Key Highlights
Challenges
Outcomes-based programs for workforce development have so far not relied heavily on input from prospective students, who are navigating a complex credential marketplace and financial aid options tied more to access and enrollment than completion and employment.
Many of these outcomes-based training programs, such as Pay It Forward Funds and Income Share Agreements, seek to train workers for well-paying, in-demand jobs and reduce financial barriers for workers, who often struggle to identify suitable training opportunities and afford them.
While these models are promising, much remains to be learned about how best to structure and implement such outcome-based approaches. So far, evaluations have solely relied on quantitative measures like job placement rates, leaving room for further insight.
Opportunities
By engaging directly with people with lived experience of today’s credentialing challenges, Worker Voices helped explain the motivations and experiences influencing labor market data trends. For example, workers noted that their personal journeys were not reflected in economic data, employer sentiment, or national narratives around the worker shortage during 2022.
Conversations about workers’ experiences offered a broader understanding of how workers define the quality characteristics of a job. This understanding helped employers better appreciate the perspectives of their incumbent or future workforce when adopting certain practices or developing policies.
Following the model of Worker Voices, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta conducted one-on-one interviews with former students of an outcomes-based workforce development program. This type of qualitative research, such as intentional interviews, focus groups, or open-ended survey questions, can add to the accuracy and richness of program evaluations, enabling the operators of outcomes-based programs to enhance the design of their training programs and ultimately improve employment outcomes for a greater number of participants. Real-time feedback loops can allow for timely adjustments that increase program completion and post-training success.
Findings and Next Steps
- Interviews with learners offered the Atlanta Fed valuable insights into areas like communication, program structure, case management, counseling, and loan repayment.
- Though interviews are labor-intensive, focus groups and open-ended surveys can also provide meaningful feedback to support program design, improvement, and redesign. Gathering this kind of qualitative information, even from a small sampling of learners, can generate valuable feedback.
- Combining qualitative insights with traditional evaluation methods like administrative data and causal analysis can successfully help design new programs, modify ongoing programs, and redesign existing programs.
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About the Authors
Sarah Miller
Sarah Miller serves as a director and principal adviser for Community and Economic Development and co-leads the Atlanta Fed’s Center for Workforce and Economic Opportunity. Her work focuses on research and community engagement on worker experiences in the labor market and their perspectives on employment stability and mobility. She has over 15 years of experience in workforce development, economic development, and education. Previously, she spent 10 years at the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning, a national nonprofit where she helped develop and grow workforce and economic development area of service. Through her current and prior roles, she has conducted research and provided direct technical assistance on education alignment to business needs, occupational and career pathways, and workforce strategies supporting long-term economic mobility and resilience for a community and the workers and learners within it. Miller started her career focused on K–12 education as a high school social science teacher before moving into the private and nonprofit sectors. She earned her BS in education from Bowling Green State University.
Tiffani M. Horton
Tiffani M. Horton is a senior adviser for the Community and Economic Development team with the Atlanta Fed’s Center for Workforce and Economic Opportunity. Leveraging expertise in research, policy, and practice, her work focuses on creating more robust pathways to economic mobility through education and workforce systems. Horton brings over a decade of experience as a leader at impact-driven organizations including, most recently, Education Strategy Group, a national consulting firm, where she offered technical assistance for organizations—government agencies, philanthropies, and higher education institutions—looking to increase opportunities for learners to access and complete meaningful credentials. After starting her career as a counselor on a college campus, Horton went on to work for academic affairs at the University System of Maryland, providing guidance to local educators, practitioners, and other stakeholders on improving pathways to college and career. She previously worked as a senior researcher at Temple University focused on higher education. She holds a PhD from New York University and a master’s degree from the University of Maryland–College Park, both in higher education.