Current Projects

    • Analysis of the Education and Supply of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Graduates and Career Trajectories

      This project examines the STEM “pipeline” from high school through mid-career. Using multiple longitudinal datasets and cross-sectional data, as well as educational data (tests, surveys), the study examines changes in supply of STEM students and demand for STEM workers since the 1970s. The study has generated several key findings to date. U.S. schools at both secondary and postsecondary levels are producing a supply of STEM students that meet and probably exceed demand. Tests, such as PISA, TIMSS, and NAEP, show U.S. students improving their math, science, and overall academic performance over the past four decades; that is, year-over-year performance that shows steady and significant improvement in all subjects and, importantly, the amount of math and science course taking. Examining student cohorts beginning in the 1970s to 2000, the study finds that the overall flow of students with math- and science-related skills who are choosing and staying in those fields has remained strong. However, high-achieving students appear to be choosing careers other than STEM because they seemed to regard math- and science-focused careers as less attractive than other options, such as business, health care, and law. The study points to a few needs in STEM education: the need for targeted education policy to focus on the populations in the lower portion of the performance distribution, the need to better understand why the “demand side” fails to attract more graduates into the science and engineering (S&E) workforce, and the need to balance public and private investment between domestic development of S&E workforce supply and global collaboration as a longer-term goal. Papers from this study include: Into the Eye of the Storm: Assessing the Evidence on Science and Engineering Education, Quality, and Workforce Demand by B. Lindsay Lowell and Hal Salzman, and Steady as She Goes? Three Generations of Students through the Science and Engineering Pipeline by Dr. B. Lindsay Lowell, Dr. Hal Salzman, Hamutal Bernstein, and Everett Henderson. (Funded by a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation)

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    • Case Studies of Nonprofit-Postsecondary Educational Partnerships to Help Students with Disabilities Complete Postsecondary Education and Find Employment

      The Heldrich Center is currently examining colleges’ programmatic structures to support students with disabilities and the experiences of students in college programs. The study includes: interviews with students who have successfully completed an associate degree, a bachelor’s degree, or a career certificate; site visits with colleges/universities and cross-site learning meetings; financial and service case studies of individual participants; and operational case studies of colleges and the services offered to students with disabilities. Four colleges and universities in New Jersey have been selected to represent the state’s diversity in terms of income, geography, and academic competitiveness. The study will generate actionable research findings to practitioners, public policymakers, employers, and advocates about emerging service delivery system trends, promising “transitions to work” models, as well as new and innovative service delivery practices and systems that are working to improve the employment and economic independence of individuals with disabilities. A white paper will be available in summer 2012. (Funded by a grant from the New Jersey Department of Human Services Medicaid Infrastructure Grant Program)

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    • Community Colleges and Older Workers: A Review of Current Practices with an In-depth Focus on Dislocated Workers and Students with Disabilities

      The Heldrich Center is reviewing current practices on serving older workers at community colleges to synthesize what is known about these practices and make recommendations for future practices to better address the particular issues facing older workers at community colleges. This study includes in-depth examinations of initiatives and programs of particular relevance to older workers at community colleges: those that serve dislocated workers and those that serve students with disabilities. The research includes a thorough review of existing literature on community college practices related to older workers, including dislocated workers and students with disabilities. The Center is also conducting targeted interviews with community college staff at colleges that have particularly noteworthy initiatives for older workers, noteworthy because they either serve high numbers of older students, dislocated workers, and/or students with disabilities or have a reputation for working with these students. A report and issue briefs will be available in late 2012. (Funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy)

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    • Development of a Career Planning Course with Labor Market Information at Rutgers University

      The Heldrich Center is partnering with Rutgers University’s Career Services office and the School of Arts and Sciences to develop a unique one-credit course pilot to help undergraduate students better align their major choice, course selection, and other college activities with their career interests and labor market realities. The course will include in-person lectures and online components, including a variety of resources made available online and assignments that lead students through online research tools. To develop this course, which is being piloted for the first time in the spring 2012 semester, the partners reviewed approximately 20 curricula from peer institutions, which focused exclusively on career interest assessment and career development theory and activities, including résumé writing and interviewing tips. The newly developed curriculum provides an innovative approach by integrating information on the labor market as part of major selection to promote degree completion and future labor market success. The Heldrich Center will conduct a process evaluation of the pilot course and, if it appears to have merit, will seek funding for program expansion and a more robust, outcomes-based evaluation. If successful, the course can provide a national model that may be broadly adaptable and transferable to other institutions. The Center will conduct a process and near-term outcome evaluation of the course in 2012-2013. (Funded by Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey)

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    • DiscoverAbility, New Jersey’s Medicaid Infrastructure Grant Disability Employment Project

      Co-management of New Jersey's Medicaid Infrastructure Grant aimed at increasing the employment of persons with disabilities in New Jersey.

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    • Dynamics of Engineering Labor Markets: Petroleum Engineering and Responsive Supply

      This Heldrich Center study examines the recent increase in demand for petroleum engineers and the response by students leading to a dramatic increase in numbers of graduates. Specifically, it examines the following issues: program dynamics of colleges in expanding size and number of programs; both demand (by industry) and supply (by colleges) of engineers for the petroleum industry; and the recent surge in industry demand, the mix of engineering fields employed, changes in content, and the response in supply (colleges, retraining, influx from other fields, immigration, etc.). A recent paper from this study entitled, Dynamics of Engineering Labor Markets: Petroleum Engineering and Responsive Supply, was authored by Dr. Leonard Lynn, Dr. Hal Salzman, and Daniel Kuehn. (Funded by a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation)

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    • Employment and Sustainability in a Time of Transition: Human Capital Development, Firm Strategy, and Community in the Arctic

      Case studies of industry, workers, and communities that examine business strategy, workforce development and career patterns, and engage communities in assessing labor market and socioeconomic changes in the Arctic and sub-Arctic wage economy.

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    • Evaluating Employment Programs for People with Disabilities

      Identification of the Kessler Foundation's performance measures, and evaluations of six Kessler grants.

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    • Evaluation of a Vocational Model for Persons with Severe Mental Illness in Somerset County, New Jersey

      Evaluation of the Mental Health Association in New Jersey's model for assisting people with mental illnesses to become employed.

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    • Evaluation of Essex County College's Stay-in-Step Academy

      Evaluation of Essex County College's Stay-in-Step Academy in order to assess the overall effectiveness of the Academy in achieving positive outcomes.

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