Newsweek - USA (2021-11-26)

&/

2 &

.:

,^6 (

)^5

20

^72

3 

/(

)^7

*

(^7

7 <

^5

2 %

(^5

72

^6 &

+^0

,'

7 ʔ$

)^3

ʔ*

(^7

7 <

^6

(^5

*,

2 

)/

25

(^6

ʔ%

/^2

20

%(

5 *

ʔ*

(^7

7 <

*

(^7

7 <

Periscope

14 NEWSWEEK.COM

We ’r e N o t

Getting Free

Community College

Here’s how to support workers equitably

toward such programs.

Second, we need to address the

social determinants of working and

learning. There are a number of essen-

tial conditions that help to determine

employment outcomes, including

housing, transportation, childcare

and access to health care. Research

reveals that these factors are espe-

cially critical for success on the job

for low-income workers of color, who

are less likely to have affordable access

to support services in their neighbor-

hoods.

The new Build Back Better frame-

work includes investments in afford-

able health care and housing, as well

president biden recently

announced that after negotia-

tions with moderate Democrats, his

Build Back Better Act would no longer

include 12 weeks of paid family and

medical leave and free community

college. While this was disappointing,

all hope is not lost for workers; the

new plan still includes $40 billion to

make higher education and training

more affordable, including expanded

Pell Grants and critical

investments in skills-

based training, support

services and America’s

workforce development

infrastructure.

These investments

will have a sizable impact,

especially if educational institutions

and training providers remember

workers of color and others who are

too often left behind.

America needs this focus urgently.

A recent analysis of enrollment data

from 40 states found that Black and

Latinx students were more likely to

wind up in programs oriented toward

lower-paying fields like hospitality,

whereas white students were more

likely to enroll in STEM and IT. Black

Americans also remain underrepre-

sented in registered apprenticeship

programs, traditionally one of the

most proven pathways to good-pay-

ing jobs without a college degree. And

the pandemic has exacerbated these

disparities; according to data from

the National Student Clearinghouse,

enrollment among Black students in

two- and four-year colleges fell by 10

percent in the spring of 2021, double

the national average.

We can’t keep perpetuating the

same structures and hoping for better

results. Building back better requires

ensuring that our education systems

deliver on economic

opportunity for all.

Below are a few insights

from the research to

help us get there.

First, short-term

training needs to con-

nect directly to good

jobs. Prior studies show that learn-

and-earn programs that link training

to good-paying work opportunities—

like, for example, apprenticeships—

provide high return on investment,

whereas the results for “stand-alone”

short-term training programs are

much more mixed.

If we want to create clear pathways

into family-sustaining careers, we

need to vet training programs for

outcomes like job quality and upward

mobility. Policymakers can help by dis-

continuing short-term programs with

questionable labor market value, and

interrupting the systems that tend to

channel low-income students of color

BY

ANGELA JACKSON

and

RACHEL LIPSON

OPINION

NOVEMBER 26, 2021