The impending retirement of the baby boom cohort represents the first time in the history of the United States that such a large and well-educated group of workers will exit the labor force. This could imply skill shortages in the U.S. economy. We develop near-term labor force projections of the educational demands on the workforce and the supply…

This report addresses two key questions about postsecondary student unit record data systems (PSURSs): (1) What data are collected by various parties; and (2) how do these entities use the data to inform policy decisions? This 2016 report is both a follow-up and a redesign of two previous "Strong Foundations" reports by SHEEO (2010 and…

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to provide an in-depth analysis of the labor market for apprentice training in the US construction industry. Also, the paper analyzes the learning process of apprentices and discusses the role of apprenticeships as a pathway to higher education. Design/methodology/approach: The interdisciplinary approach of…

With funding from the Joyce and Lumina foundations, Jobs for the Future (JFF) launched Credentials that Work to help postsecondary institutions, regions, and states align their occupational training programs to changing market demands. This initiative incorporates innovations in real-time labor market information in guiding institutions to better…

This paper examines the propensity of highly educated women to exit the labor force at motherhood. We focus on systematic differences across women with various graduate degrees to analyze whether these speak to differences in the capacity to combine children with work over a variety of high-education career paths. Working with a sample of Harvard…

Over the past decade, policymakers and business leaders across New England have been concerned that the region's slower population growth and loss of residents to other parts of the country will lead to a shortage of skilled labor--particularly when the baby boom generation retires. Prior to the Great Recession, the concern was that an inadequate…

In December 2012, the "U.S. Department of Education Chapter of Blacks In Government (BIG) Report: The Status of the African American Workforce at the U.S. Department of Education" (ED538186) described racial and demographic data by grade levels for Pay Period 11 in 2012 compared to similar data towards the end of the Bush administration.…

One of New England's greatest assets is its skilled labor force, which has historically been an engine of economic growth in the region. But the skilled labor force of the future is growing more slowly in New England than in the rest of the United States. Since 2000, the population of "recent college graduates"--individuals ages 22 to 27…

Responding to the link between postsecondary education and economic productivity, government policymakers and private-sector and nonprofit groups are implementing a number of initiatives aimed at increasing educational attainment among the American public. By and large, these actions have taken place at the state level, which at first glance makes…

Recruitment of African-Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans and Asian-Americans is a priority across the federal government. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must report annually on minority employment, and its findings show some gains. Overall, minorities were 33% of the federal work force in 2008, meaning they were…

The labor market is sending out explicit signals that determine the behavior of present and potential workers. These signals give impetus to the development of education. In the past few years, for example, there has been a dramatic increase in the numbers of college students and higher educational institutions; the sphere of supplementary…

One way of describing the recent movement of thought about the academic labor system is as a series of waves. A "first wave" of labor consciousness emerged before 1970, propelling the self-organization of the academic work force, especially in public institutions, where more than half the faculty are unionized. This labor awareness was…

The impacts of foreign immigration on population and labor force growth during the 1990s varied widely across U.S. geographic regions, divisions and states. New England was far more dependent than nearly all other regions on the new wave of foreign immigrants to achieve its population growth and labor force growth during the past decade. In fact,…