Along with changing industry market conditions and emerging technologies, federal investments in new energy and transportation infrastructure targeted at limiting the effects of climate change are predicted to dramatically reshape the workforce. In the next ten years, as many as 9 million high-quality jobs will be created to implement new energy…

Rural areas depend upon community colleges to train people for the fields that match their regions' current and growing needs. To do so, these colleges must keep abreast of the employment trends in their area, be aware of where jobs have been lost and where they are being gained and determine how to recruit students who might be reluctant to be…

To remain competitive in the labor market, many middle-aged and older adults need to upgrade existing or learn new skills through occupational training and education. Furthermore, as compared with the past, employers now are more willing to hire older workers after completing a credential due to a low unemployment rate. Moreover, employers often…

To remain competitive in the labor market, many middle-aged and older adults need to upgrade existing or learn new skills through occupational training and education. Furthermore, as compared with the past, employers now are more willing to hire older workers after completing a credential due to a low unemployment rate. Moreover, employers often…

Bobby Curran grew up in a working-class neighborhood in Baltimore, finished high school, and followed his grandfather's steel-toed bootprints straight to Sparrows Point, a 3,000-acre sprawl of industry on the Chesapeake Bay. College was not part of the plan. A gritty but well-paying job at the RG Steel plant was Mr. Curran's ticket to a secure…

As the United States economy moves away from manufacturing, members of this workforce are facing an uncertain future. In this study, an interpretive methodological framework is used to explore women's experiences with textile manufacturing job loss, and subsequent retraining at a local community college. Narratives of four displaced workers and…

The apprenticeship movement is reshaping skills, policies, and programs in the United States at a critical moment in our country's history. This reader offers a chorus of voices emanating from different countries and populations, echoing commitment to bright, sustainable workforce futures through a well-crafted approach to this talent development…

Despite the desire of many older adults to remain in the workforce, those without jobs face unprecedented durations of unemployment. Many of the unemployed lack current skills for jobs in demand and need to either upgrade their skills or be trained for a new occupation to become reemployed. An aging workforce, combined with the negative effects of…

The Workforce Training and Economic Development (WTED) Fund was established in 2003 as part of the Grow Iowa Values Fund and is currently funded through the Iowa Skilled Worker and Job Creation Fund. This fund has become an important source of financing for community college new program innovation, development, and capacity building, particularly…

This study describes and examines the experiences of displaced manufacturing workers as they lose jobs and retrain in community college settings. The analysis included perceptions of community college services and programming designed to help the workers transition into retraining programs, along with those factors that they identified as…

High-tenured displaced workers often experience significant earnings losses that persist for the rest of their working lives. A well-targeted training initiative has the potential to substantially reduce permanent earnings losses for those displaced workers who have the academic preparation, work experience, and interest to complete high-return…

In the article, "Completion Agenda for Baby Boomers", Moltz highlights how community colleges are currently implementing programs, such as the American Association of Community Colleges' Plus 50 Completion strategy, to encourage older learners to return to America's college campuses. The effects of the recent recession and the…

Robert LaLonde of the University of Chicago and Daniel Sullivan of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago suggest that retraining through our nation's community colleges is a way to reduce the skills gaps of at least some of these displaced workers and increase their reemployment earnings. Although workers may still experience significant earnings…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of older adult dislocated workers who participated in community college non-credit workforce training programs. The research questions guiding the study were: (a) what are the experiences of older adult dislocated workers who attend community college non-credit workforce…

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to illuminate the life experiences of displaced workers enrolled in community colleges for retraining and their views on obtaining employment after completion of a degree. The study is important because it provides qualitative data that will inform community college academic leadership, faculty,…