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Choosing the Data to Use Matters, but So Does How They Are Used

• Each data source has important limitations, so none of the sources should be used on its own to inform planning. It is important to use data from a range of quantitative and qualitative sources, including statistics and employer engagement.
• Workforce information should be used in Texas not only to manage new and ongoing degree programs but also for periodic strategic planning at the state, regional, and institutional levels.
• The new matrix tool that the authors developed offers planners a convenient way to summarize the balance between occupational supply and demand in the state as a whole and in regions within it.

In May 2013, the Texas Legislature passed House Bill 1296, requiring a report on Texas's future workforce needs that would help inform decisions to develop or expand postsecondary education programs. Educators and policymakers in Texas and elsewhere have a wide variety of quantitative and qualitative workforce information available for planning degree and certificate programs in colleges and universities. Such information can serve at least three major purposes: (1) strategic review of program alignment at the state or institutional level; (2) a broader strategic scan of occupations and fields of study where new programs may be needed; and (3) institutional proposal development for the opening and closing of programs, and the subsequent review of these proposals by the state. To guide the use of these data resources and to respond to the legislative requirement, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board asked the RAND Corporation to describe current practices in using workforce information for degree program planning in Texas and elsewhere; analyze options for using workforce information and recommend promising practices; develop data tools, where feasible; and apply these tools and describe findings. One of the major tools the project develops is a matrix that allows convenient comparisons of occupational supply and demand at the state and regional levels. This report is the result of that project.

• Chapter One

  Introduction

• Chapter Two

  Approaches to Workforce Modeling and Data Sources

• Chapter Three

  Describing the Current Practices for Workforce Data Use

• Chapter Four

  Modeling Statewide and Regional Supply and Demand

• Chapter Five

  Main Findings, Recommendations, and Next Steps

• Appendix A

  Workforce Modeling Approaches

• Appendix B

  Computation of Standard Errors