Education and Training 7 In-Demand Occupations | 73 Aligned Academic Programs The education and training career cluster includes educators, administrators, librarians, counselors, and other learning support services as in-demand in Tennessee. Successful teacher recruitment and retention are essential for a high-quality education workforce; however, teacher shortages remain a challenge. The limitations of the report's current methodology led to an underestimation of the demand for teachers, and therefore, some teacher positions are not listed as an in-demand occupations in the report. Preschool teachers are in demand in four areas of the state. Childcare challenges are currently impacting workforce participation in the state and the nation. A recent study in one state found that 28 percent of those surveyed said “they or someone in their household has left a job, not taken a job, or greatly changed jobs because of problems with childcare in the last 12 months.4 Tennessee’s teacher apprenticeship program is a new and innovative way to improve the supply of Tennesseans in the teaching profession. The program had 28 completers in 2022. Several aligned academic programs in this cluster meet unmet need criteria, including the bachelor’s degree in early childhood education which had an employment rate of 74 percent and median pay of nearly $43,000. The master’s degree program in library and information science had an employment rate of 54 percent and a first-year median wage of $50,180.
4 Missouri Chamber of Commerce, Nov. 30, 2021.
New Research Shows Missouri Loses $1.35 Billion in Annual Economic Opportunity Due to Childcare Gaps - Missouri Chamber (mochamber.com)
RDA SW 38 | 10
