportunities. These connections help businesses meet short-term staffing needs and grow a next generation of skilled employees. At the same time, the human services field supports workers in balancing their educational, professional, and family responsibilities while they make this investment in their future. What makes these activities a true Career Pathways initiative is the commitment to cross-agency partnerships that identifies the strengths and needs of each partner and uses that expertise to build the pathway.

The Center for Postsecondary and Economic Success at CLASP released a paper that explores "stackable credentials," which is defined by the Department of Labor as a series of credentials that accumulate to build an individual's qualifications for advancement on a career pathway. The paper discusses some of the barriers to acquiring multiple educational and occupations credentials, pulling from data collected in Kentucky, Oregon, Virginia, and Wisconsin. The paper also outlines the ways in which these states are working to increase credential attainment for their residents.

The Connecticut Employment & Training Commission released a report describing the most prominent State strategies for building and promoting career pathways. These strategies were pulled from a review of literature on career advancement strategies for low-skilled workers over the last decade.

A substantial skills gap exists between the education and training of the labor force and the needs of employers in many high growth industries, including healthcare and manufacturing. This gap results in unemployment while good paying jobs go unfilled. At the same time, many low-skilled adults persist in low wage work with little opportunity for advancement.

Career pathways programs, like the Pima Community College (PCC) Pathways to Healthcare HPOG programs, are an approach to fill a vital need for skilled workers in the economy and offer low-wage workers the opportunity to obtain occupational and other skills and advance into the middle class.

This brief was produced by Abt Associates as part of the Innovative Strategies to Increase Self-Sufficiency (ISIS) project, a random assignment evaluation of nine promising career pathways programs that aim to improve employment and self-sufficiency outcomes for low-income, low-skilled individuals. (author abstract) 

This paper was developed by the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) to inform those working with career pathways programs of a common language and standards for programs. Through a review of existing literature, feedback from the ongoing Alliance for Quality Career Pathways project, and communication from field researchers, CLASP has designed a conceptual framework for identifying and designing high quality career pathways programs. The framework contains four components which are discussed.

In 2008, Virginia set out to design and implement a statewide career pathways initiative to better meet the needs of regional employers. This report is a case study of Virginia's experience and highlights lessons learned through the process. Virginia's system has garnered attention because it was developed with very little additional funding, a reality for many States in the current economy.

In April 2012, the U.S. Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, and Labor released a letter endorsing the concept of "Career Pathways" as a promising approach to address the country's challenge of how to prepare workers of all skill levels to participate fully in the country's economic future. The Departments defined Career Pathways as a series of connected education and training strategies and support services that enable individuals to secure industry relevant certification and obtain employment within an occupational area and to advance to higher levels of future education and employment in that area and encouraged the constituency of each Department to work together to create seamless systems that would result in workers gaining industry-recognized credentials and jobs with family-sustaining wages.

This toolkit, provided by the U.S. Department of Labor, provides a guide for States and localities interested in developing a career pathways initiative. The toolkit centers around six key elements that are essential to developing an initiative. Promising practices are highlighted, and specific tools are included in this step by step, user friendly resource for human service administrators.