Reminder and Reading List: Promoting Greater Latino Participation in the Labor Market and Career

We look forward to hearing from you during next week's panel event, sponsored by the Diversity and Literacy and Career Pathways CoPs! We have six Latino professionals joining us on the panel. They will be addressing topics each day, as you'll find in the Announcement below. We are also posting a recommended reading list, below, for anyone wishing to browse through the resources to be discussed during the week. Please help us spread the word as we approach this important and exciting event! See you soon! Leecy and Mike 

ANNOUNCEMENT: Get Ready and Set as we get closer to Go!

The Diversity and Literacy, and Career Pathways LINCS Communities of Practice will offer a promising panel-led event to be discussed among you: Promoting Greater Latino Participation in the Labor Market and Career Pathways

WHERE: Panel-Led Discussion within the Literacy Information and Communication System (LINCS,)  in both the Diversity and Literacy, and the Career Pathways groups.
WHEN: February 22-26, 2016

How: Community Members, join the discussion when it is posted late on February 21st. New members whom you invite, click here to register: http://lincs.ed.gov/ Please let new members know that after they join LINCS, it will take a couple of days for them to receive notification of approved membership. Joining LINCS early will be a great idea. If anyone needs help registering, report the issue to LINCS through the Contact Us menu link.

PANEL MEMBERS

  1. Steven Smith is the Vice President of Instruction and Workforce Education at El Paso Community College, TX.
  2. Vicky Lara, M.A, brings a long history of working with adults in ESL, English, and Basic college programs and their employers along the Mexican border. Now living and working in Austin, TX.
  3. Paul Rogers works out of Ventura, CA and has been teaching ESL to Spanish speaking adults for about 25 years. Paul’s original texts were used for a free website, pumarosa.com, sponsored by SPS Studios. Paul has continued to augment his work, which now includes another website and lessons on Facebook, most of which are available by mobile devices and constitute a distance-learning program, which is flexible enough to assist more advanced learners and those who need English for specific jobs or professions.
  4. Josán Perales, Adult Educator is a Spanish/Puerto Rican, first generation immigrant, teacher in Taos, New Mexico. He brings his personal background to teaching adult ESL to mostly "hispanohablantes", as well as, teaching in a small HSE program in Questa, NM.
  5. Ana Hageage is the Director of Workforce Investment for the Latin American Youth Center in Washington D.C. where she oversees Workforce Readiness and GED programs for out-of-school youth.  She brings years of experience in managing local and national workforce programs with an emphasis on high-risk populations. 
  6. Ines Montero, RN, MSN, is the Associate Dean of Nursing for the City College of Chicago's School of Nursing, at Malcolm X College.  She serves as the director for the Carreras en Salud program at the College.

THE TOPIC

The report, Adult Education and Workforce Training, “Investing in the Skills Development of Hispanics,” states, “Hispanics [Latinos] are the largest and fastest growing minority group, and will represent over 70 percent of our nation’s population growth between 2015 and 2060… The strength of the American economy is inextricably linked to the strength of the Hispanic workforce. At roughly 24 million, Hispanics represented 16 percent of the U.S. labor force in 2013 and are expected to grow to 19 percent by 2022.” However, the report continues, “As of May 2015, there were 5.4 million job openings in the U.S. yet 8.3 million people were unemployed.”

This panel will interact with you and panel members to share insights and recommendations related to the following questions regarding to the disproportionate lack of participation of Latinos in the labor force:

  1. Why are Latinos under-represented among middle-skill occupations?The report, OELD Skills Studies: Time for the U.S. to Reskill?, notes that “[A] large proportion of the low-skilled in the U.S. are black or Hispanic, and one-third of the low-skilled are immigrants” (33). The report also notes that, “[S]ocio-economic background appears to have a larger impact on skills (in the U.S.) than in other countries…”. (33)  Do these comments reflect the experiences of Latinos in your programs?   
  2. What promising practices can adult education, in collaboration with business and industry, implement to significantly change the representation of targeted minority populations in high-demand, middle-skill occupations? The report, How to Build Bridge Programs that Fit into a Career Pathway: A Step-by-Step Guide Based on the Carreras en Salud Program in Chicago, includes fifteen steps for identifying and developing successful partnerships to build strong career pathways.  (10-16)  What role do you see adult educators playing in helping to build these essential partnerships?
  3. How can Latinos and other diverse minority populations best learn about and access career pathways, as stepping stones to robust middle-skill careers?
  4. What resources and models are available to support the implementation of strong initiatives to encourage greater participation of Latinos and other minority populations in high-demand employment sectors in the U.S.?

SUGGESTED READING LIST

  1. Adult Education and Workforce Training article, “Investing in the Skills Development of Hispanics”. www.ed.gov/edblogs/hispanic-initiative/files/2015/07/Hispanics-and-Adult-Education-and-Workforce-Training-Final.pdf
  2. “Time for the US to Re-Skill?: What the Survey of Adult Skills Says”(LINCS Resource)- https://lincs.ed.gov/professional-development/resource-collections/profile-730
  3. Aspen Institute’s Workforce Strategies Initiative (WSI) identifies and advances strategies that help low-income Americans gain ground in today's labor market. Video: http://www.aspenwsi.org/resource/carreras-en-salud-careers-in-health-in-chicago-illinois/
  4. How to Build Bridge Programs that Fit into a Career Pathway: A Step-by-Step Guide Based on the Carreras en Salud Program in Chicago -https://lincs.ed.gov/professional-development/resource-collections/profile-249
  5. http://www.iccb.org/pdf/shiftinggears/Instituto2010_HowToBuildBridgePrograms.pdf
  6. Latest NCLR Latino Jobs Report: - http://publications.nclr.org/bitstream/handle/123456789/1451/january2016_latinojobsreport.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y
  7. Mi Proximo Paso (My Next Move), a career exploration portal, and part of the American Job Network’s services -  https://www.miproximopaso.org/
  8. Assessing the Educational Needs and Interests of the Hispanic Population: The Role of Extension - http://www.joe.org/joe/2005august/rb2.php

Leecy Wise, Moderator, Reading and Writing, and Diversity and Literacy CoPs
Michael Cruise, Moderator, Career Pathways and Disabilities in Adult Educatiaon CoPs