On October 26, the Defense Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee held a hearing to discuss workforce development and the Department of Defense.
Several members of the subcommittee highlighted the need for high-quality CTE programs to help prepare the future of the defense workforce. Reps. Tim Ryan (D-OH) and Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) both asked the witnesses how CTE can combat the shortage of skilled workers in the defense industry.
Xavier Beale, vice president of trades for Newport News Shipbuilding, Huntington Ingalls Industries, noted the importance of early exposure to career opportunities and exploration. He added that schools across Virginia have implemented career connections programs to engage middle school students with welding and robotics equipment, putting them on the path to think about pursuing CTE in high school and diversifying the skilled trades workforce.
“If students are going to choose to enter CTE training programs in high school, they need to be exposed to and sold on these career pathways as early as middle school,” said Beale.
Hawk Carlisle, president and CEO of the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) emphasized that CTE is too often overlooked as a way to create career pathways into the defense industry. Carlisle called for expanding apprenticeship opportunities to help increase interest in defense manufacturing programs.
William Bonvillian, MIT Lecturer, summed up the difficulties faced in workforce education and development:
- Workforce education has faced disinvestment by government and employers. Despite the growing workforce needs, workforce spending by both has been in decline.
- Few federal programs reach higher technical skills and incumbent workers. We need to upskill and reskill the current workforce.
- Community colleges are underfunded.
- Colleges and universities are disconnected from workforce education.
“We have a disconnect between work and learning,” said Bonvillian. “We have school on one side and work on the other, but few clear routes from school to job. They are disconnected.”
Dr. Jose-Marie Griffiths, president of Dakota State University, pointed to stackable, industry-recognized credentials as another way to rapidly skill, reskill and upskill workers to fill open positions in the defense industry.
ACTE recently updated its Sector Sheet on the aerospace and defense industries. ACTE’s Sector Sheet series is generously sponsored by Pearson.
You can watch the full hearing here.
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