Today's dynamic and rapidly changing economy is marked by ongoing labor shortages and by continuous advancements in technology and industry. An organization's growth and success hinges on a skilled workforce that is capable of navigating these advancements. Skills-based practices (also referred to as skills-first practices) to select and develop…

Disparities across race, gender, and class are important targets of descriptive research. But rather than only describe disparities, research would ideally inform interventions to close those gaps. The gap-closing estimand quantifies how much a gap (e.g., incomes by race) would close if we intervened to equalize a treatment (e.g., access to…

Professional burnout is a growing concern in campus activities units. We have collected several anecdotal reflections from student affairs professionals, which we share to illustrate how the dimensions of exhaustion, cynicism, and a lack of self-efficacy can show up in our daily work. We will provide suggestions reexamining organization structures…

Fair and equitable compensation is a key driver in attracting and retaining a talented educator workforce. States and districts play the most significant role to ensure teacher salaries are competitive. To address current challenges related to educator shortages, many state and district leaders are actively engaged in discussions about increasing…

Women make up almost half of the workforce, but only a small percentage are ever promoted above middle management (Zarya). Although more women are working now than ever before, the numbers of high-level management positions still are primarily occupied by men, and the reason for this imbalance is still unclear. Why are women not able to break that…

Mary Callahan is the Registrar and Senior Associate Dean at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She was named Registrar in 1999 and Senior Associate Dean in 2015 and sets the strategic direction for a continuum of student and faculty support activities. Among her many responsibilities are oversight of registration, grades, degree…

Like employers of many stripes, community colleges are facing their own challenges with the so-called "Great Resignation," particularly in key faculty and staff roles like nursing instructors, financial aid counselors and custodians. This article describes challenges in hiring and retention in those three roles, as well as examples of…

Organizational behavior (OB) students often have difficulty understanding how individual-, group-, and organization-level OB concepts interact to influence employee behavior in the workplace. As a result, students may disengage from the class. Yet the simple prompt of asking students "How do you get promoted?" serves as an effective…

This is the executive summary for the report, "Graduate Degrees: Risky and Unequal Paths to the Top" which proposes new measures to improve accountability and transparency in graduate education through a regulatory framework for Grad PLUS loan eligibility that includes both an in-field earnings premium test and a debt-to-earnings test.…

Aiming to inspire and empower, "Beating the Odds" highlights real-life success stories of technical women who made it. This book explores critical turning points that make or break careers and provides tools for putting insight into action -- both for women and organizations supporting them. "Beating the Odds" shares the…

Faculty members have been impacted in a multitude of ways by the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, faculty seeking promotion and tenure have been impacted by the disruption and inconsistent levels of productivity. In this article, we consider academic productivity in the context of clinical, research, education, and service missions within higher…

From embracing diversity and inclusion to calling for an end to decision-making in the men's room, companies and organizations can take practical and systemic steps to increase women's leadership and further their advancement. "Filling the Pipeline: Advancing More Women into the C-Suite and on Corporate Boards" offers the following…

There are many types of jobs under the heading education support professionals (ESPs): paraeducators, technical service workers, skilled trade workers, and health workers. Making up about one third of the public education workforce from early education through college, ESPs not only ensure that schools run smoothly, they also play a role in…

Organizational life has become less predictable in today's rapidly changing workplace. Workers must make career decisions within an increasingly uncertain organizational, societal, and global environment. Businesses face the same evolving landscape, making it difficult for them to anticipate their employees' needs, desires, and likely career…

Millions of working Californians are unable to fulfill their families' basic needs. Higher-paying jobs that require specialized skills are beyond their reach, and many entry-level jobs are likely to be automated by 2022, so there is an urgent need to redesign the state's education and training systems to help people get the skills they need to…