Arizona industries may be facing a shortage of skilled employees as fewer high school graduates pursue an advanced secondary education. According to a recent report by the Center for the Future of Arizona, a non-partisan think tank that addresses issues critical to the state, Arizona is facing some difficult challenges in the future when it comes to a highly educated workforce.
The study states that while students may go on to pursue a community college degree or technical trade certification, fewer students are moving on to achieve a bachelor’s degree or higher in Arizona, meaning that the selection of highly educated individuals needed to create economic competitiveness in the state are more difficult to find.
The other challenge is keeping those who do achieve at least a bachelor’s degree within the state. The study indicates that the state’s per capita income continues to slide and as it does, graduates are looking to other states for employment. The report puts Arizona’s per capita income at $39,027. Even after adjusting for the cost of living, that’s less than 85 percent of the national average, and dead last in the country.
What the center sees as the biggest obstacle in attaining an advanced degree is poverty. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the poverty rate in Arizona ranks at 18 percent giving it the fourth highest poverty rate in the U.S., with Navajo County substantially higher at 30 percent, making the possibility of achieving a higher education appear daunting due to the cost and opportunity.
To better understand the impact of poverty on education, the Arizona Board of Regents reports that 225 of Arizona’s 448 public high schools send 10 or fewer students to any postsecondary education institution after graduation. Only 10.7 percent of Arizona’s public high schools send half of all graduates on to any postsecondary education institution. Children with more affluent families fare better due to factors such as parent involvement and the ability for wealthier communities to provide locally funded bonds for better schools that provide those children with a better quality education that prepares them for college.
The report states that while Arizona is fairly well positioned for the mid-skill market, that market is also vulnerable to new innovations that make it possible to substitute technology for human labor or for the possibility of outsourcing to other countries for lower labor costs. This would leave a worker who is over qualified for jobs requiring only a high school education and under qualified for employment that requires a higher skill set.
There is also a concern that with the construction market back on the rise Arizona will return to its traditional “boom or bust” model that is built on real estate, retail, climate and quality of life attractions, providing a false sense of security for workers who may forgo a higher post-secondary education in favor of higher wages for an unpredictable span of time.
With poverty a major factor in the future of Arizona’s economy, the key to facilitating change will have to come from those who are most affected, but even that carries a challenge. While there is no lack of visionaries, few are in a position of leadership to execute change, but are also not looking to those who are. The report found that Arizonans as a whole do not involve themselves in politics, much less take measures to facilitate change through their elected officials. Just 9.3 percent of Arizonans said they have contacted a public official. Only five states had lower participation rates.
The report states that five percent of Arizonans said they express political opinions online frequently, ranking Arizona 49th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Community involvement is also very low, with the state ranking 47th in the country when it comes to belonging to an organization, 48th in working with neighbors to fix something and last in the percentage of people who attend public meetings.
The solutions proposed by the center involve business leaders, schools and parents working together to not only convey the value of higher education, but to make it attainable for students who will, in turn, help build a successful future for the state.
