Big Data, Data Science, and Career Pathways

With the rise of the internet and the related explosion in the amount of data that are available, the field of data science has expanded rapidly, and analytic techniques designed for use in “big data” contexts have become popular. These include techniques for analyzing both structured and unstructured data. This chapter explores the application of these techniques to the development and evaluation of career pathways. For example, data scientists can analyze online job listings and resumes to examine changes in skill requirements and careers over time and to examine job progressions across an enormous number of people. Similarly, analysts can evaluate whether information on career pathways accurately captures realistic job progressions. Within organizations, the increasing amount of data make it possible to pinpoint the specific skills, behaviors, and attributes that maximize performance in specific roles. The chapter concludes with ideas for the future application of big data to career pathways.

Career Pathways as a Strategic Human Capital Management Program

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) developed the MyCareer@VA program to attract and retain high-quality VA employees by providing transparent occupational information to support career development. MyCareer@VA provided a suite of customizable career planning tools—including job fit, career planning, career mapping, and job search tools, a federal resume builder, and an interview simulation—to support career planning and employee development. VA subject matter experts developed and validated more than 600 occupational profiles, each at five career levels, over the course of 3 years that depicted the work performed by more than 90% of all VA positions. Ultimately, the MyCareer@VA website attracted more than 2.5 million site visits from non-VA users (i.e., job candidates), more than 70,000 of whom demonstrated an ongoing commitment to applying for VA jobs. In addition, more than 12,000 VA employees used MyCareer@VA to explore new VA jobs and complete developmental activities. This chapter describes the MyCareer@VA program and its results.

Career Pathways as an Integrative Framework for Talent Management Systems

Interest in how researchers and practitioners approach the management of talent has grown in recent years. Effective management of the talent life cycle begins with implementation of a talent management architecture—that is, the combination of systems, processes, and practices developed and implemented by an organization to ensure that the management of talent is carried out effectively. This chapter explores today’s career development environment and describes a career pathways framework as a viable “architecture” and philosophy for effectively managing talent. The chapter provides a brief overview of current perspectives on talent management, describes a career pathways system in greater detail, and discusses how building and implementing such a system as part of a broader human resource management function can pay dividends for an organization’s talent life cycle.

Fulfilling the Promise of Career Pathways

This chapter describes four major themes that characterize the chapters in this book, addresses the need for career-related research and evaluation of career pathways initiatives, and discusses the importance of a focus on careers and career pathways in light of the increasing pace of change in skill requirements and in-demand jobs and occupations. The themes include (1) the role of career pathways in career transitions; (2) the changing nature of careers and how to craft and navigate meaningful, fulfilling careers in light of these changes; (3) the relevance of career pathways and career paths to organizations and industries; and (4) the use of data to understand workforce characteristics, careers, and career paths and to evaluate the outcomes of career pathways initiatives. Some of the most salient points from the book that are relevant to each of these themes are discussed in this chapter.

Using O*NET to Identify and Design Career Pathways

Current, reliable occupational information is critical to the identification and design of pathways to and through careers. Data on more than 200 worker- and job-oriented descriptors in the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) database provide the foundation for career pathway construction by a variety of users. This chapter describes ways in which the O*NET database, products, and tools may be used on their own to identify and refine career pathways, as well as ways that workforce agencies, education systems, and federally sponsored programs have integrated the O*NET Content Model, database, and taxonomy in their career pathway systems, tools, and programs. The chapter concludes by describing planned efforts to enhance the value of the O*NET program for career pathway development.

Career Pathways for Late Career Workers

Today, individuals work later in life than ever before in an ever-changing world of work. Thus, late career workers now have different needs, experiences, and preferences, and their transitions into retirement are much more varied (and far less linear) than those for workers in previous decades. This chapter provides evidence-based recommendations on supportive career pathways systems for late career workers. It begins with an overview of research-based theories and constructs about work-related aging, followed by human resource management policies and practices to support career pathways systems for older workers. It then provides practical guidance on how career pathways systems can promote successful work engagement throughout the life span and directions for future research to advance the field of aging and career pathways.

Emerging Career Pathways

Work arrangements are evolving rapidly throughout the world. Coupled with rapid changes in jobs and the movement to a global labor market, this is creating new career pathways. This chapter examines changes in work arrangements and how these changes are impacting career pathways. Major forces driving transformations in work arrangements and career pathways are addressed, and differences by country, global geographic region, and occupational area in the prevalence of alternative and independent work arrangements are described. Positive and negative aspects of changes in work arrangements are delineated, and the shifting focus of individual careers is discussed. The chapter also explores how individuals and organizations can shape career pathways in the new work environment. The implications of these changes for future research and practice are discussed.

Purpose, Meaning, and Career Pathways

In addition to providing financial means, work offers an opportunity for individuals to experience meaning and purpose. Meaningful work, defined in this chapter as work that is worthwhile and personally significant, is linked to job satisfaction, work motivation, and psychological well-being. Several vocational psychology theories of career development, along with research on work as a calling and the protean career orientation, have addressed factors that likely influence meaning and purpose in work, either directly or indirectly. This chapter examines the opportunities for career pathways programs and professionals for promoting purpose and meaning in work over the course of a career. Specific strategies related to career choice, choice implementation, career engagement and maintenance/management, as well as retirement, bridge employment, and encore careers are addressed. Future directions for research and practice are also discussed.

Connecting College and the Workplace Through Pathway Development in Kansas

To meet the high demand for skilled workers in health care and advanced manufacturing, three higher education institutions in Kansas recently strengthened their training in these fields through a U.S. Department of Labor’s Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training program. From 2013 to 2018, the Washburn Institute of Technology, Washburn University, and the Wichita State University Campus of Applied Sciences and Technology partnered with employers to develop industry-aligned career pathways by introducing new specialties, upgrading curricula and equipment, and introducing new credentials and options for further education. This chapter describes the changes that the institutions made to equip their students with the skills needed to meet critical workforce needs.

An Integrative Framework for Evaluating the Impact of Career Pathways

During the past several years, career pathway systems have expanded to prepare adults for the workforce. Although career pathways are not new, numerous states, the federal government, and philanthropic foundations continue to advance the idea to offer more postsecondary education and workforce training opportunities for adults. Coordinated policies, programs, and services involving adult basic education, community colleges, and workforce development are viewed as vital to creating highly functioning career pathways systems. This chapter describes three core functions of career pathways systems—pathway entry, integrated training, and career progression—and advances the notion that evaluations should be aligned to these functions to inform future policy and practice. Recognizing the value that these functions play independently and collectively in implementation and evaluation is key to supporting continuing efforts to scale career pathways systems nationwide.