The University of Texas at Austin

Ray Marshall Center

for the Study of Human Resources

for the Study of Human Resources

American Graduate video explainer: Getting Certified for Construction While in High School

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Jorge is a senior at Crockett High School in Austin, Texas. As a freshman he was introduced to a Career & Technical Education (CTE) program that will allow him to graduate high school with the knowledge and skills to start an entry level job in construction. Right now, he has his eye on trade school and concrete, and his variety of interests and strong work ethic will ensure he finds success in his chosen field.

*The Ray Marshall Center is proud to be one of the local partners, joining Austin Community College, the Office of the Mayor of the City of Austin, Travis County Judge’s Office, and Workforce Solutions Capital Area in the grant.

To read more about the initiative and see updates, please visit the dedicated website.

America’s Job Center of California Evalutation

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Principal Investigator: Heath J. Prince, PhD
Sponsor: Corporation for a Skilled Workforce
Project Duration: June 2020 – April 2022
Description: With assistance from the California Workforce Association (CWA), the Corporation for a Skilled Workforce (CSW) and the Ray Marshall Center (RMC) of the University of Texas are partnering to evaluate the effectiveness of American Job Centers of California (AJCC) system using a mixed-methods and multi-part research design to achieve the objectives below:

– To understand how the four different models of service delivery in use in California affect a) overall access to services and, more importantly, b) the mix of services provided to the client population served.

– To understand how investment decisions pertaining to AJCC infrastructure, staffing levels, and number of locations affect a) overall access to services and, more importantly b) the mix of services provided to the client population served.

– To understand whether there is any relationship between participant program outcomes and the mix of services provided to the client population served. Do some models of service delivery and some types of investment decisions pertaining to AJCCs appear to be systematically related to participant program outcomes?

 
Reports Available:

American Graduate video explainer: The Child Care Dilemma

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The pandemic has revealed the importance of child care for a strong economy, especially for working mothers.  Yet the majority of those employed in the industry don’t earn a living wage, forcing them to depend on public income support.  Those who love the profession and realize its importance have to make hard economic decisions just to stay afloat.

*The Ray Marshall Center is proud to be one of the local partners, joining Austin Community College, the Office of the Mayor of the City of Austin, Travis County Judge’s Office, and Workforce Solutions Capital Area in the grant.

To read more about the initiative and see updates, please visit the dedicated website.

RMC’s Chris King co-authors Medium article about workforce policy post-COVID-19

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RMC’s Senior Research Scientist Dr. Chris King and Corporation for a Skilled Workforce‘s President and CEO Larry Good co-authored an article “Rethinking Workforce Policy During the COVID-19 Recovery” for Medium published on June 16, 2020.   The article focuses on missed opportunities pre-pandemic, preparations for the next crisis, and what future workforce policy should entail post-pandemic.  Chris is also CSWs Board Chair and has worked closely with them for many years.

 

American Graduate video explainer: Training nurses amid COVID-19

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Amid COVID-19 job losses, the demand for medical professionals in certain sectors remains high, and one local training program is lifting people out of lower-wage jobs and into these vital nursing positions.  Austin PBS’s Decibel spoke with Capital IDEA about how they’re working to help meet the nursing demand with training.

*The Ray Marshall Center is proud to be one of the local partners, joining Austin Community College, the Office of the Mayor of the City of Austin, Travis County Judge’s Office, and Workforce Solutions Capital Area in the grant.

To read more about the initiative and see updates, please visit the dedicated website.

RMC work featured in Aspen Institute’s recently launched Job Quality Tools Library

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The Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program recently launched the Job Quality Tools Library, a platform to support leaders to strengthen job quality in their own organizations, in the businesses they partner with, and across labor markets. The library offers tools, resources, and guidance to help a variety of organizations – including workforce development, worker advocacy, policy, investing and lending, economic development, and employers – engage in practical action to improve jobs.

In the library, you will find tools to support workers and businesses during and after the current crisis, including a special section of resources focused on urgent responses to COVID-19. You will also find our contribution “Partnering for Equity: How Sector Partnerships are Tackling Workforce Disparities” in the Equity and Inclusion tool featured in Section 4: Strengthening Practices to Improve Job Quality. As we come together to focus on relief in the short-term and building a more inclusive economy in the long-term, tools and approaches to foster high-quality, economy-boosting jobs are more critical than ever.

You can learn more and visit the library here.

RMC’s Chris King featured in UT News article discussing impact of COVID-19

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RMC’s Senior Research Scientist Dr. Chris King was interviewed by UT News‘s Avrel Seale on 4/21/20 exploring COVID-19’s impact on unemployment, what the economy will look like going forward, and what reform opportunities the pandemic has exposed.  You can read the article here.

HPOG Secondary Data Analysis

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Principal Investigator: Christopher T. King, PhD
Sponsor: Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation
Project Duration: December 2019 – December 2021
Description: The Ray Marshall Center will evaluate the variation in program characteristics – including program components, implementation features, local context, and participant traits – to explore which characteristics are associated with Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) program participant’s healthcare profession career pathway outcomes.  This research will address the following questions:

  • What program characteristics, implementation features, local context, and participant traits are associated with participant completion of nursing assistant training?
  • What program characteristics, implementation features, local context, and participant traits are associated with participant obtainment of CNA licensure?
  • What program characteristics, implementation features, local context, and participant traits are associated with CNA program completer’s achievement of advanced CNA training?
  • What program characteristics, implementation features, local context, and participant traits are associated with CNA program completer’s achievement of additional training in the healthcare profession?

Similar to the previous research on the impact of HPOG program characteristics on educational achievement (Peck et al., 2018 and Walton et al., 2019), this research expects to identify supports such as childcare and transportation assistance, tuition, and other financial assistance, as well as employment supports and emergency assistance associated with CNA participant achievements along a career pathway.

Practitioners, policymakers, funders, and researchers may be interested in which combination of program components, implementation strategies, participant characteristics, and local context may impact a CNA participant to pursue the next step along a healthcare profession career pathway.  Insights from this research can inform future program design and implementation within the broader field of entry level healthcare provider workforce development.

Reports Available:

American Graduate video explainer: Becoming a cyber security analyst.

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“Years ago, if you would have asked me about cyber security…to me it seemed like it was very Hollywood and just of reach.” Learn how Christion became a cyber security analyst in the latest episode from @AustinPBS’s American Graduate: Getting To Work initiative.

https://www.facebook.com/AustinPBS/videos/2594553804136577/

 

*The Ray Marshall Center is proud to be one of the local partners, joining Austin Community College, the Office of the Mayor of the City of Austin, Travis County Judge’s Office, and Workforce Solutions Capital Area in the grant.

To read more about the initiative and see updates, please visit the dedicated website.

American Graduate video explainer: This concrete builder decided to get into nursing.

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After building concrete blocks for 13 years, Alex decided he needed something for the long haul. That’s when he decided to get into nursing. Watch his story from Austin PBS’s American Graduate: Getting to Work initiative.

https://www.facebook.com/AustinPBS/videos/492230768396688/

 

*The Ray Marshall Center is proud to be one of the local partners, joining Austin Community College, the Office of the Mayor of the City of Austin, Travis County Judge’s Office, and Workforce Solutions Capital Area in the grant.

To read more about the initiative and see updates, please visit the dedicated website.

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2315 Red River St., Stop R1300
Sid Richardson Hall, Unit 3
Austin, Texas 78712-1536
Phone: (512) 471-7891
Email: rmcinfo@raymarshallcenter.org