Recap: Labor Market Data in the New Year

Today, colleges and universities can access an unprecedented amount of information about the jobs learners want and the skills employers need. But applying this data effectively requires a clear vision for the why, how, and what of labor market analytics in higher education.

To help provide this vision, Emsi hosted a webinar led by chief innovation officer Rob Sentz. Rob shared how institutions can and should use data about the economy and their alumni to improve their value and relevance in 2020 and beyond. Scroll down for a full recording of the webinar and links to the research projects referenced in the presentation.

Takeaways include:

• The 5 key ways that institutions should be leveraging labor market data
• How to talk about the actual outcomes of education
• A review of the strengths and weaknesses of data and what the results of effective data application look like
• The future of data for higher ed: emerging trends to watch

Download the powerpoint

You can download the full presentation here.

Related research

During the presentation, Rob cites several recent studies from Emsi and the Strada Institute for the Future of Work:

• Robot-Ready: Human+ Skills for the Future of Work – Based on analysis of economic data and over 100 million online profiles, Robot-Ready examines the need for human+ skills as we move into the future of work. The report includes an in-depth look at the long-term career outcomes of liberal arts grads.
• Degrees at Work: Examining the Serendipitous Outcomes of Diverse Degrees – To uncover the real relationship between education and work, we analyzed the career outcomes of graduates from six popular degree areas, including an in-depth look at the skills most likely to show up in grads’ day-to-day work.
• The New Geography of Skills: Regional Skill Shapes for the New Learning Ecosystem – In this report, Emsi and Strada introduce the concept of skill shapes: a real-time analysis of the labor market that looks at the unique skill demands associated with specific career fields, regions, and individuals. Skill shapes provide a concrete method any region can use to identify local talent gaps for any industry and calibrate learning pathways to fill them.

Webinar recording

• What we learned last year (highlights from our research projects) – 1:58
• The basics of labor market data – 23:40
• Five ways to apply data (and the results you should be looking for) – 36:49
• Desired outcomes (and examples of institutions achieving them) – 40:52
• What’s new in 2020? – 51:58

If you have questions or would like to chat about how labor market data can be used at your institution, let us know! We’d love to learn more about the work you do and explore how our data can help.