Career Pathways Descriptive and Analytical Project
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About the Study
The career pathways approach to workforce development emerged to help less educated workers advance to better paying jobs by earning in-demand postsecondary credentials. The approach involves articulated steps of education, training, and employment within an industry sector, combined with other services, to support participant success. In 2018, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) to fund contractor Abt Associates to conduct the Career Pathways Descriptive and Analytical project, which included a portfolio of three studies: a meta-analysis on the impacts of career pathways program approaches; a longitudinal career trajectories and occupational transitions study; and an exploratory machine learning study. Each study fills important gaps in the evidence base.
For the project’s Meta-Analysis, researchers summarized the results of 46 impact evaluations of programs which included elements of the career pathways approach. The programs examined in those studies—managed by the Department of Labor, Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Education, among others—were diverse across a range of dimensions, including what they offered, how they provided those offerings, who they served, and their local contexts. The meta-analysis leveraged available evaluation data to quantify causal and correlational relationships across programs and study designs.
The Career Trajectories and Occupational Transitions Study aimed to understand workers’ career trajectories and transitions as they occur in the labor market, for many sectors and occupations. Researchers used data from four large nationally representative longitudinal surveys, as well as licensed data on occupational transitions from online career profiles, to examine workers’ career paths and wages. Of note, the study identifies shared characteristics of “launchpad” occupations—or occupations from which workers go on to experience higher-than-average wage growth—across sectors. Click here to see the interactive Career Trajectories and Occupational Transitions Dashboard.
Finally, the exploratory Machine Learning Study examined the use machine learning approaches to synthesize a large body of career pathways implementation program data. It provides insights into the potential uses of this powerful tool and its evolving legal, computing, and cost environment.
This Department of Labor-funded study was a result of the annual learning agenda process. It contributes to the growing labor evidence base to inform employment and training programs and policies and addresses Department strategic goals and priorities.
More About the Career Pathways Descriptive and Analytical Project
Evidence Coffee Break Series 1/4: How well has the career pathways approach worked? (8:33 min)- Evidence Coffee Break Series 2/4: Launchpad occupations and why they matter for career pathways programs (5:37 min)
- Evidence Coffee Break Series 3/4: Career advancement from mid-level occupations for women and people of color (6:09 min)
- Evidence Coffee Break Series, Video 4/4: Evidence-based insights for career pathways programs (8:27 min)
- How do workers progress through multiple, progressively higher levels of education and training, and associated jobs, within a pathway over time? How does the demand for workers and credentials map to employer demand? How do these career trajectories vary by business and industry sector and by occupational cluster?
- How can previous research studies on career pathways programs and components be systematically assessed to derive conclusions about that growing and complex body of research?
- Can predictive analytics, machine learning and related approaches to encode and analyze existing data help to identify trends and patterns within existing career pathways study data that were not revealed through traditional analyses? What trends are revealed? How might these approaches improve procedures and the ability to identify themes and data?
- To what extent can we identify: which components of career pathways programs are the strongest drivers of impacts? For what demographic groups? The most effective components at the program level or systems level?
- Public Use Data for Career Pathways Descriptive and Analytical Study (Public Use Data, September 2022)
- Tools You Can Use: DOL's New Career Trajectories and Occupational Transitions Dashboard (Webinar, June 2022)
- A Meta-Analysis of 46 Career Pathways Impact Evaluations (Final Report, January 2022)
- New Insights on Career Pathways: Evidence from a Meta-Analysis (Summary Brief, January 2022)
- Building Better Pathways: An Analysis of Career Trajectories and Occupational Transitions (Final Report, January 2022)
- Appendix: Healthcare, Early Care and Education, Information Technology, and Production/Manufacturing Career Trajectories and Occupational Transition Findings (Expanded Analyses by Occupational Cluster, January 2022)
- Wage Growth Disparities by Gender and Race/Ethnicity Among Entrants to Mid-Level Occupations (Short Paper, January 2022)
- Machine Learning in Workforce Development Research: Lessons and Opportunities (Issue Brief, January 2022)
- Career Pathways: Highlights of Continuous Program Improvement and Evidence Building (One Pager, January 2022)
- Evidence on Career Pathways Strategies: Highlights from a Scan of the Research (Knowledge Development Brief, November 2020)
- Career Pathways Research and Evaluation Matrix (November 2020)
Project Duration: 36 months
Contract End Date: September 2021
Contractor: Abt Associates
For More Information: ChiefEvaluationOffice@dol.gov
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.