ERIC ED363763: Youth Apprenticeships and School-to-Work Transition: Current Knowledge and Legislative Strategy. EQW Working Papers.

30 Pages·1993·0.64 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
ED 361 763
CE 065 047
AUTHOR
Osterman, Paul; Iannozzi, Maria
TITLE
Youth Apprenticeships and School-to-Work Transition:
Current Knowledge and Legislative Strategy. EQW
Working Papers.
INSTITUTION
National Center on the Educational Quality of the
Workforce, Philadelphia, PA.
SPONS AGENCY
Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED),
Washington, DC.
PUB DATE
93
CONTRACT
R117Q00011-91
NOTE
30p.
PUB TYPE
Information Analyses (070)
EMS PRICE
MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage.
DESCRIPTORS
*Apprenticeships; Disadvantaged Youth; *Educational
Legislation; Educational Objectives; Educational
Policy; *Education Work Relationship; Job Placement;
Labor Market; Out of School Youth; Part Time
Employment; Policy Formation; Postsecondary
Education; Program Design; Public Policy; Research
and Development; Student Certification; Student
Employment; *Transitional Programs; *Vocational
Education; Youth Employment; *Youth Programs
ABSTRACT
For many youths, the early years in the labor market
are characterized not by an absence of jobs but rather by a
"churning" process that often delays the benefits of high school
educational experiences for several years. Youth apprenticeship
programs should be designed to serve as a strategy/vehicle of school
reform, function as a labor market program, and create institutional
structures that link employers and schools. Among the principles that
should be followed in designing youth apprenticeship programs are the
following: permit students to change their minds about choices; link
work and schooling in a substantive way; encourage schooling beyond
high school; avoid tracking, gender discrimination, adult
displacement, and highly specific training; and provide high quality
work placements rather than just work experience. Special attention
must be paid to obtaining placements, developing certification
criteria and procedures, and obtaining an adequate research and
development base. A youth employment policy shoUld do the following:
reflect existing demands for youth labor, facilitate the
school-to-work transition, be school based, and provide adequate
services to out-of-school and disadvantaged youth. (Contains 16
references.) (MN)
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Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made
from the original document.
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era
C.
Youth Apprenticeships and School-to-Work Transition:
er3
Current Knowledge and Legislative Strategy
C.1
by
Paul Osterman
Professor of Human Resources and Management
Sloan School of Management
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
and
Maria lannozzi
Staff Writer
National Center on the Educational Quality of the Workforce
S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Onrce ot Edocarroner Research nn Impcnoempnr
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION
CENTER (ERIC)
dOCurnent nes been reprothe ed as
%/h.s
received ITT the person or orpenrratron
orrprnetrng
Mrnor changes neve beeo made to
reproclucton Quildy
Points Ot ries* Of ocTons stated 10 thiS Ii0Cu
Tent CIO n.01 neCesSenly represenr officrer
OE RI positron or policy
2
f3lh,
k4.
.
"Youth Apprenticeships and Sehool-to-W ork Transition: Current Knowledge
and LegislatiYe Strategy- by Paul Osterman and Maria lannozzi
EQW Catalog Number: WP14
The syork reported herein was supported under the Educational Resean.h and
Deyelopment Center program, agreement number R11790(X)11-91, CFDA
84.1179 as administered by the Office of Educational Research and
Improyement. 1. .S. Depannwnt of Education. The findings and opinions
expressed in this report do not reflect the position or policies of the Offiie of
Educational Research and Improvement or the l .S. Department of Education.
Ciipy right © 1993 by the Trustees of the CniYersity of Pennsylvania
3
Contents
Introduction
1
Part I: Youth Apprenticeships and Schooko-Work
Transition Policy
2
.Characterizing the Youth Labor Market
2
6
Program Design and Structure
8
Program Principles
9
Obtaining Placements
9
Certification Credentials and Youth Apprenticeship
Research and Development.
10
10
Legislative Strategy
Part II: Youth Employment Policy
Seminar Presentations
11
The Demand for Youth Labor
11
The Gains from Working While in School
13
The School-to-Work Transition Process
14
16
School-Based Policies
Programs for Out-of-School and
20
Disadvantaged Youth
25
Bibliography
4
Introduction
cerning the youth labor market: an identification of the
School-to-work transition has generated a great deal of re-
problems in this market. which youth apprenticeship pro-
cent discussion in political arenas and in the American
grams are intended to address: a discussion of program de-
media. While there is broad-ranging concern that a growing
sign issues for youth apprenticeships; and a presentation of
proportion of American youth lack a grounding in the funda-
key legislative issues. The remainder of the paper. Part II.
mental educational and social skills needed to enter and
consists of summary accounts of the material presented on
advance in the workforce, policy makers still lack a compre-
March 3 and 4. 1993. at the "Youth Employment Policy
hensive sense of many issues that involve youth employ-
Seminar... organized by Paul Osterman of the Massachusetts
ment: where or when the failure to connect with work can
Institute of Technology's Sloan School. The outcomes of this
occur: what the apparent instability of youth employment
or "churning--actually signifies. as well as what causes it:
conference, which included recommendations for planning a
national system of youth apprenticeships, directly informed
and what type of system on what scale is needed to facilitate
the discussion contained in Part 1 of this paper.
this transition. particularly in terms of youth apprenticeship.
This paper contains two parts. The first section. Part I.
contains an analysis of the current state of knowledge con-
5
A PERS
WORK INC
P
1
Youth Apprenticeships and Schooi-to-Work Transition Policy
Part
The problems of at-risk youth have long been at the cen-
Without doubt, there is a great deal of promise in the idea
ter of federal youth policy: unfortunately, however, efforts
of a national system of youth apprenticeships. and it is more
have not been very effective in addressing their situation
than good news that these kinds of programs are being pro-
(see Osterman forthcoming [a] for a review of the evaluation
posed. Nonetheless, in the rush to solve the nation's em-
literature). At the Youth Employment Policy Seminar. Rob-
ployment problems, many policy makers are gearing up to
ert lyry and Fred Doolittle described these recent federal
design the best "kit- and to jump on the bandwagon called
efforts, which are summarized in the second section of this
"best practice- when discussing a national youth appren-
report. One of the concerns regarding the new apprentice-
ticeship system. Caution is in order, however, because in-
ship initiatives is that they may not adequately serve at-risk
vestigation into the current state of knowledge about Youth
N outh. These programs will relv heaNily upor obtaining
apprenticeships shows that much less is actually known than
and, given the
training placements in priyate-sector
previously believed. Because the sur0 of funding that will
difficulty of obtaining these placenwnts. there will be a
most likely accompany these programs may lead to hasty
strong tendency to cater to the most job-readv youth. The
decision making, there is instead a greater need to identify
fact that this type of program max. nut be the best-designed
what these programs should incorporate and to locate areas
for at-risk youth should not lw seen as a fatal criticism.
of inquiry, rather than to offer quickly devised solutions and
provided that adequate additional resources are devoted to
paradigms.
this group.
Youth who will graduate from high school but most likely
Characterizing the Youth Labor Market
will not attend college face a different problem: job quality.
Any discussion of youth apprenticeships should begin
Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' "Earnings
with a description of the condition of the youth labor market.
and Employment- that tracks an employment/population
Is it job quality or job acquisition that poses problems for
ratio for 16- to 19-year-olds. Figure 1 shows that there has
young workers? The question can be answered in two ways.
heen a slight downturn in youth employment. Yet there is
For inner cityoften minorityyouth, the problem lies in a
no evidence tha jobs have begun to "dry up- for these
real lack of jobs. Indeed, the situation of minority youth
youth. Table 1 proves the same point using the National
represents a major social crisis: in October 1992 only 21.2
Longitudinal Survey of Youth. The pattern in this table
percent of 16- to I9-year-old black youth were employed.
shows no evidence of a collapse ii the youth labor ioarket.
compared to 45.9 percent of 16- to 19-vear-old white youth
nor does it indicate the onset of a youth job crisis.
(Bureau of Labor Statisti('s T 992).
A PERS
WORKING
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7
Table 1
Activity Patterns for Men and Women Aged 16-31
29-31
23-28
20-21
16-19
Men
85.7%
81.2%
21.9%
53.9r/e
Working
3.3%
1.7%
I 1.1%
linemployed
M.5%
23.4%
5.1-ek
In School
2.2%
-Lock
6.5ge
Armed hwces
hc+
5.2%
Other
Women
66.1%
67.9%
49.3%
Working
18.9%
1.0%
8.6rk
5.8%
1.'nemplocd
1.8%
1.9%
65.6%
In School
0.1
0.7%
Armed Forces
Ch
25.0%
20.0%
22.0ge
Other
Source: National Longitudinal Sur% e of Youth and 0,termati (forthcoming la!)
%%ere 23-28 in 1988. The final column rtprvseuts a different co-
Note: The fir,t three columns follow a cohort aged 16-19 in 1979 until tlie
hort. tho.-4: aged 29-31 in 1988.
informati(M are rarely used lt employers. since these low-
The early Years in the labor market for many graduating
If most youth jobs
skill jobs Uollid not necessitate their te:e.
students are characterized not by an absence of jobs but
share these characteristics, it is not helpful to propose int-
rather by a "churning- process. High turnover and frequent
pro% ements in the transferal of information; as long as youth
joh change are evident during this period when youth sam-
are employed in these jobs. the mailability of acadentic
ple different jobs or simply move from one low-skill job to
information becomes a moot point.
another. The phenomenon of churning represents a eharac-
The problem facing youth who experience this churning
teristic of the Youth labor market that has important implica-
process is more subtle than the simple absence of jobs.
tions for program design. For example. in their research on
What happens when the period of churning has concluded?
achievement tests. Richard Murnane. John Willett. and
idence suggests that a substantial frtu tion of this cohort
Frank Levy (1993) found that the economic payoff to per-
has been unable to "settle do)%n" into quality jobs. In the
forming well on an algebra test appeared six years after
past. most youth in their late twenties--even if thev did not
graduationthere was no return apparent as early as two
attend collegecould expect eventually to obtain stable
years afterwards. This delay in receiving a prenlium may be
employment: this is no longer true. This particular difficulty
attributed to the turbulence in the youth labor market
is illustrated in Table 2. which shows that as many as 30
caused by churning: these young workers may have experi-
percent of high school youth btu! not foutul a steady job by
enced high turnover in a series of low-skill. low-wage jobs
the time they reached their late twenties.
with no application for eighth-grade algebra. Among other
things. churning explains why transcripts and scholastic
0 R K ING
P
P
R
A E
S
4
V;
1972 graduates. scoring six points above average on the test
The difficulty that youth face in successfully settling
yielded a premium of 46 cents more per hour than the wages
down is exacerbated by changes in the adult or career labor
received by a student who scored six points below the aver-
market, in which the most pervasive change has been the
age: for 1980 graduates. that differential increased to S1.15
rising demand for skills. Increasing premiums for skill are
per hour.
best demonstrated by the growing inequality in wages re-
In the adult labor market, the emergence of high-perfor-
ceived hy high school and college graduates. However.
mance work systems accounts for much of the increase in
skill-driven inequality also occurs among people with the
demand for higher levels of skill. High-performance work
same education. When Murnane. Willett. and Levy (1993)
systems are now being adopted across industries, including
compared wage rates for 1972 and 1980 high school gradu-
the service sector, as work organization undergoes signifi-
ates six years after graduation with the scores they received
cant change. The Commission on the Skills in the American
on the previously mentioned algebra test, they observed that
Workforce (1990) found a relatively low rate of use of these
the premium for having greater math ability increased over
work systems. but more recent evidence suggests that ap-
timean indication that the labor market had changed the
proximately 30 percent of firms have now altered their orga-
way in which it rearded this skill. For example. for male
Table 2
Job Tenure Ages 29-31 in 1988
High School Grad (No
High School
(:ollege)
Drop-out
Men
In Current Job More Than 2
54.8%
27 .7e%
Years
In Current Job 1-2 Years
23.0%
12.8%
15.8%
In Current Job I ,ess Than I Year
32.4%
49.3%
37 .0%
Women
In Current Job More Than 2
30.7%
31.7 %
19.4%
Years
In Current Job 1-2 Years
20.6%
14.4%
16.6%
In Current Job Less Than 1 Near
54.9%
60.0%
51.7%
of 1 outh and Osterman tforthemning
,!-,ou we: National Longitudinal Stirs
9
A PER S
VI"ORKING
P
5
Finally, it may be that apprenticeship proposals are best
nizations to include these systems (Osterman forthcoming
considered as school reform strategies, in which case these
[bp. This trend contributes to the demand and reward for
labor market issues become somewhat less compelling.
higher levels of skill, primarily because higher-performance
workwhich utilizes strategies such as teams, quality cir-
cles, and job rotationrequires flexible employees with
Program Design and Structure
New program initiatives must be considered in an exist-
transferable skills.
ing context that is characterized bv rather weak efforts to
Since youth labor market churning as well as changes in
link school and work. For example. according to Thomas
the adult labor market impact youth apprenticeship design.
Bailey's presentation (see "The School-to-Work Transition
the location of placements (in either the youth or adult mar-
Process" on page 14). only 10 Iwrcent of students iho found
kets) becomes another important consideration. Will youth
employment after high school used school resources to lo-
apprenticeship slots be created in positions in the youth
cate those jobs: other survey data show that less than 50
labor market that have no return for skill? Or, will programs
percent of students have even seen a high school counse-
place apprentices in the upper-end or adult labor market.
lormuch less have used the resources that schools pro-
which has always had an aversion to hiring youth? If ap-
ide. There currently are no broad-based institutions
prentices are placed in an adult labor market on a large
linking selmol and work.
scale, employers must overcome their dislike or distrust of
To provide the infrastructure necessary for a successful
young employees.
system of outh apprenticeships. policy must cleark delin-
In summary, for the bulk of youth not bound for college.
eate program objectives. Apprenticeship programs can lw
the problem that public policy must address is not the sim-
isioned as having three potential goals:
ple absence of jobs but rather the difficulties these youth
face in settling down into quality jolts in the adult labor
Youth apprenticeships as a strategy for school
marketa problem that has been exacerbated 1)\ rising skill
reform. One way to reform schooling is by linking it
requirements. If we accept a period of churning as part of
to work. Making the high -chool experience more
the process. many of the ideas regarding improved informa-
meaningful and compelling encourages students to
tion systems between schools and employers seem less com-
continue their education. Most importantly. by initiat-
pelling. In addition, ifin the first few years after high
ing curricular changes that integrate academic aml
schoolmost youth find relatively unskilled jobs in the
yocatimal learning and teach academic subjects in the
youth labor market. policy makers must ask whethc:c this
context of iork schools can provide job-rele ant abili-
market can indeed provide quality apprenticeship place-
ties to stutlents and motivation for traditional academ-
ments. A great deal of consideration is necessary to ensure
ie learning. Additional c,wriponents include
that these placements do not simply increase the number of'
encituraging youth ti iran tinue their education beyond
unskilled youth jobs. Alternatively. if the program seeks to
high school and using work experience to encourage
bypass the churning period and place youth directly into
students to make the extra investment.
adult settings. then it is important to help employers over-
2. Youth apprenticeships as a labor market pro-
conw their reluctance to hire youth and the reluctance of the
gram. This perspective views youth apprenticeships
Youth themselves to "settle down" at such an early age.
10
P ER s
A 0 R K INC
P
A