Career pathways programs provide post-secondary education and training that is organized as a series of manageable steps leading to successively higher credentials and employment opportunities in growing occupations. In the early 2000's, the approach gained attention as a promising strategy to improve post-secondary education and training outcomes for adults with low-incomes and low academic skills.
Most career pathways are designed to allow entries, exits, and re-entries at each step—depending on skill levels and prior training, employment, and changing personal situations. Each step is designed to incorporate four core program strategies:
- Assessments of skills and needs;
- Promising and innovative approaches to basic skills instruction and occupational training;
- Academic and non-academic supports to promote success; and
- Approaches for connecting students with career-track employment opportunities.
Although there is some research evidence on selected components of career pathways programs, OPRE’s portfolio of research on career pathways represents the first rigorous research on the overall effectiveness of this approach. Beginning in 2007, with the launch of the Pathways for Advancing Careers and Education (PACE) project, and continuing with the evaluations of the Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) Program (which was administered by ACF’s Office of Family Assistance), ACF has developed a robust portfolio of research on the career pathways approach. In addition, OPRE led an Employment Sectors Analysis project to identify promising occupations that can be attained with without a four-year college degree. Resources from this project are being updated by the Promising Occupations Achievable through Education or Training for Low-Income Families project.
- Pathways for Advancing Careers and Education (PACE)
- Evaluation Portfolio for the Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) Program
- Evaluations of HPOG 1.0 (Grants Awarded in 2010):
- HPOG Implementation, Systems and Outcome Project
- HPOG National Implementation Evaluation
- HPOG Impact Study
- Pathways for Advancing Careers and Education
- Career Pathways Intermediate Outcomes (CPIO) Study (also evaluating PACE programs)
- Career Pathways Long-term Outcomes (CPLO) Study (also evaluating PACE programs)
- Evaluation of Tribal HPOG
- University Partnership Research Grants for HPOG
- Career Pathways Secondary Data Analysis Grants
- Evaluations of HPOG 2.0 (Grants Awarded in 2015):
- Evaluations of HPOG 1.0 (Grants Awarded in 2010):
- Career Pathways Secondary Data Analysis Grants
- Employment Sectors Analysis for TANF Recipients and Other Low-Income Families
- Promising Occupations Achievable through Education or Training for Low-Income Families
Data from the PACE project, and many HPOG 1.0 and HPOG 2.0 evaluations are archived through the Child and Family Data Archive. See each project page or OPRE’s Archived Data page for more information.
Visit www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/project/career-pathways for more information on OPRE’s Career Pathways Portfolio.
Point(s) of contact: Nicole Constance, Amelia Popham, Lauren Deutsch, Siri Warkentien, and Li Wang.