College-educated immigrants in the United States are more likely to have advanced degrees and to major in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields than their U.S.-born peers with college degrees. But their educational levels have not always translated into occupational gains: They are more likely than U.S.-born workers to be…

The Office of Workforce Development (OWD) in New Orleans, Louisiana, with a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, implemented Career Pathways, an innovative program designed to increase the local talent pool and help lower-skilled, unemployed, and underemployed individuals train for work in growing fields. RAND Corporation researchers evaluated…

Lower-skilled workers in the United States face a shrinking pool of employment opportunities. To combat this, the city of New Orleans' Office of Workforce Development (OWD) developed a job training program with a grant, awarded in 2014, from the U.S. Department of Labor Workforce Innovation Fund. The program, Career Pathways, was designed to help…

Differences in underemployment, defined as employment below one's actual or potential skill level, were investigated for a stratified random sample of 602 individuals representing an estimated labor force of 410,074 in the Tidewater area. Data were obtained by questionnaire and were analyzed according to occupational level, job attitudes, job…

Structural changes in international economy may give rise to a reemergence of full employment programs. Such initiatives must address the special problem of minority unemployment and must develop new approaches to avoid the difficulties experienced by such programs in the 1970s. Quality work for decent, secure wages must be assured. (VM)

A survey of 13,582 employees of 261 employers was conducted in Iowa to determine if women are underemployed (i.e., not employed in positions or at pay levels commensurate with their education, previous work experience and aspirations) and underutilized (i.e., not employed in certain types and levels of positions to the same extent as their…

The benefits of sectoral workforce development programs to the working poor were examined in a 3-year longitudinal study of participants in six sectoral employment training programs across the United States. The programs, which were all designed to serve low-income clients, provided training in a diverse set of industries, including the following:…