Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce

Young adults are taking longer to land a good job. This has long-term consequences even for those who do have a good job by their early 30s. Young people are spending more time and money acquiring the education and competencies demanded by the workforce, which means they’re less able to save and invest during their 20s. As a result, they have less wealth than previous generations did at the same age, which may influence their decisions to wait longer on average to move out of their parents’ homes, get married, or have children. #UncertainPathway https://bit.ly/39mn6ye

With CEW Director Jeff Strohl's pending retirement, we are seeking a new CEW director with a clear vision for advancing the center’s mission by extending and building upon its unique strengths in research, analysis, and communications. The new CEW director must have substantial experience developing and executing a research agenda at the intersection of education and the labor market; securing external grant funding to support research activities; and communicating to multiple audiences about how and why linking research in both spheres is critical. The new director should also have experience providing support to policymakers, practitioners, and funders to build more effective education, training, and workforce systems. For more information and to apply: https://lnkd.in/e5B273gd

Today, we are releasing “Rethinking Underemployment: Are College Graduates Using Their Degrees?,” which sheds light on the difficulty of measuring underemployment—a phenomenon that occurs when workers are employed in jobs that require less education or skills than they possess. But while underemployment among college graduates is concerning, how pervasive is it? With published estimates of underemployment among those with bachelor’s degrees ranging from 25 percent to 52 percent, it’s hard to gauge the scope of the problem. Find the report here: bit.ly/3MysSAM

Time and time again, the evidence shows that pursuing a four-year degree is the safest career bet. However, deciding which major to pursue can matter as much as the decision to attend college at all. A major might lead to high earnings, but graduates can still struggle to land their first job. This is particularly true in the current labor market, which is proving to be unusually challenging for recent graduates to break into. To shed more light on the labor market for recent graduates, we analyzed data from last fall’s report “The Major Payoff” and grouped majors into four quadrants based on unemployment rates and early-career earnings. These data provide important—albeit incomplete—signals about the labor-market returns associated with different bachelor’s degree majors for newly-minted graduates. Earnings typically improve with time, and once graduates are settled in their careers, their employment becomes much more stable. However, the early difference in earnings potential associated with different majors tends to compound over time, resulting in vastly different levels of financial security and wealth-building potential. Learn more about unemployment rates and early-career earnings by major for recent graduates in our latest blog post: https://bit.ly/4bPISZw

After 18 years, CEW Director Dr. Jeff Strohl is planning to retire. He will continue to lead the center until a new director is in place. “Serving as CEW’s director has been a great privilege. I look back on CEW’s accomplishments with pride. We’ve defined a research agenda that brings labor-market and education research together, published more than 100 reports and data tools, and worked with countless experts in the field. There is much more to be done, and I’m excited to see what lies ahead.” – Jeff Strohl, CEW’s director CEW will conduct a national search for a new director. Stay tuned for more information! Read the full announcement here: https://bit.ly/4rL0Ocm

One rule for finding success on the college-to-career pathway? When faced with poor job prospects due to recession, go to school. It’s much better to enter the labor market during an economic recovery because a first job influences the earning and learning trajectory of a career. In contrast, entering the labor market during a recession can hinder advancement along an optimal career pathway. Find the rest of our recommendations from our research paper, “Navigating the College-to-Career Pathway: The 10 Rules of Moving from Youth Dependency to Adult Economic Independence,” published in partnership with the Postsecondary Value Commission. https://bit.ly/3pTk2jn

February is Financial Aid Awareness Month! Financial aid can make higher education more affordable. Explore your options — grants, scholarships, loans, and work-study — to help pay for your education. #FinAidFeb #FinancialAidAwarenessMonth https://bit.ly/3yA0Idk

CEW’s Director Jeff Strohl will be joining national data journalist Steve Kornacki and Courtney Brown, Lumina Foundation vice president of impact and planning, tomorrow at 2pm to discuss the latest data on education attainment, workforce readiness, and economic opportunity. Register here: https://bit.ly/4q45ybS

This Black History Month, we’ll be highlighting data that point to the persistent inequities found in education and the workforce. The long history of racial injustice in the US continues, but we will keep fighting for change by shining a light on the disparities.

The price of attending graduate school has tripled since 2000. Despite this, women continue to seek upward economic mobility through graduate education. Today, they earn the majority of law, medical, and veterinary degrees in the US, Jon Marcus shares in The Hechinger Report. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/e6QdVShz