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The brief summarizes the input on research priorities gathered from stakeholders and experts by the WIOA Research Portfolio project team between November 2020 and April 2021. The timing of these discussions provides important context for the findings. Many discussions were held during a surge in cases of COVID-19, when social distancing measures were widespread. Other discussions were held after the vaccines were becoming widely available and restrictions were being lifted. The conversations also spanned two different presidential administrations. As a result, the policy and economic context was changing rapidly during these discussions about workforce strategies and labor market trends.

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Key Takeaways

• Stakeholders’ five priority workforce service strategy topics included work-based learning and apprenticeship; career pathways, advancement, and stackable credentials; integrated service and co-enrollment; employer service and engagement; and career planning and navigation.
• The five priority topics regarding the changing world of work included job changes related to COVID-19; changes in the value of credentials; remote services; data infrastructure; and remote work.
• Two cross-cutting themes emerged during discussions on many topics: the need to consider diversity, equity, and inclusion, and tradeoffs between short- and long-term research needs. Stakeholders discussed the development of diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplaces, and suggested using data from the public workforce system to determine whether certain groups are more or less likely to receive services and whether career pathways support or restrict equitable career access. Separately, the S. Department of Labor (DOL) must weigh the need to perform rigorous, long-term impact studies against the need to address time-sensitive evidence gaps with shorter-term but possibly less rigorous studies.

Citation

Dunham, K., Deutsch, J., Yañez, A, Holcomb, P. (2021). Mathematica. The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA): Summary of Stakeholder Input on Research Priorities. 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.