Geography often becomes a barrier for workers
in rural America, particularly those of younger generations, as
they feel driven to leave their communities to progress in their
careers
Today, the University of Phoenix Career Institute® and the
Center on Rural Innovation (CORI), a nonprofit seeking to advance
economic prosperity in rural communities, released the G.R.O.W.™
Generating Rural Opportunities in the Workforce™ report, providing
a comprehensive look at the barriers Americans living in rural
communities face in their day-to-day lives, and the impact these
barriers have on career development and advancement
opportunities.
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the full release here:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240924252111/en/
Today, the University of Phoenix Career
Institute® and the Center on Rural Innovation (CORI), a nonprofit
seeking to advance economic prosperity in rural communities,
released the G.R.O.W.™ Generating Rural Opportunities in the
Workforce™ report, providing a comprehensive look at the barriers
Americans living in rural communities face in their day-to-day
lives, and the impact these barriers have on career development and
advancement opportunities. (Graphic: Business Wire)
The findings of this study underscore the ways in which recent
workforce transformation trends are not reaching or benefiting all
communities equally — namely an increased focus on skills
development, artificial intelligence (AI), and flexibility in where
we work, as identified by the University of Phoenix Career
Institute® Career Optimism Index® study over the past four years.
The G.R.O.W.™ report indicates that while workers in rural America
have a great deal of optimism, they also feel increasingly left
behind and under-leveraged as they are unable to stay competitive
in their industries due to myriad challenges that stem from limited
technological infrastructure — namely a lack of access to quality
broadband internet.
This continued gap in access to quality internet divides
workers’ future career trajectories and ability to leverage
technological innovation, and yet conversations around the future
of work race ahead. The G.R.O.W.™ report further unpacks the
consequences of this reality, while offering a potential path
forward to level the playing field for workers across the
country.
Risks to Rural America’s Future Workforce
- Workers living in rural America are just as optimistic about
the future of their careers as their nonrural counterparts (68% vs.
71%). However, this professional optimism comes at a personal cost.
Approximately two-thirds of Gen Z and Millennials living in rural
parts of the country have had to consider relocating to act on that
optimism and improve their career prospects (61%, 76%). Non-white
workers living in rural America are significantly more likely to
have considered leaving for employment opportunities in comparison
to white workers in rural America (79% vs. 66%).
- For many, the need to relocate stems from the way rapid
technological innovation has transformed the labor market at a rate
that outpaces their communities’ ability to access and implement
necessary technological infrastructure. Thirty-two percent of
workers in rural America report poor quality internet, and 36%
report poor quality technology for educational purposes. Without
the right resources and tools, local economies cannot unlock their
labor markets’ desired opportunities for education and career
advancement.
- Regardless of age or background, workers in rural America are
more likely to feel held back in their career because of where they
live compared to nonrural counterparts (49% vs. 30%). This is
especially true for rural Gen Z and Millennials (64%, 54%).
Resulting dissatisfaction could lose rural America critical
community members, especially its future generations and its
diversity.
The G.R.O.W.™ report points to the need for a concerted approach
to improve local access to career pathways, technological
innovation, and education opportunities through greater
collaboration between the government, business, nonprofits and
higher education.
As a first step, the University of Phoenix Career Institute® and
CORI will be hosting a webinar, “Bridging Barriers to Career
Opportunity and Economic Growth for the Future of Rural America,”
on December 3, 2024, in which key leaders across these sectors will
explore the following opportunity areas and the potential for
integrated solutions.
What Employers and Institutions Can Do to Support Americans
Living in Rural Communities
- Capacity Building to Access Public Funding for
Infrastructure Improvements: A primary barrier for workers
living in rural America, particularly in furthering education, is
access to high-quality internet. As previously noted, a third of
workers in rural America cite poor / fair quality of technology
(36%) and internet (32%) in their area for education. Institutions
have an opportunity to support these localities in building
capacity to navigate the policy systems in place to access existing
funds for improving broadband infrastructure, helping to solve this
challenge.
- Building Professional Social Capital: Professional
social capital is the crucial connections, networks, and resources
that help people understand, access, and navigate educational
systems and the labor market—and it is a proven accelerant to
learner and worker success. This is a top area of concern for
workers in rural America, as 47% said they need to develop skills
to build a professional network, and 38% cite not having access to
the right tools and resources to achieve their career goals,
compared to only 20% of their nonrural counterparts. Building
formal and informal mentorship programs and hosting local
networking events are steps employers and institutions can lead to
advance the development of professional social capital among rural
workforces.
- Career Mapping: Less than half of workers in rural
America are satisfied with professional training / skills
development opportunities (43%) and job opportunities (41%) in
their area, compared to 68% and 67% of their nonrural counterparts.
Connecting workers with the right pathways for skills development
and overarching career options through personalized career mapping
could be a vital key to unlocking advancement.
- Fostering Entrepreneurship: More than half of the rural
workforce wants to own their own business partially/wholly in the
future (51%). This is especially true for Gen Z (53%), Millennials
(56%) and Gen X (50%). In fostering pathways to entrepreneurship,
institutions can help workers in rural communities broaden
potential for employment by creating opportunities in industries
that may not already exist locally and spurring the local
economy.
“The University of Phoenix Career Institute was founded to
underscore our commitment to understanding the barriers our
students, as well as workers across America face, in order to
develop career pathways and wrap-around services that can
effectively support them in reaching their professional goals,”
said Raghu Krishnaiah, Chief Operating Officer for University of
Phoenix.
“Workers in rural communities are a critical segment of the
workforce, and they have much to contribute to conversations around
the future of work. In commissioning the G.R.O.W.™ report and
convening key voices across government, nonprofit, business, and
education during our upcoming webinar, we can increase our
capability to serve current and potential students from these
communities and determine the best solutions to fuel the future of
the rural workforce for their betterment as well as the American
economy as a whole,” Krishnaiah said.
Housed within the University’s College of Doctoral Studies, the
University of Phoenix Career Institute® seeks to form meaningful
partnerships with leading organizations like CORI to break down
barriers to career advancement, as identified through its
research.
“At CORI, we’ve long observed a strong desire for career
opportunities that keep people in their hometowns and the
University of Phoenix Career Institute® G.R.O.W.™ report brings a
new perspective to this conversation,” said Matt Dunne, Founder and
Executive Director of Center on Rural Innovation. “It is powerful
to hear that 86% of rural workers believe there should be more
partnership between employers and education institutions to create
employment opportunities. Collaborating to establish broad and deep
networks of cross-sector support is critical to generating
impactful educational and employment offerings — and integral to
creating sustainable new pathways to prosperity in rural
communities. We look forward to digging into the tactical side of
what this can look like moving forward.”
For more about the Center on Rural Innovation, visit
https://ruralinnovation.us/.
For more information about the University of Phoenix Career
Institute, the complete G.R.O.W.™ report, and the upcoming
“Bridging Barriers to Career Opportunity and Economic Growth for
the Future of Rural America” webinar, visit
www.phoenix.edu/career-institute.
ABOUT THE G.R.O.W.™ GENERATING RURAL
OPPORTUNITIES IN THE WORKFORCE™ REPORT
The G.R.O.W.™ Generating Rural Opportunities in the Workforce
report is a comprehensive study on the barriers Americans living in
rural communities face in their day-to-day lives, and the impact
these barriers have on career development and advancement
opportunities. The study was conducted by the University of Phoenix
Career Institute®, part of the University’s College of Doctoral
Studies, in partnership with the Center on Rural Innovation — a
nonprofit seeking to advance economic prosperity in rural
communities — in order to unpack the consequences of the slower
adoption of technological infrastructure in rural communities and
the subsequent workforce barriers that keep workers in rural
America from benefiting from the latest workforce trends.
The G.R.O.W.™ report comprised a 15-minute online survey of
workers in rural America (n=1,000) and workers in nonrural America
(n=986). All participants were U.S. adults (age 18 and up) who were
employed or seeking employment at the time of research. Researchers
conducted fieldwork between May and June 2024. Rural residency was
determined using the Rural-Urban Continuum Codes that are publicly
available from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). A full
methodology can be found at www.phoenix.edu/career-institute.
ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF PHOENIX CAREER INSTITUTE®
University of Phoenix Career Institute® was created to address
broad, persistent, and systemic barriers to career advancement
through research-based solutions and impactful partnerships that
break down barriers Americans face in their careers.
ABOUT UNIVERSITY OF PHOENIX
University of Phoenix innovates to help working adults enhance
their careers and develop skills in a rapidly changing world.
Flexible schedules, relevant courses, interactive learning,
skills-mapped curriculum for our bachelor’s and master’s degree
programs and a Career Services for Life® commitment help students
more effectively pursue career and personal aspirations while
balancing their busy lives. For more information, visit
phoenix.edu.
ABOUT CENTER ON RURAL INNOVATION
The Center on Rural Innovation (CORI) is a national nonprofit
committed to advancing economic prosperity in rural America through
the creation of inclusive tech economy ecosystems that support
scalable entrepreneurship and tech job creation. Established in
2017, CORI is at the heart of a dynamic social enterprise focused
on closing the rural opportunity gap. The organization partners
with a taxable nonprofit, Rural Innovation Strategies, Inc. (RISI),
and a seed fund, the CORI Innovation Fund, focused on early-stage
technology companies located in rural areas. For more information,
visit www.ruralinnovation.us.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240924252111/en/
Sara Silberman sara.silberman@edelman.com 714-747-0201 Sharla
Hooper University of Phoenix sharla.hooper@phoenix.edu