CTE in the News

Educational Research / Theodore Breton

This paper presents evidence that education has direct and indirect effects on national output. Educated workers raise national income directly because schooling raises their marginal productivity. They raise national income indirectly by increasing the marginal productivity of physical capital and of other workers. In highly educated countries the spillover effect on other workers is minimal, but in less-educated countries the spillover effect appears to be much larger. In all countries, the positive effect of rising human capital on the productivity of physical capital is required to offset the diminishing returns to investment in physical capital and make rising investment in physical capital financially viable in the growth process

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Jon Marcus

The number of students in community colleges in the fall declined by more than half a million, or 10 percent, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Of those now enrolled, a fifth say they are likely to delay their graduation because of the coronavirus, a Strada Education Network and Gallup survey found.

That’s a big problem for employers who need to fill jobs made even more essential by the pandemic, and in fields where there are already shortages. These include health care, cybersecurity, information technology, construction, manufacturing, transportation, law enforcement and utilities.

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The Washington Post — Nick Anderson and Danielle Douglas-Gabriel

Community colleges, long the unsung foundation of higher education in America, have reached a perilous turning point. These two-year public colleges, offering associate’s degrees, workforce training and a low-price opportunity to get started on a bachelor’s degree, had roughly 10 percent fewer students at the beginning of the school year compared with 2019.

Growing community colleges matters not only for the economy, experts say, but also for the causes of racial and social justice. Huge numbers of students of color rely on them to climb the social ladder: About 13 percent of students at public two-year colleges in 2019 were Black, and 26 percent were Hispanic. Community colleges embody many American ideals.

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Deloitte

For more than two centuries, the manufacturing industry has adopted new technologies and provided new jobs for workers. Today, the industry is experiencing exciting and exponential change, as technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and Internet of Things (IoT) are rapidly changing the workplace. While some predicted that these new technologies would eliminate jobs, we have found the reverse—more jobs are actually being created.

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McKinsey Global Institute

The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored manufacturing’s role in providing products that are critical to health, safety, national security, and the continuity of multiple industries. It has also revealed the extent to which global supply chains are exposed to shocks and disruptions. All of this has occurred at a moment when new technologies, process innovations, input trends, and demand patterns are reshaping manufacturing worldwide, creating opportunities in many cases.

These events have deepened the urgency for the United States to build on an agenda that recognizes the importance of domestic manufacturing for a strong economy and national resilience, both today and in the future. But it will be important to pursue this agenda with a clear view of global competition, since many countries, including China, are continuing to expand their capabilities and compete on dimensions beyond labor costs.

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Manufacturing Skills Standard Council

Officially endorsed in 1998 by the federal National Skill Standards Board, the MSSC, an industry-led, 501(c)(3) non-profit, is America’s leader in training and certifying the foundational technical competencies for front-line technicians (entry-level up to first line supervisory) in advanced manufacturing and supply chain logistics.

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