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The datasets compiled for the Career Trajectories and Occupational Transitions (CTOT) Study can be used to inform career pathways and other employment and training programs by (1) identifying launchpad occupations associated with higher than average wage growth, (2) identifying occupational and worker characteristics associated with wage growth, and (3) identifying specific occupational steps associated with wage growth. The CTOT study’s full report, Building Better Pathways: An Analysis of Career Trajectories and Occupational Transitions, focuses on results across all the mid-level occupations included in the study. However, career pathways programs (as well as other employment and training programs) sometimes focus on a single occupational cluster or small number of clusters. To provide additional information on specific occupations of interest to policymakers and practitioners, the appendix describes detailed findings for four occupational clusters, in four “spotlight” sections: healthcare, Early care and education, information technology, and production/manufacturing.

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Research Questions

• Cluster overview and summary of results: What are the primary occupations and occupational titles, including starting wages, in the cluster? What are the key findings?
• Occupational cluster results: How do wage trajectories for workers in the occupations within the cluster of focus compare to wage trajectories for workers overall? What worker demographic characteristics are associated with wage growth in the cluster? What is the effect of changing jobs on wage trajectories?
• Individual occupation results: Within the cluster, which occupations are most promising in increasing earnings?
• Occupational transitions results: What are the 10-year wage trajectories of each occupation? What are the most common transitions from each occupation?

Key Takeaways

• Key findings for the healthcare occupational cluster:
  • Relative to mid-level occupations in other clusters, healthcare occupations have below average wage growth. Weighted median wage growth over 10 years across healthcare occupations is $5.94 per hour, compared to $7.36 per hour across all mid-level occupations.
  • Most (eight of twelve) healthcare occupations offer a starting wage that is higher than the national average for mid-level occupations, but they vary in how much wage growth workers experience over time.
  • Workers with the highest wages at the outset and in occupations with greater training requirements have the largest proportion of workers earning $25 per hour or more five years later.
  • Workers experience differences in wage growth based on their race/ethnicity, with non-Hispanic White workers earning more than non-Hispanic Black or Hispanic workers. Ten years after starting in the same healthcare occupation, compared to non-Hispanic White workers, Black and Hispanic workers earn $3.59 less and $3.49 less per hour, respectively. There is no significant difference in wage growth based on age, gender, or parents’ educational attainment.
  • Workers who leave healthcare to work in a different field experience less wage growth than those who stay in the healthcare cluster. This contrasts with the study’s finding that for mid-level occupations overall, leaving the entry cluster is associated with higher wage growth.
• Key findings for the early care and education (ECE) occupational cluster:
  • Relative to mid-level occupations in other clusters, early care and education occupations have above average wage growth. Weighted median wage growth over 10 years across early care and education occupations is $8.73 per hour, compared to $7.36 per hour across all mid-level occupations.
  • Most early care and education occupations offer a starting wage that is lower than the national average for mid-level occupations, but workers in ECE occupations do see higher than average wage growth over 10 years.
  • There are no ECE occupations in which more than half of workers are earning $25 per hour or more five years later.
  • There are no significant differences in wage growth based on workers’ age, or socioeconomic status (as measured by parents’ educational attainment). There is a difference by race/ethnicity; 10 years after starting in the same early care and education occupation, compared to non-Hispanic White workers, non-Hispanic Black workers earn $3.80 per hour less. There is also a difference by gender; 10 years after starting in the same early care and education occupation, compared to men, women earn $6.75 per hour less.
  • There is no significant difference in wage growth between workers who remain in the early care and education cluster for 10 years and those who transition to another occupational cluster.
• Key findings for the information technology occupational cluster are:
  • Relative to mid-level occupations in other clusters, information technology occupations have above average wage growth. Weighted median wage growth over 10 years across information technology occupations is $16.08 per hour, compared to $7.36 per hour across all mid-level occupations.
  • Both information technology occupations rank among the highest mid-level occupations for starting wage and for five and 10-year wage growth.
  • At five years, more than half of workers in both occupations are earning $25 per hour or more. A greater proportion (65% vs. 54%) of network systems and data communications analysts are earning $25 per hour or more at five years, but by 10 years the proportion is similar for both occupations.
  • There is a disparity in wage growth between men and women, with women earning $10.40 less, on average, 10 years later. There are no significant differences based on age, race/ethnicity, or parents’ educational attainment.
  • Workers who leave information technology to work in a different field experience less wage growth than those who stay in the information technology cluster. This is in contrast to the study’s finding that for mid-level occupations overall, leaving the entry cluster is associated with higher wage growth.
• Key findings for the production/manufacturing occupational cluster:
  • Relative to mid-level occupations in other clusters, production/manufacturing occupations have below average wage growth. Weighted median wage growth over 10 years across production/manufacturing occupations is $5.28 per hour, compared to $7.36 per hour across all mid-level occupations.
  • Production/manufacturing occupations vary widely in starting wages. At five years most occupations are below average in wage growth, but some are above average. By 10 years, nearly all occupations see below average wage growth.
  • No occupations have a majority of workers making more than $25 per hour at 10 years; in general, there is not much of an increase in the percentage of workers making such family-sustaining wages from five to 10 years.
  • There is a disparity in wage growth between men and women, with women earning $3.86 per hour less, on average, 10 years later. There are also disparities by race/ethnicity. Non-Hispanic Black workers are earning $4.29 less and Hispanic workers are earning $2.87 less per hour, on average, than non-Hispanic White workers 10 years later. Workers whose parents have a bachelor’s degree are earning $4.97 more per hour, on average, 10 years later.
• There are no significant differences in wage growth based on the number of job changes or whether workers transition to jobs in another occupational cluster.

Citation

Abt Associates. (2021). Appendix: Healthcare, Early Care and Education, Information Technology, and Production/Manufacturing Career Trajectories and Occupational Transition Findings. Chief Evaluation Office, U.S. Department of Labor.

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The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) sponsors independent evaluations and research, primarily conducted by external, third-party contractors in accordance with the Department of Labor Evaluation Policy and CEO’s research development process.