Purpose: American Community colleges are vital to the country's economic mobility and are leaders in developing and facilitating career, technical, and workforce education. This study explored employer perspectives on employees' common and specialized skills across industries in the United States. Design/methodology/approach: Employers were…

Community colleges are the leader in facilitating career and technical education (CTE) and workforce development (WD) programs. However, employers who hire recent graduates of these programs question the quality of the education provided. This qualitative study used a focus group comprised of manufacturing and engineering professionals in Florida…

A three-year study that JFF conducted for the National Science Foundation shows that community college technology internships can be effective bridges to employment for postsecondary students. The research showed that when internships were required for graduation students were much more likely to participate. But for internships to be effective,…

Of the studies of internships at two-year colleges, few have focused specifically on IT and engineering technology (ET) programs and the structures that are essential to building effective technology internships. Case studies at two Florida community colleges enabled the exploration of internship structure, student participation by demographics,…

This research explores how COVID has impacted technology internships, including student and employer participation, satisfaction, and challenges; changes in the structure of internships; and impact on student employment outcomes. The roots of this study emerged in summer of 2021, as the authors were completing a three-year study funded by the…

This research is about how one community college preserved and strengthened their technology internships during COVID with commitment and creativity. Although the college, employers, and students faced technical, logistical, and supervisory challenges in maintaining technology internships through the pandemic, the college was committed to ensuring…

This study analyses the perspectives of four stakeholder groups towards Applied Baccalaureate (AB) degrees in the United States. Perspectives towards AB degrees that are held by community college personnel, university personnel, employers and student participants are analysed using the Policy Narrative Framework. Findings show the stakeholder…

In this National Science Foundation Advanced Technician Education program (NSF ATE) project, we aimed to explore factors that would strengthen the rural IT employee workforce and improve educational support related to broadband, telecommunications, and networks in rural settings. Using multiple methods to triangulate rural IT program curricula…

Each year the Florida Education and Training Placement Information Program (FETPIP) conducts surveys to determine the opinions of employers about the preparation of graduates of vocational programs. The 1992 survey focused on eight specific occupational training areas (i.e., child care services, computer programming and analysis, dental assisting,…

The third in a series of annual employer opinion reports from the Florida Education and Training Placement Information Program (FETPIP), this 1991 report summarizes the results of three surveys of Florida employers known to have hired former vocational education program participants. One survey solicited employers' general opinions about…

A study examined ways of improving the response rates of employers to followup surveys collecting information on graduates of community colleges in Florida. Followup study procedures and instruments that had been used in the state were modified to provide for greater faculty involvement in placement of students and identification of employers and…

Each year the Florida Education and Training Placement Information Program (FETPIP) conducts surveys to determine the opinions of employers about the preparation of graduates of vocational programs. The 1993 survey focused on eight school district and community college occupational training areas (i.e., automotive technology, gasoline engine…

To gather data on the future educational needs for successful employment in Seminole County, Florida, a cooperative study was conducted by Seminole Community College and the Seminole County Public Schools. A sample was developed of 450 employers selected by types of businesses employing technology education graduates in Seminole, Orange, and…

An assessment of the training needs of Broward County, Florida, employers was conducted: (1) to determine the existing training needs of large businesses, industrial firms, and local units of government; (2) to determine which educational agencies in the county could fulfill these needs; and (3) to inform the companies of the results in order to…

In 1990, a study was conducted to determine the value of an Associate in Arts (AA) degree to 2,810 community college graduates from 5 Florida schools 8 years following graduation. By cross-matching the graduates social security numbers with both the State University System Student Data Course File and the Department of Unemployment Compensation…