ABSTRACT

Opportunity youth (OY; i.e., youth ages 16–24 who are neither working nor in school) are a population who is difficult to engage and retain in educational programs, particularly in community college career and technical education (CTE) programs. OY are an important population to community colleges, as CTE programs culminating in industry-recognized credentials and employment constitute an important on-ramp to the workforce for young adults. The Manufacturing Training Program is a vocational training program offered at a local community college in Phoenix, Arizona that was informed by input from youth and service providers to support OY in obtaining the necessary technical skills/credential for entry-level employment in manufacturing. Researchers conducted a qualitative study using in-depth interviews with 32 program stakeholders and beneficiaries (i.e., 14 staff and 18 youth). Data were coded and analyzed using content analysis to identify major themes for each stakeholder and beneficiary group interviewed as well as working hypotheses to guide future CTE program development. Findings suggest that there are both challenges and successes related to recruiting, retaining and employing OY. Recruitment challenges include lack of information about and disinterest in manufacturing, whereas successes include leveraging family members in recruiting youth. Retention challenges include meeting OYs’ basic needs, whereas successes include providing quality case management. Employment challenges include limited employer participation whereas successes include developing an effective process to connect employers with trained youth. Findings and lessons learned on recruitment, retention, and employment challenges and successes offer direction for community colleges to develop and strengthen CTE programs for OY.

摘要

机会青年（OY；即既不工作也不上学的 16-24 岁青年）是难以参与和保留教育计划的人群，特别是在社区大学职业和技术教育 (CTE) 计划中。OY 是社区大学的重要人群，因为 CTE 课程最终获得行业认可的证书和就业，构成了年轻人劳动力的重要入口。制造培训计划是亚利桑那州凤凰城当地社区学院提供的一项职业培训计划，该计划由青年和服务提供商提供信息，以支持 OY 获得制造业入门级就业所需的技术技能/证书。研究人员通过对 32 名项目利益相关者和受益人（即 14 名工作人员和 18 名青年）的深入访谈进行了定性研究。使用内容分析对数据进行编码和分析，以确定受访的每个利益相关者和受益群体的主要主题以及指导未来 CTE 计划开发的工作假设。调查结果表明，在招聘、留住和雇用 OY 方面，既有挑战也有成功。招聘挑战包括缺乏有关制造业的信息和对制造业不感兴趣，而成功则包括利用家庭成员招聘年轻人。保留挑战包括满足 OY 的基本需求，而成功则包括提供高质量的案例管理。就业挑战包括有限的雇主参与，而成功包括制定有效的流程将雇主与训练有素的青年联系起来。在招聘、留任和就业挑战和成功方面的发现和经验教训为社区学院制定和加强 OY 的 CTE 计划提供了方向。