Good Jobs Shouldn’t Just be “Good Fortune”

If you see a system generating unequal outcomes for people, do you think there’s something wrong with the people - or something wrong with the system? Because it’s clearly one or the other. The question is worth asking, considering the insights uncovered from this past month’s stories on the STARs movement. Ask yourself - are we trying to fix people or are we trying to fix the system? Based on our research, the premise of #TearThePaperCeiling is that there is something wrong with a system if it blocks the majority of U.S. workers from good jobs simply because they seemingly “lack” a bachelor’s degree. And when we think of the extraordinary talents of the 70+ million U.S. STARs (workers skilled through alternative routes) it is clear that workers are problem solvers - not a problem to be solved.

Here is a look at the latest news from the STARs movement this past month - and Opportunity@Work 's key insights revealed:

• Key insight: Of the 25.6 million Hispanic workers in the labor force, 54% are STARs - and are overrepresented in lower-wage jobs, earning a median wage of $19.00. This insightful Opportunity@Work blog post by Nicholas Olmo for #HispanicHeritageMonth shares advice on how Hispanic STARs can shine. With data, U.S. employers can see what they're missing when they undervalue the skills and potential of almost 14 million Hispanic STARs. Hispanic STARs have the knowledge and skills to do the job but are often blocked by #ThePaperCeiling. https://blog.opportunityatwork.org/our-heritage-is-our-strength-8-pieces-of-advice-for-hispanic-stars-bce9dc46ddeb?

• Key insight: Occupational segregation between Black and White workers in the U.S. labor market has not improved over the past 20 years. The New York Times’ Steve Lohr reports on new research findings by Peter Blair, Ashley Jardina, Papia Debroy, and Justin Heck in the piece “Occupational Segregation Drives Persistent Inequality” - “In the past two decades, the number of Black workers with a four-year college degree or higher has more than doubled…But the income gains are far less than would be expected in a race-neutral labor market.” As Blair observes, “an education-only narrative misses other structural features of our society that have to change.” A skills-based approach to #HireSTARs can move us toward a more integrated labor market. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/04/business/black-workers-education-segregation.html?
• Key insight: Between December 2022 and March 2023, more than half of the 1.7 million jobs posted for STEM roles required at least a bachelor’s degree. Black queer entrepreneur LaShana Lewis - and Chair of the STARs Advisory Council - shares in Fast Company how she tore the paper ceiling in her career, how companies can do the same, and how tech’s outdated reliance on college degrees hinders workplace DEI. She writes, “It’s easy to get caught up in the life stories of the founders of Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft…Too often, however, we do not use these stories to make the case that there are more paths to success than the bachelor’s degree.” STARs are not “unconventional” or “nontraditional” - they are “an enormous slice of the American workforce.” https://www.fastcompany.com/90943937/how-techs-outdated-reliance-on-college-degrees-hinders-workplace-deiI was particularly struck by LaShanas description of her own STAR experience:?“I’m one of those success stories who finally tore the paper ceiling after years of being systematically excluded from the tech world. When I was 10, I could take apart a Commodore 64 and put it back together again. In college, I learned several programming languages before I had to drop out in my senior year. I thought that would be enough to land me some sort of an entry-level computer job…Without a college degree, I couldn’t even get an interview...I ended up taking on tech tasks at the series of low-wage, dead-end jobs…I discovered LaunchCode, a nonprofit that supplemented my existing tech training for free and most importantly, helped place me in a tech apprenticeship at a financial services company that later hired me full time as a systems engineer. I went on to become the chief technology officer at one company and an IT director at another before starting my own consulting firm. My story has been a happy one. But matching millions of skilled and talented workers with career-launching and family-sustaining jobs should not be a matter of good fortune. It should be a matter of policy and practice so millions more STARs can shine.”

STARs are the majority, they are extraordinary and they have been needlessly excluded from both opportunities and advancement for far too long. Many already work for companies struggling to find skilled talent in an increasingly competitive marketplace. It's not a favor to give someone a job. They're doing you a favor. They're bringing their energy, their talent, they're doing work you need done. If you can do the job - you should get the job.

All the best,

Byron