Focus Feature: Career Pathways at Portland Community College

“In less than one year, you can create your career.” This bold statement, right at the top of the Career Pathways program’s website at Portland Community College (PCC), evokes both doubt and curiosity.¹ Doubt, because it sounds too good to be true. Curiosity, because it sounds too good to be true: Create your career in less than a year, how? But staff members at the program know that they mean every word in that statement.

The Career Pathways program at PCC offers short-term certificates that can prepare students for entry-level jobs in multiple fields. These short-term certificates follow a specific pathway that lays out how students can move from low to high skill level and build a career in a certain field. After completing the certificate, students can stay on and earn more certificates that can eventually lead to an associate degree at PCC or a bachelor’s degree at another institution. Those who want to leave the program after completion and work right away can come back and continue with the pathway at a later time.

Figure 1 visualizes how a typical career pathway works. Following the road map, students who are interested in the manufacturing technician program at PCC can learn about the different options available for them once enrolled in the program. After finishing a short-term manufacturing technician program, followed by a one-year certificate program in different machining areas that will qualify them for an operator job, students can leave the program at that point, or they can stay on and earn an associate’s degree in machine manufacturing technology to qualify for a job as a machinist. If they would like to pursue further education, the program suggests some colleges in the area where they can get their credits transferred for an eventual bachelor’s degree. As Marc Goldberg, the associate vice president of the Workforce Development and Continuing Education at PCC, told us, career pathways “is really moving individuals from lower skills to more advanced skills, and it can be from high school to a community college certificate; it can be from a community college degree to a four-year degree.”

To make sure a certificate program that is as short as three or four months can lead to a meaningful job requires an understanding of what skills employers need. Program staff work with employers to identify which jobs require less than a bachelor’s or associate degree, or even less than a one-year certificate. Kate Kinder, the director of the Career Pathways and Skills Training at PCC, explained to us that, “When developing stackable credentials, absolutely the employers do have a very key role in that.” After identifying the job, program staff work backwards to determine which skills are necessary, aligning the skills with the curriculum. If current courses do not teach the right skills, a new course can be created if necessary. The important thing is to make sure that the skills learned in class will lead to a job that can assure economic mobility. “We look at labor market data; not only what the employers say to us,” said Kinder, “but also what the data are telling us, both through the state’s labor market data but also real-time tools such as Burning Glass.” ²

The program originated from an initiative that helped dislocated workers in the ‘90s. Soon, staff realized how the program could benefit not only dislocated working adults, but other low-income youth in the area, and how beneficial it would be for students to have the ability to build up their learning, eventually leading to higher education credentials and opening doors to greater job opportunities. Career Pathways at PCC now serves 300-500 students per year, offering programs in multiple industry sectors, from manufacturing to child and family studies.³ Students in the Career Pathways program are more likely to be adults without a college degree than other programs at PCC. Kinder said, “We offer stackable credentials to individuals with bachelor’s or master‘s degree, giving them [the] opportunity to reskill, but we’ve been very intentional about focusing on access, so really teaching those who don’t have a degree or postsecondary credential yet.” They are also more likely to be students of color and/or low-income: more than half of the Career Pathway participants overall are low-income. In one cohort, as high as 90 percent of them were low-income.

Indeed, the program has been thoughtful in its efforts to promote access and success for participants. Apart from intensive outreach efforts to underserved communities to encourage them to apply, the program makes sure students have the tools they need to engage with and complete their studies. “There was an understanding [in the field] that the role of the career coach, or the career navigator, is critical for many of our students,” said Goldberg. Students in the program can reach out to the navigators for advice with any issue they are facing, be it academic or job-related (i.e., choosing courses or improving resumes), or non-academic or non-job-related (i.e., finding child care or extra financial support). “Integrated, holistic student support is a critical element of a high-quality career pathway,” said Kinder.

Students who have joined the program have finished with very positive outcomes. Data from a comprehensive analysis of academic years 2012-2016 by PCC show that more than 94 percent of students completed their programs of study; for students of color, the number is 88 percent. Other statistics in the analysis include 72 percent pursue additional education and 75 percent were employed after completion, with an average wage of $16/hour. “If you look at a comparable population of low-income students, our numbers are definitely higher,” said Kinder.

Reaching the level of implementation and impact that this program has takes buy-in and support from different levels: the system, the institution, and the faculty. Collaboration across colleges in Oregon makes the program even stronger. “Through various statewide initiatives and alliances in Oregon, we have the opportunity to create a community of practice among the various leaders and faculty and staff involved in implementing career pathways across the state,” said Kinder. She appreciates the opportunity to learn and leverage other schools’ expertise. According to Kinder, that learning opportunity is essential, since “we can really open up about who can benefit from the career pathways approach, and also make sure we are innovative and responsive to the needs of our community and our students.”

So, what’s the next step for Career Pathways at PCC? According to Goldberg, the program aims to raise funding to be able to provide more financial support and other resources to better serve low-income students. Applying a comprehensive and thoughtful approach, the program staff at PCC seems determined to make the statement “In less than one year, you can create your career” possible for their students.

Figure 1. Career Road Map for the Manufacturing Technician Program at PCC.⁴

Source: Portland Community College’s website