Our Research

Insight and strategies to build an inclusive and sustainable workforce by recognizing the skills and potential of STARs

Barriers and Breakthroughs: Framework to Improve STAR Economic Mobility

Reach for the STARs: Realizing the Potential of America’s Hidden Talent Pool

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Navigating with the STARs: Reimagining Equitable Pathways to Mobility

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Our data on STARs changed the national conversation around workforce.

Opportunity@Work’s analytical and research capabilities inform the nation’s understanding of STARs' potential in the labor market and uncover insights that show how to make positive economic change within regions and industries, and within groups of STARs.

Our research has been featured in:

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Blogs

Black STARs Have Always Been Essential, But Will We Recognize It?

Two-thirds of our 63 million essential workers are Skilled through Alternative Routes (STARs) instead of through a four-year college degree.

Article

STARs have been essential during COVID-19

More than half of the nation’s 142 million active workforce are STARs, skilled workers without four-year college degrees.

Article

As Talent Demands Increase, STARs Are The Solution

STARs – workers who are Skilled Through Alternative Routes, other than a bachelor’s degree – are exactly what is needed to build a stronger workforce, and a more inclusive talent ecosystem, for the 21st century.

Article

The majority of Americans lack a college degree. Why do so many employers require one?

College-degree discrimination has become so widespread that many take it for granted.

Blogs

Our Heritage is Our Strength: 8 Pieces of Advice for Hispanic STARs

Of the 25.6 million Hispanic workers in the labor force, 54% are STARs. And, while those workers are represented in every occupation, they are overrepresented in lower-wage jobs, earning a median wage of $19.00 an hour. This of course should not be the case.

Blogs

Getting Hispanic STARs the Skills and Supports they Need to Succeed

Opportunity@Work’s recent study found that Hispanic workers make up a disproportionate number of the workers in the U.S. without college degrees who already have the skills to succeed in high-wage jobs.

Article

Building back better means hiring more workers skilled through alternative routes

The statistics are sobering. About 31 million workers — including millions of Hispanic workers — possess skills that qualify them for higher-paying roles they are never considered for.

Article

The college degree barrier to work

There are millions of Americans who have the skills to get higher-level, higher-paying jobs but aren't considered for those roles because they don't have college degrees.

Research

Shedding Light on Rural STARs

A report from ACT and Opportunity@Work explores the challenges and opportunities facing rural STARs, while also highlighting the potential of leveraging data-driven tools and STAR-centered workforce initiatives to better support a vital yet often overlooked segment of the U.S. workforce.

Activating a collaborative community of researchers

We conduct our own research, but that’s only the beginning. We also seek out and encourage the participation of research partners and collaborators.

Our goal? To inspire others to pursue new research—and question conventional wisdom on our workers, talent management practices, and workforce development. Over time, the available data and insights will multiply, delivering answers to every question that’s at the heart of economic mobility for STARs.

Our Research Partners

STARs Insights Advisory Panel

Our STARs Insights Initiative Advisory Panel is chaired by Dr. Erica Groshen, former Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and includes advisors with experience in labor economics, workforce development and the future of work across the public, private, and academic sectors.

Erica Groshen

Former Commissioner, Bureau of Labor Statistics

Peter Q. Blair

Assistant Professor, Harvard University

STAR Stories

Read about the barriers, challenges, and possibilities that STARs are seeing today — and why they're hopeful for a brighter future.

Our Research

Our data on STARs changed the national conversation around workforce.

STAR Research Community

Activating a collaborative community of researchers

STARs Insights Advisory Panel

Erica Groshen

Peter Q. Blair

STAR Stories