Resource Library

In 2022, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Employment and Training Administration’s (ETA) Reentry Employment Opportunity (REO) Program to fund Mathematica, Inc. and its subcontractors—RTI International and Abt Associates—to conduct the Partners for Reentry Opportunities in Workforce Development (PROWD) Grants Evaluation. The PROWD grants effort is a first-of-its-kind partnership between DOL and the U.S.

In 2022, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Women’s Bureau, the Office of Unemployment Insurance, and the Office of Trade Adjustment Assistance to fund contractor Mathematica, and its partner Social Policy Research Associates, to conduct a series of studies as part of the Navigator Evidence-Building Portfolio p

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.

The report of the Career Pathways Descriptive and Analytical Project focuses on “mid-level” occupations—occupations that typically require education or experience beyond a high school diploma or equivalent, but less than a four-year college degree. The report presents study findings on the magnitude of the differences between occupations in the career outcomes that entrants go on to experience within 10 years after entering, which occupations are associated with high wage growth, and what traits of occupations predict higher wage growth.

Graphic highlighting several Career Pathway program milestones and improvements from the 1980's through the 2020's.

The brief summarizes lessons learned from using machine learning to study the implementation of career pathways programs. First, this brief describes the research questions that guided the study and summarizes the machine learning methods designed for the data collection and analysis activities, including study limitations and challenges encountered. It then provides lessons learned on using machine learning methods for social science research.

The brief summarizes findings of the Career Pathways Descriptive and Analytical Project’s meta-analysis study, which analyzes research on the impacts of 46 career pathways programs, based on evaluation findings published between 2008 and 2021. The brief first describes the programs and participants in the evaluations included in the meta-analysis. It then discusses the study’s overall impact findings and the findings about which program characteristics were associated with impacts, as well as the implications of each for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers.

The report summarizes 46 impact evaluations that focus on programs that embed elements of the career pathways approach. In the past decade, the career pathways approach to workforce development emerged as a promising strategy to promote long-term earnings advancement and self-sufficiency by helping workers attain in-demand postsecondary credentials (Fein, 2012). The approach involves a combination of rigorous and high-quality education, training, and other services to support participant success (WIOA, 2014).

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 paper presents a new analysis examining gender and racial/ethnic differences in wage growth among workers in the United States who, between the ages of 18 and 34, entered occupations that require some training or experience beyond a high school degree, but do not necessarily require a college degree (referred to as “mid-level” occupations). The paper includes implications for policymakers and practitioners.