Job ladders in the stem skilled technical workforce

The National Science Foundation awarded the University of Washington $831,995 on February 1, 2026, under the STEM Education program (CFDA 47.076) to map job ladders in the skilled technical workforce and identify career pathways for workers with technical skills but less than a bachelor's degree.

The recipient will produce an internet-based interactive tool describing skilled technical workforce occupations and job ladders, alongside research briefs and journal articles. The project uses O*NET database records and Current Population Survey data on job changers to identify occupations that facilitate upward wage mobility among workers without four-year degrees, focusing on STEM knowledge and technical competencies. The research analyzes variation in skilled technical workforce access and mobility by examining the role of teenage employment experiences, parental occupation, and geographic setting (rural, suburban, and urban areas). Deliverables will serve students planning careers in the skilled technical workforce, employers hiring these workers, and community members seeking to strengthen entry pathways.

The University of Washington Office of Sponsored Programs, the administrative gateway for the institution's federal research portfolio, acts as the prime recipient. Work is performed in Seattle, Washington. The period of performance extends from February 1, 2026, through September 30, 2028. The obligated amount is $831,995.

Abstract

A major part of the stem workforce, referred to as the skilled technical workforce (STW), is composed of workers with less than a bachelor's degree performing jobs that require technical skills. This project uses a career approach to map the jobs in the STW by identifying the occupations that workers with technical skills, and less than a 4-year college degree, move through over the course of their careers. The project will identify the job ladders providing entry and mobility through the STW. Job ladders enable workers who acquire greater levels of experience to transfer developed skills across linked occupations, and achieve higher wages. Finally, the study will analyze variation in access to and mobility through the STW by investigating the role of teenage employment experiences, parental occupation, and living in rural, suburban, and urban areas. This research will result in the creation of an internet-based interactive tool that describes STW occupations and job ladders, in addition to the creation of research briefs and journal articles on the STW. The project will provide accessible information on how workers enter and move through the STW that will benefit students planning careers in the STW, employers looking to hire these workers, and community members seeking to strengthen the pathways into the STW. This research will advance the study of workers' careers by jointly studying occupation and wage mobility in the context of the STW. The analysis builds on previous research to identify job ladders between pairs of occupations that facilitate upward wage mobility, and operationalizes the concept of occupational internal labor markets. The project refines previous measures of occupational linkages using the O*net database and job changers in the current population survey to focus on stem knowledge and technical scores and workers without a bachelor's degree. The project studies the effect of these occupational linkages on workers' mobility by analyzing whether workers who gain experience are more likely to move to a strongly linked occupation and achieve upward wage mobility. The project uses an advanced longitudinal method, a multinomial conditional logit model (a form of discrete choice model), to jointly model occupational and wage mobility. The project uses nationally representative longitudinal data from the national longitudinal study of youth 1979 and 1997 cohorts, and the 1996-2014 panels of the survey of income and program participation. This project is supported by NSF's EDU core research (ECR) program. The ECR program emphasizes fundamental stem education research that generates foundational knowledge in the field. Investments are made in critical areas that are essential, broad and enduring: stem learning and stem learning environments, broadening participation in stem, and stem workforce development. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.- subawards are not planned for this award.