North Carolina is benefiting from collaborative efforts to establish 35 career pathways across the state, according to a new report prepared for the NCWorks Commission.

Of the 35 NCWorks Certified Career Pathways, with the report focusing on 13 that had reached one year of implementation by June 30.

“NCWorks Certified Career Pathways are a key element of NC Job Ready, my workforce development and initiative to ensure North Carolinians are ready for the jobs of today and tomorrow,” Governor Roy Cooper wrote in a letter accompanying the report. “Having information about career options and access to the training needed to prepare for those careers is critical to being job ready. NCWorks Certified Career Pathways provide seamless career paths to help job seekers enter high-wage, high-demand jobs in their communities.”

Career Pathways are designed by employers in collaboration with the state’s education and workforce professionals. They outline and define the following:

• necessary courses at the high school and college level;
• required credentials;
• experience required and the employers in a given area who provide work-based learning activities related to that field;
• various certificates and degrees in the related field.

Career Pathways are designed not only for younger students, but also for adults who are looking to advance their careers. People can access a Career Pathway through NCWorks Career Centers, public schools, community colleges and public and private universities.

“The effect of NCWorks Certified Career Pathways on education and training programs, career seeker preparation and employer needs cannot be overstated,” said NCWorks Commission Executive Director Catherine Moga Bryant. “The investment in NCWorks Certified Career Pathways is paying dividends, and a job ready North Carolina is the benefit.”

NCWorks Certified Career Pathways have had a positive impact on the state since their inception, by easing the financial burden of education and training for career seekers; improving skills for career seekers, making them attractive workers for gainful employment; facilitating regional support, capacity building and collaboration for workforce partners; and causing a domino effect and inspiring other successes outside of their initial scope.

Finally, the report makes recommendations to strengthen NCWorks Certified Career Pathways, by enhancing outreach to students, parents and the front-line education and workforce professionals who serve them; and by maintaining the momentum from the development stage of the pathways through the implementation stage.

Partners from the N.C. Department of Commerce, the N.C. Department of Public Instruction and the N.C. Community College System first began discussions on developing standardized career pathways in 2014. Then, in 2015, a $200,000 grant from the John M. Belk Endowment helped fund the effort to develop and implement the NCWorks Certified Career Pathways model in North Carolina.