Young people need both cross-cutting skills and specialized knowledge to thrive in the rapidly changing economy, and business and industry leaders require fresh talent to innovate and grow. Pathways are a strategy to connect education with careers to meet the needs of youth, educators, and employers and create a more thriving and equitable economy. College and career pathways expand economic opportunity for all young people and meet regional talent needs. This Jobs for the Future framework outlines key considerations and promising strategies for pathways leaders who seek to achieve outcomes for youth while strengthening rural communities.

Students who face barriers to success need accessible pathways to economic mobility, but low income and low tolerance for debt present challenges. Strategies at all levels of education, as well as after they enter the workforce, could provide support to achieving their career goals. This Urban Institute report describes results from a survey of career and technical education program administrators, with insights about strategies that can support students in getting jobs that offer pathways to economic stability and long-term upward mobility.

The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation Pathways to Work Evidence Clearinghouse case studies highlight innovative interventions that aim to improve employment outcomes for TANF participants and other individuals with low incomes, especially public assistance recipients. The purpose of each case study is to feature an innovative but untested intervention that a state, county, community-based organization, or other entity is undertaking. These 21 case studies are intended to help practitioners learn from the experiences of other organizations or agencies implementing innovative employment interventions.

The Launch Pathways Initiative (Launch) is a national college and career pathways initiative focused on advancing high-quality, equitable, and sustainable pathways models at scale. The Launch Partners provide technical assistance to twelve teams from eleven states, organized into two cohorts: the Impact Cohort and the Innovation Cohort. While state teams in both cohorts focus on building more equitable and sustainable college and career pathways systems, the cohorts will follow two distinct paths. This New America blogpost provides a glimpse into the work of the Impact Cohort.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, unemployment in the American economy spiked to 20 million in mid-2020. While it dropped to 5.7 million in December 2022, the labor market is still in flux, and jobs in some fields remain unfilled. In response, higher education systems and states across the country are turning to community colleges to provide both long- and short-term workforce training programs in high-demand fields. The Virginia Community College System has developed programs for helping adults access training and earn credentials that improve their labor market prospects and provide on-ramps to further education. Two of these programs include FastForward and Get a Skill, Get a Job, Get Ahead. This Accelerating Recovery in Community Colleges Network blogpost introduces two research projects on the programs that will provide information about the associations between postsecondary student aid and student education and workforce outcomes, and how community colleges can build pathways to high-opportunity jobs and careers.

Can the promising IT job market improve the economic mobility of adults who are unemployed or looking for higher-wage jobs? This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation paper examines the Per Scholas WorkAdvance program by exploring opportunities for advancement in two of the IT occupations targeted by the program. The paper outlines potential advancement opportunities within the IT sector and details the career advancement outcomes (as measured by earnings) of program participants. The key findings noted that most participants completed Per Scholas’s WorkAdvance IT training and obtained an industry-recognized certification. Many participants who started Per Scholas’s WorkAdvance IT training increased their earnings over time.

The authors of these five essays explore the extent to which young people from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds achieve steady, decent-paying employment by their early thirties. Using multivariate analysis, they identify factors predicting membership to four different earnings groups. Factors associated with membership in one or both of the higher-earning groups include higher education, military service, union membership, job-related training, and working in a non-service sector occupation at age 25. Factors associated with belonging to a lower-earning group include incarceration, work-limiting health conditions, and prolonged unemployment.

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation brief reviews changes in the healthcare workforce, especially for Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) related occupations, during the first seven months of the COVID-19 pandemic from January through September 2020. More than half of HPOG participants train for Certified Nursing Assistant, Home Health and Personal Care Aide, Licensed Practical Nurse/Licensed Vocational Nurse, or Registered Nurse occupations. During the first four months of the pandemic, healthcare sector employment decreased over 9 percent but recovered about 60 percent of the losses through September 2020. The brief can support HPOG and healthcare workforce stakeholders when interpreting future impact evaluation analyses results or investing in future healthcare workforce programs.

This American Indian College Fund guidebook, intended to support Native American college students in developing career pathways, includes culturally relevant resources. The guidebook features tips and inspiring stories on job seeking, resumé preparation, cover letters, references, appropriate dress, internships, enhancing soft skills, personal branding, and interviewing. The guidebook also identifies career information about skilled trades, job opportunities in Indian Country, pursuing graduate school, networking, and joining associations.

The Pathways to Work Evidence Clearinghouse will host a webinar on April 29, 2021 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET to discuss how TANF administrators and other service providers can find and use information on the Pathways Clearinghouse website about evidence-based interventions and their implementation. Presentations will cover the Pathways Clearinghouse’s relevance and a demonstration of the website’s new features, as well as the website’s information on how over 50 evidence-based interventions were implemented. Speakers include representatives of the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, the Archuleta County Department of Human Services, the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance, and Mathematica.