Opportunities for Expanding and Scale: Lessons from the Apprenticeship Ecosystem

• In Event: Context Matters: Opportunities and Lessons from Adapting and Scaling Apprenticeships Across Service Environments

Abstract

This paper will identify early insights from the Upward Apprenticeship Initiative, an integrated research and technical assistance project designed to expand apprenticeship opportunities and improve apprentice outcomes funded by the Ascendium Education Group. This paper will highlight findings from interviews and focus groups from four key players in the apprenticeship ecosystem: state apprenticeship offices, community colleges, employers, and apprentices. Focus groups with state apprenticeship offices will focus on the extent to which they have been effectively been able to leverage community colleges and intermediaries to expand apprenticeship in their state, the extent to which they work with intermediaries and how they define strong intermediaries, and the challenges and opportunities they see in scaling apprenticeship nationwide. Community college focus groups will focus on the role apprenticeship plays at their college, especially with respect to serving low-income learners, the program development, administration, and oversight of apprenticeships at the college, the data colleges collect to measure apprenticeship goals, and the challenges and opportunities community and technical colleges see in expanding apprenticeship and improving apprentice enrollment, retention, and completion. Employer interviews will focus on their relationships with intermediaries, including how they engage with intermediaries, what are the characteristics of a strong intermediary, and opportunities for improving their work with intermediaries, as well as their experiences working with apprentices more generally. Finally, interviews with apprentices will focus on the pathways they have taken to enroll in apprenticeship, their experiences while in their programs, and suggestions they have for improve apprentice enrollment, retention, and completion. The paper will summarize findings from each group but will also highlight  the challenges and opportunities each group sees in their efforts to expand apprentice. The paper will highlight employer and apprentice needs and pain points during their apprenticeship experience and identify potential solutions. Finally, the paper will highlight areas of convergence between groups while also noting areas where stakeholder perspectives different and where additional work to align perspectives may be necessary. Ultimately, the study findings, paired with insights from a policy scan, will highlight the enabling conditions that can help states, community colleges, employers and others scale apprenticeship while also ensuring that apprenticeships are better tailored to meet the needs of apprentices in ways that encourage apprentice enrollment, retention, and completion.

Author

• Siobhan Mills De La Rosa, American Institutes for Research
  Presenting Author