DURHAM (August 21, 2019) – Most of us know North Carolina has shifted from an economy based on textiles and furniture to one increasingly dominated by employers like Biogen that require workers to have a degree or credential.
What fewer know is that North Carolina is not producing educated workers quickly enough to fill those new jobs.
“Unfortunately our talent supply is not keeping pace with these changes,” Dale Jenkins, CEO of Curi and Co-Chair of the myFutureNC Commission, told the NC Chamber’s Education & Workforce Conference yesterday.
Fewer than half of North Carolinians ages 25-44 have a high-quality credential or degree, Jenkins said.
“We are going to fall well short of our potential if we continue on the current trajectory,” he said. “… Don’t stop your education with a high-school diploma.”
Citing projections from Dr. Rebecca Tippett of Carolina Demography, Jenkins said that at current rates, only 30% of North Carolina 9th-graders will complete a two- or four-year degree.
Currently, he said, 1.3 million North Carolinians age 25-44 (49%) have a high-quality credential or a degree. At the current rate, 1.6 million will by 2030 – but that’s well short of the 2 million qualified workers that will be needed by then.
“That’s a very real skills gap – 400,000. That’s not acceptable,” Jenkins said. “We’ve got to increase the number of folks who have a high-quality postsecondary credential or degree.”
Education leaders, Republicans in the General Assembly and Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper have all adopted myFutureNC’s goal of 2 million workers ages 25-44 with a degree or credential by 2030. And how often does that happen?
Jenkins warned that educators must be open to change.
“We need to be willing to try some new things,” he said. “The culture of education in North Carolina has to be one that is not afraid of disruption.
“We’ve got to have a burning passion to make this work – to have 2 million by 2030.”
TO SHOW IT CAN BE DONE, Peter Hans, President of the NC Community College System, shared one student’s story.
“We’re talking about making our state strong, but we’re really talking about individual lives,” Hans said.
Shantal Grullon is the daughter of immigrants from the Dominican Republic who took advantage of college-level courses she could take in high school through Career & College Promise, Hans said. Then she attended Wake Technical Community College and had a job at Lenovo at age 20 – before she finished her degree.
Early on, Shantal was told by a friend that she shouldn’t pursue a career in information technology because it wasn’t a “girl” thing to do.
“Boy did she prove them wrong,” Hans said.
“We offer people hope, and a ladder to the middle class,” he said. “We must raise our game. We can be this nation’s leader again.”
Rebecca Galloway says
How do we the people help make this happen, in addition to our own families?
Higher Ed Works says
Great question! Our suggestions for everyone would include: a) build more of a college-going culture, starting in middle school; b) keep college affordable and provide adequate financial aid; and c) build more “on-ramps” like community college partnerships to make higher education as accessible as possible.
Nancy S. Marks says
You need well-trained, experienced, dedicated counselors in every middle and secondary school –whose only responsibility is to encourage every student to pursue a post high school educational program of some kind. They need to have in hand all available info on admission and financial aid and be best friends with all necessary higher education personnel. I did it for 31 years – at least 90% of graduating classes, 450-650 students, Hoggard High School in Wilmington. It can — and must be done!! They are our future !!
Ryan Collins says
The single most important thing we can do to reach this goal is to make college more affordable. I’m glad to see hear the General Assembly is supportive of increasing our number of citizens achieving a post-secondary degree, but they need to put their money where their mouth is by (1) restoring funding for the UNC System to pre-recession levels, and (2) following the example of California and other states by making community college free for all North Carolina residents.