ACT Reports That Significant Gaps Persist Between Career Interests of 2010 High School Graduates and Job Projections

IowaCity, Iowa – October 11, 2010 – ACT has released national andstate-specific data for all 50 states that helps answer the question:Are students prepared for college and career? The analysis revealslikely shortfalls in high-growth career fields as well as inadequatepreparation to succeed in coursework required for these fields.

The analysis compares data from two sources for the nation and for eachof the 50 states: long-term occupational projections and resultscontained in ACT’s recently released “The Condition of College &Career Readiness 2010” reports. A state’s occupational projections arebased on job growth and job replacement forecasts for the decade ending2016 to 2018. ACT is an international not-for-profit organizationexperienced in educational and workplace skills assessment and research.

The ACT report reveals career interests and achievement results for the2010 ACT-tested high school graduates. The analysis in bar chart formshows the five highest-growth career fields in each state requiring atwo-year college degree or higher; the percentage of 2010 ACT-testedgraduates in the state expressing interest in those five career fields;and the percentage of students meeting ACT’s recommended CollegeReadiness Benchmarks in each of four subject areas (English, reading,mathematics and science) who expressed interest in each of thehigh-growth career fields

One analysis reveals the gaps between projected job openings andstudent career interests. A second analysis indicates the college andcareer readiness of ACT-tested graduates interested in the fivehigh-growth career fields. These data may have implications foreconomic development nationally and in each state.

The nation’s five fastest-growing career fields requiring at least atwo-year degree, based on 2008-2018 annual projected job openings fromthe U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, are depictedbelow. These five career fields account for 53 percent of the demandfor jobs.

However, for all five career fields, the percentage of the nation’s2010 ACT-tested high school graduates expressing an interest in thosefields falls short of projected openings. The most significant gaps arefor Computer/Information Specialties (9 percentage points) andEducation (7 percentage points).

Far too few students who expressed interest in the five high-growthcareer fields have attained the level of knowledge to be ready forcollege-entry coursework in English, reading, mathematics and scienceas measured by ACT’s College Readiness Benchmarks.

The ACT College Readiness Benchmarks, which are based on the actualgrades earned by students in college, give ACT the unique ability todefine college and career readiness and report student performanceresults relative to that goal. The benchmarks specify the minimumscores needed on each ACT subject-area test to indicate that a studenthas a 50 percent chance of earning a grade of B or higher or about a 75percent chance of earning a C or higher in a typical credit-bearingfirst-year college course in that subject area (English composition,college algebra, introductory social science and biology). Years ofempirical ACT data indicate that students who meet or surpass theCollege Readiness Benchmarks are more likely to go to college, stay inschool and graduate with a college degree.

“Students interested in these careers mostly met the College ReadinessBenchmarks in English and reading,” said ACT chief executive officerJon Whitmore. However, only about a quarter of the students met allfour College Readiness Benchmarks within each of the five careerfields.”

Whitmore added, “ACT research indicates that given these results, manystudents are not on the right path to take advantage of careeropportunities in these high-growth fields requiring a two-year degreeor more. Fortunately, given that the occupational projections extendthrough 2018, there is time for middle and high school students toconsider, plan, and prepare for careers in the fields where openingsare projected to be the highest.”

Example occupations for the five highest-growth career fields are as follows:

    * Education: such as secondary school teachers, secondary school administrators
    * Computer/Information Specialties: such as computer programmers, database administrators
    * Management: such as hotel/restaurant managers, convention planners
    * Community Services: such as social workers, school counselors
    * Marketing/Sales: such as insurance agents, buyers

A complete College and Career Readiness Report for the nation and for each state may be downloaded at: http://www.act.org/news/data/10/index.html. Workforce data appears on page 17 of the national report and on page 10 of each state report.

ACT

Founded in 1959, ACT is a not-for-profit organizationheadquartered in Iowa City, IA, and dedicated to helping people achieveeducation and workplace success. ACT provides a broad array ofassessment, research, information and program management solutions inthe areas of education and workforce development. Each year, ACT servesmillions of people—nationally and internationally—in middle and highschools, colleges, professional associations, businesses and governmentagencies. Find out more at www.act.org.