Lit Theory

Building A Robust
Local Workforce:

Creating Registered Youth Apprenticeships

With K-12 & Local Community Colleges

Kristie J. Sauls, Doctoral Candidate

Multiple Choice

What is the average age of the workforce in eastern North Carolina?

• 47

• 56

• 33

• 62

Problem of Practice

With an aging workforce in Wayne County and southeast

North Carolina there is a need to build a stronger workforce.

Over the last several years the region has faced many

challenges:

•High skills gap among workers

•Natural disaster causing people & companies to leave

•Aging workforce (avg. workers age is 56)

•Lack of competitive wage scale

Fill in the Blanks

What percentage of high school students DO NOT go to college after graduation?

Wayne County Public Schools Demographics

College enrollment is a measure of how many of high school graduates
enrolled in an Institution of Higher Education (IHE) within 16 months of
earning a regular high school diploma.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Graduation Rate
over 4-year period

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

College Enrollment

within 16 months of Graduation

The four-year cohort graduation rate shows the percent of students who graduate in
four years or less after first enrolling in 9th grade.

46% of students enter workforce or join military

54%

62%

87%

81.7%

Source: 2020-21 North Carolina Schools Report Card

Problem of Practice

• Lack of business participation in creating registered
youth apprenticeships

• Lack of Career and Technical Career Pathways
for high school students providing entry into
workforce upon graduation

• Lack of collaboration with school systems and
community colleges to provide more educational
opportunities for students

• Lack of student participation in current
apprenticeship program

Local
Workforce

CTE
Pathways

K-12 & CC
Partnership

Issues Facing Registered Youth
Apprenticeships

Research Question

How are programs organized and implemented to prepare high
school students to be college and/or career ready?

Two key components to successful apprenticeship programs:
• educational training – Dewey’s Philosophy of Pragmatism
• job skills training – Human Capital Theory

Collect data

Form concepts
from data

Group concepts
into categories

Identify
relationships
between categories

Research Design – Grounded Theory

Proposed Analysis

SUMMARY

Wayne County is facing many challenges in the future due to a declining population, an aging workforce, and
approximately 20% of the county’s population living in poverty. By partnering with Wayne County Public
Schools Career and Technical Education Program, Wayne Community College can work to create career
pathways. CTE classes can be offered at both the high school and college level, providing students an
opportunity to enter the workforce, earning full-time wages with benefits while earning a college education with
no debt, and creating income mobility for the student.

WIN-WIN-WIN

Youth apprentices are a “win-win-win” for the college, the students, and the employer. It allows the college to
have students who are driven to learn and bring real-world questions and examples into the classroom. They
can obtain a college degree at no cost by accomplishing long-range goals of having highly skilled workers for
tomorrow.

CONSIDERATIONS FOR WCC & WCPS

-Collaborations to strengthen CTE program with classes at the high school level through CCP courses

-Support to education local workforce, student, and parents about apprenticeship opportunities

-Collaboration with community partners local chambers, workforce development boards to promote apprenticeship
efforts

-Ongoing conversations