Building the Evidence Base

March 2022, Vol. 3, No. 1

Applications Due Soon for Data Challenge Funding and CEO Summer Fellowship

Calling all emerging and established scholars, and those interested in learning about federal labor evaluation: This is a reminder that both deadlines for the new CEO Summer Fellowship and the second annual DOL Summer Data Challenge on Equity and Underserved Communities are soon.

Applications for the CEO Summer Fellowship are due by 12:00 PM ET on March 28, 2022. The Summer Fellowship Program will support up to five Ph.D.s (current, advanced students or recent graduates) for a paid, full-time experience for 10 weeks (from June 13, 2022, to August 12, 2022). CEO Summer Fellows will have the opportunity to gain valuable experience related to labor and evaluation or data analytics research and will complete and present an independent research project.

Applications for the DOL Summer Data Challenge are due by 12:00 PM ET on April 11, 2022, and decisions are expected in May. Up to five winning teams will receive $30,000 each to use data to analyze how federal labor policies, protections and programs reach traditionally underserved communities, starting in June. To learn more about last year’s winners, check out this edition’s topic highlight.

New to the Evidence Base

CEO publishes new reports, briefs, resources and data sets to support labor programs and policymaking throughout the year. Learn more about selected evidence products, below:

Employment and Training

Career Pathways Descriptive and Analytical Project January 2022
The career pathways approach to workforce development emerged to help less educated workers advance to better paying jobs via postsecondary credentials through education, training, and other support services. The Career Trajectories and Occupational Transitions Study provides insight into workers’ actual economic prospects and pathways over three, five, and ten year time periods, how workers move through job clusters, and experience wage growth. It identifies shared characteristics of “launchpad” occupations—or occupations from which workers go on to experience higher-than-average wage growth—across sectors. In addition to the reports, use the interactive Career Trajectories and Occupational Transitions Dashboard to make decisions that reflect the real-world experience of workers.

Substance Use Disorder and Work

Factors Associated with Opioid Use Among U.S. Workers January 2022
To better understand strategies to help end the opioid epidemic, this project examines factors associated with opioid use amongst U.S. workers. Two new reports investigate how COVID-19’s impact on the labor market may have impacted opioid use amongst workers. The sudden shock of the pandemic to the labor market resulted in a higher number of opioid transactions than prior years, with the magnitude of use varying based on how heavily a location was hit by the pandemic (in terms of job loss).

Employment and Training

Navigators in Social Service Delivery Settings: A Review of the Literature with Relevance to Workforce Development Programs January 2022
Service navigators are a resource for families and individuals to assist in care coordination, access, increase knowledge, and promoting system change. A new literature review examines evidence related to the roles and activities of navigator programs in workforce development and related fields, as well as the outcomes and impacts of such programs. The review covers literature published between 2010 and 2021, and examines navigator activities in seven areas: (1) recruitment and uptake, (2) engagement, (3) direct service, (4) referral and direction, (5) partner and system coordination, (6) policy and procedural improvement, and (7) capacity building.

Findings from Last Year’s DOL Summer Data Equity Challenge Reports

The papers from last year’s DOL Summer Data Challenge winners are now posted on CEO’s website.

Individual teams of researchers from the University of California (California Policy Lab), the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, American University, the University of Minnesota, and Dartmouth College used their funding to analyze how federal labor policies, protections, and programs reach traditionally underserved communities. 

For example, the papers explored how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected disparities in access to and recipiency of unemployment insurance, how local outreach could improve equity in federal oversight of H-2A visa programs, FMLA eligibility in underserved communities, and how disability polarization is impacting the labor market and American workers.

If you want a chance to win funding for this year’s DOL Summer Data Challenge, apply by April 11^th.

CLEAR Highlights

The Clearinghouse for Labor Evaluation and Research (CLEAR) is DOL’s central source of labor-related research and information.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, CLEAR has developed a streamlined rapid evidence review process to support decision-makers. CLEAR’s rapid evidence synthesis on worker health and safety offers evidence-based strategies to limit COVID-19 transmission, which may be useful consider when returning to in-person or hybrid work settings. The synthesis identifies frameworks offered by DOL’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Centers for Disease Control’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) for understanding worker risks and evidence-based strategies for reducing these risks, such as ventilation and personal protection equipment, that can meet the needs of a range of workers and job settings.

Moving Research Forward: Staff Spotlight

Monica Mean, PhD is CEO’s newest Senior Evaluation Specialist. Dr. Mean's expertise lies at the intersection of workforce development research and education and employment. Her portfolio at CEO primarily focuses on employment and training programs, including apprenticeships, career navigation, and workforce development programs in community colleges. Prior to joining CEO, Dr. Mean was an education research analyst in the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE) where she helped shape the research and evaluation priorities for career and technical education and adult education.

If you want to learn more about new research options DOL is considering to support the continuous improvement of ETA programs and policies, Dr. Mean recommends checking out the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Research Portfolio Project. A recently-published summary of stakeholder inputs for research priorities provides a unique insight into how important new research focuses are for the Department and our stakeholders; the findings from future research and evidence could help bridge knowledge gaps and generate accessible, applicable, and actionable evidence.

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