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Vocational Education

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Also known as career or technical education, vocational education refers to formal training and instruction for technical, paraprofessional, skilled, or semiskilled occupations, usually without requiring or providing a bachelor’s degree. RAND researchers have examined the relationship between vocational education and effective workforce planning and development, state policies influencing vocational education, vocational education quality, and more.

Report
The Value of Education and Training After High School
Most types of postsecondary credentials can lead to improved earnings. But returns can vary across different fields and by demographic characteristics. Understanding the value of credentials can help individuals, employers, and policymakers make smarter investments.
Feb 2, 2022
Commentary
If College Isn't the Pathway to the Middle Class It Once Was—What Is?
Is college still the best path to the middle class? It's complicated. College credentials still do lead many to increased earnings, but the rapid increases in college costs, coupled with a strong labor market, have made the payoff for a college degree no longer a sure thing.
Apr 5, 2022

Explore Vocational Education

Report
National Guard Youth ChalleNGe: Program Progress in 2021–2022
The National Guard Youth ChalleNGe program serves young people ages 16 to 18 experiencing difficulty in traditional high school. This report covers the program years 2021–2022 and is the seventh in a series on this quasi-military residential program.
Jun 1, 2023
Report
Stackable Credential Pipelines and Equity for Low-Income Individuals: Evidence from Colorado and Ohio
The authors examine whether low-income individuals are stacking credentials and benefiting economically, explore systemic barriers to stackable credential opportunities for low-income individuals, and consider solutions to strengthen these pipelines.
Apr 13, 2023
Research Brief
States Can Take Steps to Address Potential Barriers to Equity in Stackable Credential Pipelines
The authors examine barriers to stacking credentials for low-income individuals -- limited chances for stacking in some fields and institutions, insufficient information, and challenges moving between programs -- and consider solutions from stakeholders.
Apr 13, 2023
Research Brief
Do Low-Income Students Benefit from Stacking Credentials? Descriptive Evidence from Colorado and Ohio
The authors describe findings from a study on how frequently low-income individuals are stacking credentials, whether stacking increases wage-earning opportunities, and which fields provide the best returns from stacking.
Apr 13, 2023
Report
How Did COVID-19 Affect Prison Education?
Many U.S. correctional systems shut down or cut back on education and vocational programs because of the pandemic. But having to adapt to COVID-19 restrictions helped accelerate the adoption of online and hybrid learning models and the use of technology for prison education programs.
Mar 23, 2023
Journal Article
Community Colleges Can Increase Credential Stacking by Introducing New Programs Within Established Technical Pathways
This study analyzes the introduction of new certificate or associate degree program options at Ohio community colleges during school years 2004–2005 to 2016–2017.
Feb 14, 2023
Report
National Guard Youth ChalleNGe: Program Progress in 2020–2021
The National Guard Youth ChalleNGe program serves young people experiencing difficulty in traditional high school. This report documents program trends in 2020–2021 and presents analyses on the Job ChalleNGe program.
Aug 22, 2022
Research Brief
Setting Goals for Success: An Assessment of the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program's Post-Residential Action Plan Process
Cadets in the National Guard Youth Challenge (ChalleNGe) Program use a goal-setting process called the Post-Residential Action Plan (P-RAP) to navigate career and life choices. The authors analyzed the P-RAP process across multiple ChalleNGe sites.
Aug 10, 2022
Report
Career Services and College-Employer Partnership Practices in Community Colleges
The number of middle-skill jobs in STEM fields that require credentials but not a four-year college degree is growing. Community colleges play a key role in preparing students to fill these positions. How can states support colleges and their partnerships with employers?
Jul 6, 2022
Research Brief
Six Skills for Success: How the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program Can Support Participants in Developing Portable Skills Employers Value
The authors of this research identify a set of common skills among high-paying, growing occupations that do not require a bachelor's degree for possible incorporation into the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe program curriculum.
Jun 30, 2022
Journal Article
Labour Market and Skills Demand: Horizon Scanning and Scenarios
This study developed five qualitative scenarios of what the UK labour market may look like in the future. They focused on the construction, wholesale and retail, higher education, transport and logistics, health and social care, and energy sectors.
Jun 1, 2022
Report
Leveraging Technology to Support Prisoner Reentry
How can technology help ease the transition from jails or prisons back into the community—and ensure better outcomes for individuals who have been incarcerated?
May 3, 2022
Journal Article
Optimal Allocation of Seats in the Presence of Peer Effects: Evidence from a Job Training Program
We model optimal treatment assignment in programs with a limited number of seats and study how the presence of peer effects impact the optimal allocation rule and us data from an RCT to show there are peer effects in the job training context.
Mar 29, 2022
Report
Evaluation of the Minnesota Department of Correction's Career Navigators Program: Final Report
The authors conducted an independent process and outcomes evaluation of the Minnesota Department of Corrections' Career Navigators program, which aimed to help people with educational and career opportunities before and after being incarcerated.
Feb 15, 2022
Report
What Are the Skills Required to Obtain a Good Job? An Analysis of Labor Markets, Occupational Features, and Skill Training for the Youth ChalleNGe Program
The authors of this report identify a set of common skills among high-paying, growing occupations that do not require a bachelor's degree and describe how to incorporate such broader skills into the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe program curriculum.
Feb 4, 2022
Report
Goal-Setting to Support Cadet Success: Insights and Recommendations for the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program
The National Guard Youth Challenge Program uses the Post-Residential Action Plan to assist at-risk youth with identifying and achieving life goals. The authors examined various approaches to fostering adolescents' goal-setting success.
Dec 20, 2021
Commentary
Job Training Is More Effective When All Parties Work Together
The United States is facing economic gaps wider than have been seen in a century. To keep the nation economically strong and able to provide citizens with middle-class lifestyles, educators, government, and private industry need to work together to shape training opportunities.
Jul 6, 2021
Research Brief
Building Ohio's Workforce Through Stackable Credentials
Ohio has been a leader in scaling stackable credential programs since passing initial legislation on stackable credentials nearly 15 years ago. Over this time, Ohio saw strong growth in short-term credential programs. And most individuals who stacked credentials earned a degree.
Jun 8, 2021

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RAND Topic:
Vocational Education

Research conducted by

Researcher Spotlight

Lindsay Daugherty

Senior Policy Researcher

Lindsay Daugherty is a senior policy researcher at the RAND Corporation who specializes in education and workforce policy, with a particular focus on research that helps to improve the economic circumstances of individuals through increased access to and success in postsecondary education and…
Dwayne M. Butler

Senior Management Scientist

Dwayne Butler is a senior management scientist at the RAND Corporation, and professor of policy analysis at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. His areas of substantive knowledge or experience include: leadership; human capital management; organizational theory; educational theory, with particular…

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