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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Research

Activating Talent in the Public Sector: The STAR Mobility Compass

The STAR Mobility Compass shows that it is possible to make significant improvements to STAR mobility and strengthen hiring pipelines by prioritizing skills in hiring, compensation, and job design.

Article

Up to 30 Million in U.S. Have the Skills to Earn 70% More, Researchers Say (Published 2020)

The findings point to the potential of upward mobility for people without a college degree.

Infographic

Navigating with the STARs Infographic

Infographic from our report, Navigate with the STARs: Reimagining Equitable Pathways to Mobility

Video

Navigate with the STARs: Reimagining Equitable Pathways to Mobility

Video overview of our report, Navigate with the STARs: Reimagining Equitable Pathways to Mobility.

Blogs

Rise with the STARs - New Research in New York Times

Outstanding analysis in the New York Times by Steve Lohr on Opportunity@Work’s new research quantifies the damage done by two decades of rising career barriers to over 70 million U.S. workers who don’t have bachelor’s degrees.

Blogs

Scholars Share Insights to Understand Labor Market Mobility for STARs

Opportunity@Work organized panel to dive into how skills-based hiring overcomes labor market exclusion at APPAM, the largest conference convening of academics, policy makers, and practitioners.

Paper

The Limits of Educational Attainment in Mitigating Occupational Segregation Between Black and White Workers

This paper introduces a dissimilarity index to measure racial occupational segregation between Black and white workers with and without bachelor’s degrees from 1980 to 2019, and uses a Monte Carlo simulation to compare observed segregation levels to predicted levels under race-neutral conditions.

Article

Occupational Segregation Drives Persistent Inequality, Study Says

New research points to the limits of education as a path to upward mobility for Black workers.

Article

How About Offering Apprenticeships For People Who Already Work For You?

Apprenticeships leave out the 95M frontline workers who already have jobs, but who still may need additional education to move up in their careers.

Article

The Changing Face of Apprenticeships - Wally Boston

Opportunity@Work is a proponent of apprenticeships and released a report, with Lightcast, titled The Changing Face of Apprenticeships.

Article

Could one-year apprenticeships become a thing in tech?

The hot labor market drove a 41% increase last year in registered apprenticeship programs in tech fields.

Article

The Future Of Postsecondary Education Relies On Changing How We Hire

In 2023, America’s workforce stands at a fork in the road.

Article

Millions Have Lost a Step Into the Middle Class, Researchers Say (Published 2022)

The new figure points to the challenge for the majority of Americans who do not have a four-year college degree.

Video

Reach for the STARs Launch (March 12, 2020)

Hosted by Opportunity@Work’s Byron Auguste and Accenture’s Marty Rodgers, this event dove into the groundbreaking new research that reveals a hidden talent pool of 71 million U.S. workers who do not have four-year degrees — but are STARs and have the potential to thrive in higher-wage jobs.

Blogs

Who Are STARs?

In our inaugural post in the STARlight Blog Series, we made the case for building a STARs-powered economy to help us overcome the COVID crisis. As we move towards recovery, it’s important to understand STARs’ potential to move into better-paying jobs.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Blogs

Two Job Families Could Hold the Key to Expanding Pathways for Black STARs

A report from Human Resources consulting company Mercer found that across industries in the U.S., Black workers are underrepresented at every career level above support staff when compared to their representation in the general population.

Article

There Are 6 Million Black Workers Missing From Your Talent Pool

In addition to the 5.3 million Black workers with college degrees, Opportunity@Work has identified 10 million Black workers who are Skilled Through Alternative Routes, such as associate degrees, credential training programs, on-the-job learning, and self-guided learning at the kitchen table.

Article

IBM, Merck and OneTen launch network to recruit and promote Black workers over the next decade

IBM, Merck and OneTen created a network that will help hire and promote 1 million Black workers into higher paying jobs.

Video

About 60 million jobs have been deemed essential during the COVID-19 crisis

Two-thirds of essential workers are STARs. This data story demonstrates their contributions to COVID-19 response and the disparate impacts of the pandemic on women and people of color.

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.

Research

Paper

The Impact of State Actions: States Move the Needle on Skills-Based Hiring

States Move the Needle on Skills-Based Hiring

Research

Barriers and Breakthroughs: Framework to Improve STAR Economic Mobility

The STAR Barriers and Breakthroughs Framework identifies six key contributors to STAR economic mobility and the many interventions and investments that can support a STAR’s career progression.

Research

Look to the STARs: Activating Talent in a Regional Market

Employers can find the talent they need, transform their local and regional labor markets, and boost STAR mobility by embracing a collective approach to skills-based job pathways.

Research

Paper

Occupational Segregation: Confronting the Labor Market’s Racial Divide

Black and white workers with similar levels of education are concentrated in different jobs with negative impacts on wages and mobility.

Research

The Changing Face of Apprenticeships: New Opportunities for Employers and STARs

Research from Lightcast and Opportunity@Work shows how apprenticeships are on the rise as a solution to tear the paper ceiling separating employers and the talent they need.

Research

STARs in the Workplace: How a Gap in Talent Development Hurts Employers and STARs

Workers Skilled Through Alternative Routes (STARs) other than a bachelor’s degree demonstrate valuable skills on the job, but the vast majority don’t get the opportunities to develop their full potential. Why not?

Research

Rise with the STARs: Building a stronger labor market for STARs, communities, and employers

Our report, Rise with the STARs: Building a Stronger Labor Market for STARs, Communities, and Employers, shows the impact of degree discrimination on employers and STARs and identifies a better path forward for everyone.

Research

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

There is a vast overlooked talent pool of 70+ million workers who are Skilled Through Alternative Routes (STARs). These are workers who have a high school diploma or equivalent and do not have a four-year college degree but do have the skills to perform higher-wage work today.

Research

Navigating with the STARs: Reimagining Equitable Pathways to Mobility

The COVID-19 crisis lays bare the deficiencies in our labor market. STARs comprise two thirds of our essential workforce and yet they continue to experience the decades-long trends in wage decline and limited upward mobility. We must reimagine our approach to our workforce to achieve an equitable recovery.

Research

Black STARs: Spotlight on Black STARs: Insights for Employers to Access the Skilled and Diverse Talent They’ve Been Missing

There are more than 70 million STARs–workers who are Skilled Through Alternative Routes, rather than through a bachelor’s degree–in the American workforce. They include millions of Black STARs who have the skills employers seek to fill in-demand jobs, and yet these workers are missing from traditional talent pipelines.

Research

Essential STARs: Across Most Essential Roles, STARs Are The Majority

Two-thirds of essential workers are Skilled Through Alternative Routes. As we work to recover, the rich, untapped talent pool of STARs' skills is critical — and essential.

Research

Hispanic STARs: Smart Employers Aim for Hispanic STARs

Hispanics represent almost one in five workers in the workforce and they are overrepresented in lower-wage occupations. A majority of Hispanic workers are STARs: they are Skilled Through Alternative Routes such as community colleges, apprenticeships, and on-the-job learning. Efforts to expand job pathways for STARs will increase economic mobility for Hispanic workers.

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