By J.D. Rottweiler, Ph.D.
We’ve lived with an economically damaging pandemic for just about a year, and it’s become clear in most industries that we need to find a path forward. In education, that means developing ways to meet current and future workforce needs and making those opportunities accessible.
Nationally, applications for federal aid are down, signaling a gap caused by uncertainties related to the pandemic. Distribution of vaccines will help with a return to normalcy, but circumstances provide an opportunity for educators to define a new normal while also strengthening our systems.
In an op-ed published in the Arizona Capitol Times, representatives of the Arizona Board of Regents, the Arizona Community College Coordinating Council, and College Success Arizona said, “Our shared hope is that 2021 will be a transformational moment in which state leaders begin to rebuild what the pandemic has broken, develop ambitious and equitable new programs, and recommit to ensuring access to a post-secondary education for every Arizona student and family.”
Arizona businesses and the consumers they serve will be the ultimate losers in the event that educators cannot reconnect with prospective students. These prospective students, whomever they may be, will be needed to fill the critical shortage of skilled workers. Similarly, their newly acquired skills will provide an opportunity for a livable wage, that may expand into homeownership and increased consumption.
As the economy and the world of work changes, fewer jobs requiring only a high school diploma exist. Some of these jobs are being outsourced, automated, or made obsolete by advances in technology. According to the National Skills Coalition, in 2018, Arizona had too few jobs requiring only a high school diploma or GED available for the number of people who met those criteria. This shrinking demand for unskilled labor leads to continuing low wages. On the other end, the number of jobs in Arizona that required a bachelor’s degree equaled the number of workers who met those criteria. Where we see a shortage of workers is in the skilled areas. Simply put, the available and growing jobs in Arizona will require training beyond high school but less than a bachelor’s degree.
Opportunity lies in the trades, technology, and jobs requiring some level of skill. In 2018, this was the only category of jobs in which Arizona had fewer workers than the number of positions available. That means these folks are in demand, and you know what that means for wages.
Arizona recently joined the National Governors Association and the American Association of Community Colleges Reskilling and Recovery Network. The network brings together state and community college leaders with workforce and industry partners to identify and scale strategies that give workers the skills necessary to succeed in an economy reshaped by the pandemic. The Arizona team includes representatives from community colleges, Arizona@Work, business and industry, workforce development leaders, the governor’s office, and Achieve60AZ. The team has developed the Arizona Reskilling and Recovery Framework that seeks to improve job placement in target industries, close the skills gap, move low-wage workers to jobs with family-sustaining wages, increase post-secondary credential attainment by those with a high school diploma or GED, and increase public-private partnerships whereby employers sponsor employees in partnerships with community colleges, including apprenticeships, tuition reimbursement and training.
One strategy already being explored at Cochise College is Integrated Education and Training (IET), which offers basic skills instruction concurrently and in the context of a career technical education field for Adult Education students. What this means is that a student could pursue a GED at the same time that he or she would pursue, for example, training in light diesel, medical assistant or HVAC. Students would finish with both a high school equivalency and industry-recognized credentials. Today, an estimated 700,000 Arizona adults do not have a high school diploma and are thus being left behind.
Arizona’s Reskilling and Recovery efforts align with the Arizona Commerce Authority’s (ACA) Five-Year Plan, including the stated outcomes of job creation, wage growth, capital investment, entrepreneurial vitality, and increased exports. A data and gap analysis is underway to identify the skills gaps in Arizona, patterns of unemployment, education levels, wages, the impact of technology on industry, and disparities in these areas across socioeconomic class, race and ethnicity, and gender.
As a resident of a rural county, I’m hopeful that these efforts will lead to new opportunities, and I am, as always, proud and excited to advocate for Cochise County students.
J.D. ROTTWEILER, Ph.D., is president of Cochise College. Contact him at jdr@cochise.edu.