This brief describes the perceived challenges of 84 study participants in career pathways program evaluated in the Pathways for Advancing Careers and Education (PACE) study. In these interviews, respondents discussed in detail what they viewed as the difficulties they currently experience in the program, as well as challenges they foresaw in the future as they moved along a career pathway. As in prior research, financial challenges, academic worries, and family and other demands on their time were the most commonly articulated concerns, even though these participants were in programs offering a wide range of supports. This brief is one in a series of three focusing on participants’ experiences, including their motivations to participate and supports received. (author introduction)

This toolkit from the Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration is designed to provide the workforce system with a framework, resources, and tools for State and local partners to develop, implement, and sustain career pathways programs. The toolkit includes the Six Key Elements of Career Pathways, facilitator tools, and resources.

This new career pathways website is a hub for information about career pathways research from the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE). It includes the PACE study, the Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) research portfolio, and other programs being evaluated.

The career pathways approach can improve fragmented and broken educational pipelines. The approach links education and training services to help students advance to higher levels of education and employment in a given sector. The career pathways framework combines adult education, training, and postsecondary programs and connects those with employers’ needs. This toolkit, developed by the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), is intended to help interagency state teams identify and use federal resources to support career pathways models. It also includes summaries of various federal programs that may strengthen states’ career pathways initiatives by providing more ways to obtain support services for students.

This report focuses on TANF recipients’ engagement and experiences in the HPOG Program, with the goal of helping understand how HPOG programs serve TANF recipients and developing hypotheses for further study. Specifically, this report uses preliminary data to describe observed differences — and possible reasons for the differences — in the participation, outcomes, and experiences of two types of HPOG participants: (1) Those receiving TANF benefits when they begin an HPOG program, and (2) Those not receiving TANF when they begin an HPOG program. The report then addresses why TANF recipient participation levels vary across HPOG programs and identifies strategies programs used to engage the TANF population and work cooperatively with local TANF agencies. (author abstract) 

This brief provides an overview of the College of Menominee Nation (CMN) Tribal HPOG program, key findings to date, and stories from students who have participated in the program. The CMN Tribal HPOG program offers a Nursing Career Ladder to allow students to progress from the Pre-Nursing Assistant level through to the Registered Nurse level. Based on qualitative data from interviews with administrative and program implementation staff, focus groups with students, phone interviews with program completers and non-completers, as well as administrative data, findings focus on program structures, processes, and outcomes. (author abstract)