Reasons people have left the labor force include going back to school, becoming ill or disabled, staying home to care for children or elders, taking early retirement, and becoming discouraged about one’s ability to get a job at all. Economist William Rodgers at Rutgers University’s Heldrich Center for Workforce Development said, in many cases, these people have found ways to survive and make ends meet without getting traditional employment again. And he said wage-growth will have to improve to make it worthwhile for many of these people to return to the job-hunt.
STEM Pathways are a Two-Way Street, Not a “Leaky Pipeline”
A new article in the Journal for STEM Education Research challenges the longstanding “leaky pipeline” narrative that has shaped U.S. education and workforce policy for decades. The article, “Reconceptualizing College STEM Pathways: Is ‘Leaving STEM’ the Problem?”, was...