EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Improving the Pipeline for Tennessee’s Workforce: Academic Supply for Occupational Demand Report is the second joint report between the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC), Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD), Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD), and Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE).

This year’s report maintains the Career Cluster structure, grouping occupations and aligned training programs in one place. Accompanying dashboards and data downloads are also available for readers who prefer to work with the data directly. Excitingly, this report includes a few new features, including a revised approach to measuring degree completers’ employment and wages, as well as a simplification of report layout to improve readability and flow.

Multiple state agencies facilitate this report’s completion and there are many audiences for this report. Each year, efforts to refine and improve the report and associated outputs will continue to ensure the report is useful in education and workforce planning.

THIS REPORT:

• Identifies in-demand occupations and aligned academic programs at the postsecondary and secondary levels as well as registered apprenticeships organized across 14 career clusters.

• Includes in-demand occupations tables identifying the number of region(s) where the occupation is indemand, entry level wages, indicators for jobs which are STEM fields and those which support TNECD’s target industries, and the typical training level required for employment.

• Contains aligned academic programs tables with information about degree production and completers, matriculation into Tennessee’s job market, and first-year wages for those identified in Tennessee employment data. The calculation for employment outcomes changed in this year’s report.

• Spotlights select agency initiatives promoting education and workforce alignment in K12, higher education, and the workforce.

• Offers an overview of data, methods, and sources highlighting existing data use and areas for further exploration.