There is a current discussion in universities regarding the need for dedicated research data stewards. This article presents a set of fictional personas for research data support based on experience and requests by experts in different areas of data management. Using a modified Delphi study, 24 participants from different stakeholder groups have…

"How Clear Is Their Path? Guided Career Pathways and Community College Students" explores how prepared community college students are to meet their career goals. Over 90 percent of students responding to the 2023 Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) indicated they had chosen a career path. But many of those respondents…

How does postsecondary human capital investment respond to changes in labor market skill demand? We quantify the magnitude and nature of this response in the U.S. 4-year sector. To do so, we develop a new measure of institution-major-specific labor demand, and corresponding shift-share instrument, that combines job ads with alumni locations. We…

There are hundreds of local labor markets fuel the American economy, and each one is driven by the needs of the local area's mix of industries and the skills of its workers. For each labor market to operate at its peak potential, these needs and skills must align. Achieving alignment requires local education and training providers to convey…

This qualitative study explored the views of community college employers, faculty, administrators, and students on the importance of foundational skills, including literacy, numeracy, and problem-solving skills, in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) programs of study. Participants (N=50) were recruited, semi-structured interviews…

Master of Accountancy (MAcc) program enrollments have declined significantly throughout the United States in the last decade. Concurrently, the accounting industry has an increasing demand for employees with advanced skillsets. Ultimately, the accounting industry is projected to have a shortage of qualified labor to the market. As the need for…

In Chapter 1 I investigate the supply of college majors and how this facet of institutional behavior influences student outcomes and costs in higher education. As a first contribution, I identify a decades-long trend in 4-year postsecondary education in the United States--the production of bachelor's degrees measured by their concentration across…

With the complex and ever-changing business and employment environments, learners are being prepared for jobs that may no longer exist, while others are not acquiring the skills needed for the in-demand jobs to which they aspire. Given the future of workplace demands, there are strong indications that non-degree certifications and…

Individuals need the shortest path to opportunity and employers require the shortest path to a skilled diverse workforce. To solve for this, Western Governors University (WGU) has created a skills-based architecture to map our competencies and credentials to high-demand knowledge, and technical skills as well as powerful, enduring, employability…

"The Improving the Pipeline for Tennessee's Workforce: Academic Supply for Occupational Demand Report" is the second joint report between the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC), Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD), Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD), and Tennessee…

This essay reviews the work of the US Business--Higher Education Forum (BHEF) in data science and analytics and offers a brief review of how BHEF catalysed responses from its academic members to meet the talent needs of its business members, highlighting implications for business and higher education in the future.

In today's economy, more than 80 percent of jobs require workers to have education or training beyond the high school level--making skills more important than ever before. However, this does not mean that employers are exclusively recruiting individuals with a four-year degree. In fact, since over half of all jobs today can be classified as…

Whirlwind growth in the technology sector has led to heightened demand for workers with specialized skills in coding and computer science. Projections for continued expansion of the sector feed a persistent fear that traditional educational offerings won't generate enough graduates with the skills the economy demands. Bootcamps focused on coding…

Background: This article seeks to examine factors that shape Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) engineering students' understanding of their future career choices. Moreover, given the promising and ambitious vision for growth in both TVET and Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), as envisaged by the policy framework, White Paper on…

America's need for top talent in information technology and computer science is a longstanding problem. However, as the pace of technological change accelerates, the demand for skilled information technology and computer science workers is reaching critical levels while the supply of skilled workers remains well below the needs of the nation's…