The COVID-19 pandemic is transforming the global economy and significantly shifting workforce demand, requiring quick, adaptive responses. The pandemic has revealed the vulnerabilities of many organizations and regional economies, and it has accelerated trends that could lead to significant improvements in productivity, performance, and resilience, which will enable organizations and regions to thrive in the "next normal." To explore how communities around the United States are addressing workforce issues laid bare by the COVID-19 pandemic and how they are taking advantage of local opportunities to expand their science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) workforces to position them for success going forward, the Board of Higher Education and Workforce of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened a series of workshops to identify immediate and near-term regional STEMM workforce needs in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The workshop planning committee identified five U.S. cities and their associated metropolitan areas - Birmingham, Alabama; Boston, Massachusetts; Richmond, Virginia; Riverside, California; and Wichita, Kansas - to host workshops highlighting promising practices that communities can use to respond urgently and appropriately to their STEMM workforce needs. A sixth workshop discussed how the lessons learned during the five region-focused workshops could be applied in other communities to meet STEMM workforce needs.

This proceedings of a virtual workshop series summarizes the presentations and discussions from the six public workshops that made up the virtual workshop series and highlights the key points raised during the presentations, moderated panel discussions and deliberations, and open discussions among the workshop participants.

Contents

• The National Academies of SCIENCES • ENGINEERING • MEDICINE
• COMMITTEE ON MEETING REGIONAL STEMM WORKFORCE NEEDS IN THE WAKE OF COVID-19: A VIRTUAL WORKSHOP SERIES
• BOARD ON HIGHER EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE
• Acknowledgment of Reviewers
• Acknowledgments
• 1. Introduction
• 2. Birmingham, Alabama
  • UNDERSTANDING THE ECONOMIC AND WORKFORCE IMPACTS OF COVID-19 ON BIRMINGHAM
  • BIRMINGHAM’S ECONOMIC OUTLOOK PRIOR TO AND DURING COVID-19
  • CHANGES IN WORKFORCE TRAINING PROGRAMS IN BIRMINGHAM
  • HIGHER EDUCATION PROGRAMMING FOR THE BIRMINGHAM WORKFORCE
  • CLOSING REMARKS
• 3. Boston, Massachusetts
  • UNDERSTANDING THE ECONOMIC AND WORKFORCE IMPACTS OF COVID-19 ON BOSTON
  • A RECOVERY WITH EQUITY
  • COVID RESPONSE AND WORKFORCE TRANSITIONS IN GREATER BOSTON
  • COVID-19 AND BOSTON’S ECONOMIC DIVIDE: THE INTERSECTION OF THE PANDEMIC, RACIAL AND SOCIOECONOMIC INEQUALITY, AND ACCESS TO GOOD JOBS IN STEMM
  • CATALYZING STEMM ENTREPRENEURSHIP FOR ECONOMIC MOBILITY
  • CLOSING REMARKS
• 4. Richmond, Virginia
  • UNDERSTANDING THE ECONOMIC AND WORKFORCE IMPACTS OF COVID-19 ON RICHMOND
  • RESPONSE OF RICHMOND’S EDUCATION AND TRAINING INFRASTRUCTURE TO THE COVID-19 CRISIS
  • INNOVATIVE WORKFORCE SOLUTIONS: HOW STATE AND LOCAL POLICY AND PROGRAMS ARE MEETING THE COVID-19 CHALLENGE
  • CLOSING REMARKS
• 5. Riverside, California
  • UNDERSTANDING THE ECONOMIC AND WORKFORCE IMPACTS OF COVID-19 ON RIVERSIDE
  • GREATER RIVERSIDE ECONOMIC OUTLOOK PRIOR TO AND DURING COVID-19
  • REGIONAL ECOSYSTEMS AND OPPORTUNITIES
  • HIGHER EDUCATION’S ROLE IN ECONOMIC MOBILITY
  • CLOSING REMARKS
• 6. Wichita, Kansas
  • UNDERSTANDING THE ECONOMIC AND WORKFORCE IMPACTS OF COVID-19 ON WICHITA
  • STATE AND LOCAL POLICY RESPONSES
  • RESPONSE OF WICHITA’S HIGHER EDUCATION WORKFORCE TRAINING EFFORTS TO THE COVID-19 CRISIS
  • RESPONSE OF WICHITA’S WORKFORCE TRAINING INFRASTRUCTURE TO THE COVID-19 CRISIS
  • CLOSING REMARKS
• 7. Regional Observations with National Implications
  • REGIONAL STEMM WORKFORCE TRAINING RESPONSES IN THE WAKE OF COVID-19
  • DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE TO EQUITABLY SUPPORT WORKFORCE TRAINING
  • KEY SERVICES THAT SUPPORT EQUITABLE ACCESS TO WORKFORCE TRAINING
  • FUTURE DESIGN OF WORKFORCE TRAINING
  • COMMON THEMES DISCUSSED ACROSS THE WORKSHOP SERIES
• REFERENCES
• Appendix A. Statement of Task
• Appendix B. Workshop Agendas
• Appendix C. Planning Committee Biographies

Suggested citation:

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. Meeting Regional STEMM Workforce Needs in the Wake of COVID-19: Proceedings of a Virtual Workshop Series. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/26049.

Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.17226/26049

Additional copies of this publication are available from the National Academies Press, 500 Fifth Street, NW, Keck 360, Washington, DC 20001; (800) 624-6242 or (202) 334-3313; http://www.nap.edu.

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