This strategy has been adopted at the federal, state and local levels in order to increase education, training and learning opportunities for America’s current and emerging workforce.
Career pathways are an integrated collection of programs and services intended to develop students’ core academic, technical and employability skills; provide them with continuous education, training; and place them in high-demand, high-opportunity jobs.
NCCER is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) education foundation created in 1996 to develop standardized construction, maintenance, and pipeline curricula with portable credentials and help address the critical skilled workforce shortage.
[citation needed] In the Midwest, the Joyce Foundation's Shifting Gears Initiative is working to implement career pathways programs in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
[4] Other states including Arkansas,[5] California,[6] Kentucky,[7] Oregon [8] and Washington [9][permanent dead link] have statewide career pathways initiatives in place.
The campaign presents messages and images to persuade employers that candidates without college degrees but who are graduates of pathway programs can be valued employees.