Opportunity@Work shares findings from 4 presentations at APPAM
Community of Academic Scholars Reveal New Insights to Improve Mobility for STARs at Recent Conference
In an era of increasing income inequality, fostering greater economic mobility for workers in the U.S. labor force is quickly becoming a critical challenge. To better understand and address that challenge, Opportunity@Work assembled an interdisciplinary group of social scientists to discuss this issue at the most recent meeting of the Association of Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM). We were joined by Dr. Peter Blair, a professor of Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education , Dr. Peter Belmi, a professor of Business Administration at the University of Virginia, Dr. Ashley Jardina a professor of Political Science from Duke University, and Dr. Neil Lewis, a professor of Communications f at Cornell University.
Our panel, “Inclusive Practices in the Labor Market: Supporting Economic Mobility for STARs,“ focused on labor market exclusion experienced by STARs — workers who are Skilled through Alternative Routes, rather than a bachelor’s degree. These scholars have made significant headway in building an understanding of how differently STARs experience the labor market and workplace compared to degree holders. We know that STARs have seen their economic mobility deteriorate over the past three decades due to changes in hiring practices and employer beliefs that value a bachelor's degree over skill attainment. From 2008 until 2018, almost 75% of jobs added to the labor market were ones where employers frequently require a bachelor’s degree, — yet more than 60% of adults in this country do not have a college degree. The panel shared their understanding of the hurdles STARs face in the labor market and revealed the great chasms in our body of knowledge that need to be filled to improve mobility for STARs.
Dr. Peter Blair grounded our discussion with a stunning statistic about STAR wages: it takes 30 years of work for a STAR to earn the salary of a recent college graduate. In other words, 30 years of experience in the workforce does not equate to 4 years of classroom learning. He also shared compelling evidence showing that, though skills are the currency of the labor market, this currency works differently for workers with the BA degree than it does for STARs. We know that STARs can perform effectively in higher-wage jobs; we see that high volumes of STARs occupy those jobs, suggesting that workers are gaining skills for these occupations through alternative paths. So, how can we improve the ability of a STAR to signal their skill?
Dr. Ashley Jardina, joined by Justin Heck, brought race to the forefront of the discussion with their observations on racial occupational segregation; members of different racial groups are distributed unequally across different types of jobs. Racial occupational segregation has increased since the year 2000, and exists also among workers with college degrees, suggesting that educational attainment cannot explain the difference in opportunity. Instead, it means that workers of color are having a profoundly different experience in the labor market than their white counterparts, often being channeled into lower-paying occupations and not provided the opportunities regardless of their educational attainment. The result is an uneven playing field where, without deliberate interventions, STARs of color face significant hurdles.
Dr. Peter Belmi and Catherine Owsik illustrated how racial disparities and educational bias show up in the workplace. Belonging, which is defined as feeling valued, accepted, and respected, is a key motivator for employees in the workplace. And yet, how workers experience belonging at work is often shaped by race, education, and socioeconomic class. White workers from middle-class backgrounds experience more belonging at work than those underrepresented minorities and those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds (STARs), even in higher-paying jobs. This lower sense of belonging is felt as STARs seek out greater mobility in the labor market. The end result is a workforce where underrepresented minorities and STARs are not accepted, valued, and respected as they chase the “American dream,” further inhibiting opportunities for advancement and growth.
Dr. Neil Lewis gave us a historical perspective on the discriminatory attitudes that underpin the inequity facing STARs and spoke about how to change this narrative. Current practices prioritize hiring by educational attainment of a bachelor’s degree. That practice is driven by beliefs of meritocracy as well as prejudiced beliefs that having a bachelor’s degree is a proxy for skill attainment. Yet, workers gain skills through many routes in addition to college, and when more employers value those skills gained through alternative routes, we will begin to see a more inclusive workforce in the U.S.
APPAM provided the opportunity to activate foundational research on the challenges of the labor market and hurdles faced by STARs. Opportunity@Work is dedicated to creating a more inclusive labor market that values skills-based hiring, putting our economy and business on a path to prosperity. Findings from a multidisciplinary social science research agenda can drive behavior and practice change for employers, workforce entities, and policymakers. To help ensure that the country emerges stronger and that STARs are part of the solution to building stronger communities, we need to focus on them in a way we have not before. For that, we need more scholarship about what STARs experience, how employers see and treat them and so much more. To join our research community or learn more about our research, go to https://opportunityatwork.org/our-solutions/stars-insights/.
This blog post was written by Dr. Gina Rosen, Social Science Researcher at Opportunity@Work
