Higher education has been historically structured to limit access to members from the U.S. workforce in low-wage jobs and limited postsecondary experience. By understanding their personal, professional and socioeconomic circumstances, the sector can expand its reach to 20% more prospective students, declares a new report from WGU Labs, Western Governors University’s research and innovation hub.
This demographic, dubbed “Rising Talent,” can serve as an auxiliary source of enrollment beyond some college leaders’ recent efforts to re-enroll previously stopped-out adult learners.
“These individuals, earning low wages and lacking higher education credentials, are constrained by financial, logistical and psychological barriers that significantly limit their upward mobility,” the report reads.
WGU Labs utilized data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, which tracks a nearly 9,000 sample of U.S. residents born between 1980 and 1984 and has studied their career growth from 1997 onward, conducting over 20 surveys so far. The research hub examined survey samples from 2021 in which respondents were 39 years old on average, a key phase in which workers are most likely to earn peak earnings and pursue professional development. Over 1,600 respondents fit the “Rising Talent” demographic.
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The “Rising Talent” cohort faces a litany of challenging life circumstances. Some notable features include:
- Disproportionately Black and Hispanic
- More likely to be single parents, care for additional household members or live in multigenerational households
- Poor general health
- Lack of access to stable internet connection
- Low average high school GPA
- Higher incidence of past trauma, such as encounters with gun violence, bullying, hospitalizations and more
- 87% would be first-generation students if they decided to enroll
Data from earlier longitudinal surveys suggest that this cohort was more likely to suffer from anxiety and other mental health challenges that impeded their ability to earn higher income or earn a postsecondary credential later on in their lives.
How higher education changes the trajectory of “Rising Talent”
Half the respondents who fit the “Rising Talent” mold in 2009 were able to change their life trajectory by earning a higher education degree or securing a higher-paying job. Those able to reach this achievement were also more likely to change jobs or engage more with digital modalities.
“[T]these correlations provide valuable insights that can guide future research and interventions,” the report reads.
WGU Labs recommends offering nontraditional, competency-based education can play a more equitable and inclusive means to reach their assortment of unique challenges.