Labor Market Projections
A Perfect Nor’ Easter
Never in the history of New England have labor market factors been aligned in such a way as to create a ‘perfect economic nor’easter’! An unparalleled shortage of educated and skilled workers has created a labor crisis in the region. This crisis has been triggered by the retirement of baby boomers, the out-migration of skilled and educated workers, the immigration of uneducated and unskilled labor, and record rates of high school and college drop outs.
Looking more closely at two subsets of the population-the young and the old-is instructive in understanding the issues involved in New England’s labor market crisis.
The ADA Center is collaborating with several organizations to examine these issues, and in this article we examine in particular, those efforts that are steering youth towards a successful work life. The ADA Center is at the beginning stages of researching the question, “How can we improve employment outcomes for students with disabilities?”
The Youth Advisory: A Generation of High School and College Dropouts
In 2004-2005, the high school drop out rate was the highest ever in the state of Massachusetts-11,000 students dropped out. Evidence of failure abounds in current statistics. Currently, 75 of every 100 high school students graduate. Of the 75 graduates, 44 immediately enter college. Of the 44 that enter college, only 25 graduate (New England Board of Higher Education, 2006). Let’s face it, with education being the leading high growth industry in New England, and distinguished as a center of institutes of higher education with 270 institutions and almost 800,000 students – something has gone drastically wrong! To deal with this disturbing situation, the New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) has launched a new regional initiative, the ‘College Ready Initiative’.
The College Ready New England Initiative
The College Ready Initiative unites businesses, government and education in all six New England states to develop strategies to increase economic competitiveness and well-being of our region through expanded college participation and success. One of the issues being addressed is how to increase achievement and raise skills in reading, writing and math so that students graduate high school and enter college prepared to succeed. Though laudable, the College Ready Initiative does not yet address how disability issues effect high school and college drop out rates. However, The New England ADA Center and NEBHE will be working together to understand how disability is a factor in educational attainment and subsequent labor market supply. You can visit the NEBHE’s website to learn more about this commendable initiative www.nebhe.org
New England ADA Center Examines How Students with Disabilities are Doing Educationally and in the Labor Market in New England
Under our new five-year federally funded grant, The New England ADA Center will be conducting research on the status of students with disabilities in New England. Our new research partners, the Center for Labor Market Studies (CLMS) will create a systematic method for targeting growing jobs and employers and matching them with local college programs graduating students with disabilities who can fill those jobs. CLMS will produce and disseminate a “Guide to New England Jobs for Individuals with Disabilities”. CLMS will also be able to track students with disabilities to find out, what percentage of students with disabilities are graduating from high school, going onto higher education or getting employment. The ADA Center hopes to identify innovative approaches and solutions that increase employability for students with disabilities.
The Prevalence of Brain-Based Disabilities in a Brain-Based Economy
To help increase college success within the region, further solutions need to be discovered concerning students with disabilities entering higher education. This is especially true with regard to “brain-based” disabilities, which are reported as the most prevalent impairment in post secondary education today. The New England economy is “brain-based”. It is a hub of education, research, and innovation in technology, health care and the hospitality industries. At the same time, the University of New England reports a huge increase in students with Attention Deficit Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Bipolar Disorder. Many students have “documented” disabilities upon entry and others disclose disabilities soon after classes begin (Featherman, 2004). Of the total of New England’s institutes of higher education, it is the 74 community colleges, with an enrollment of 208,209 (American Association of Community Colleges, 2004), that serve more students with disabilities than any other segment of higher education. This is followed by four year public colleges, four year private colleges and finally two year private colleges (U.S. Department of Education, 1998). Through our five-year grant, the DBTAC-New England ADA Center is exploring how to assist colleges with this issue.
The Whiteout of New England – Aging Population
In conjunction with the youth entry into the labor market is the ‘whiteout’ of New England – or, the retirement of the baby boomers. This ‘whiteout’ accounts for over one half of all job openings (CT’s Department of Labor, 2005). Most of those jobs require a bachelor’s degree. New England has become, demographically speaking, the oldest region in the country. All six New England states rank among the 12 oldest in the nation. Maine holds the distinction of having the oldest population on average in the United States (Francese, 2004) followed by Vermont. Who will fill these jobs once the older generation is fully retired? This may be a perfect opportunity for youth with disabilities to stay in school, get training, and get those jobs. Some companies have begun mentoring programs with older workers who are transferring their knowledge and experience to new hires.
Will Youth with Disabilities Succeed in the Path of Education, Training and Employment?
During the course of our research over the next five years, the ADA Center, along with our collaborators, hopes to identify strategies to help the youth of today succeed in education and work. If youth succeed in greater numbers, they will help employers ‘shovel out’ of their labor shortage problems.
Will the youth of today choose education and work? My money is on students who can imagine a horizon of 30-40 years of employment. These students will find a way to stay in school, get the training and education and work experience necessary to obtain good employment.
References
- American Association of Community Colleges, (2004). Statistics. (www.aacc.nche.edu)
- Connecticut’s Industries and Occupations. Connecticut Department of Labor, January, (2005).
- Featherman, S. (2004). “Emotional Rescue: New Generation of Troubled Students Strains College Services”. Journal of the Board of Higher Education Vol. XIX, Number 1, Summer p. 13-14.
- Francese, P. (2005). Demography is Still Destiny. Journal of the Board of Higher Education. Vol. XX, Number 2, Fall p. 33-34
- New England Board of Higher Education, (2006). (www.nebhe.org)
