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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

Barriers and Breakthroughs: Framework to Improve STAR Economic Mobility

Reach for the STARs: Skills and Economic Mobility in the AI Economy

Reach for the STARs: Skills and Economic Mobility in the AI Economy

Navigating with the STARs: Reimagining Equitable Pathways to Mobility

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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We shouldn’t chase economic recovery; we should chase economic redesign
Article
We shouldn’t chase economic recovery; we should chase economic redesign

America needs to think differently about the value of jobs during the coronavirus recovery.

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Workers With Skills But No Degree
Article
Workers With Skills But No Degree

Do good jobs exist for those without four-year degrees? A new working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research sought to answer this question.

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Searching for STARs: Work Experience as a Job Market Signal for Workers without Bachelor's Degrees
Paper
Searching for STARs: Work Experience as a Job Market Signal for Workers without Bachelor's Degrees

The demand for a skilled workforce is increasing even faster than the supply of workers with college degrees – the result: rising wage inequality by education levels, and firms facing a skills gap.

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The Disparate Racial Impact of Requiring a College Degree
Article
The Disparate Racial Impact of Requiring a College Degree

Among U.S. workers over 25, only 26% of blacks, and 40% of whites, have a bachelor’s or higher.

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The Gateway Jobs That Can Open Opportunity For Workers Skilled Through Alternative Routes
Article
The Gateway Jobs That Can Open Opportunity For Workers Skilled Through Alternative Routes

Opportunity@Work discusses the value of certain occupations that have the potential to put STAR (Skilled Through Alternative Routes) workers, currently in low-wage roles, onto a higher-wage career path.

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Skills, Degrees and Labor Market Inequality
Paper
Skills, Degrees and Labor Market Inequality

Rather than being unskilled, we argue that these workers are STARs because they are skilled through alternative routes—namely their work experience.

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There is no such thing as a low-skilled worker
Article
There is no such thing as a low-skilled worker

Changing the way we think about low-wage work can help give people more economic mobility.

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As many as 30 million workers without college degrees have the skills to earn 70% more, report finds
Article
As many as 30 million workers without college degrees have the skills to earn 70% more, report finds

Often, the report claims, employer education requirements hold workers back.

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Employers Can Write the Next Chapter In Black History By Extending Opportunity To Black STARs
Blogs
Employers Can Write the Next Chapter In Black History By Extending Opportunity To Black STARs

Our research shows that Black STARs have limited pathways to higher-wage work compared to their white counterparts.

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STAR Research Community

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.

Visit the Research Community

Our Research Partners

Senior Advisors to Opportunity@Work’s STARs Research Network

Adina Sterling

Associate Professor of Management

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.

Read STAR Stories

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