Despite the decline of manufacturing that made good jobs for high school graduates a rarity, there are still 30 million good jobs that don’t require a bachelor’s degree, a new report being released today from the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce shows.
And while a large portion of those good jobs are still in manufacturing and held by individuals with only a high school diploma, the situation is changing as the economy shifts from blue-collar industries to skilled-services industries, such as health services and financial services, according to the report titled “Good Jobs that Pay Without a BA.”
And the new non-Bachelor’s degree jobs are favoring workers with some post-secondary education, particularly an associate’s degree, states the report, produced by center director Dr. Anthony Carnevale, along with researchers Dr. Jeff Strohl, Dr. Ban Cheah, and Neil Ridley.
For instance, the report notes that since 1991, the number of good jobs held by workers with only a high school diploma decreased by 1 million. Meanwhile, good jobs have gone increasingly to those with an associate’s degree. Such jobs increased by 3 million during the same timeframe.
The report comes ahead of plans by the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce this fall to establish a new interactive website — goodjobsdata.org — to illuminate where the good jobs are nationally, at the state level, as well as by industry, occupation and wage.
The report and website are meant to help policymakers formulate better strategies to reinvigorate America’s middle class.
“If policymakers want to get serious about restoring the health of the middle class, mapping this education and workforce landscape — both the educational pathways through sub-baccalaureate education and the occupational pathways available to workers at different levels — is crucial,” the report states.
