Study Details | Pathways to Work

3142-Study of Sector-Focu

Study quality: Low

Low

Reason for the rating: This study received a low study quality rating because it did not use a method for addressing missing data that is known to limit bias.

Intervention: Sector-Focused Career Centers at the Center for Economic Opportunity

Population and employment barriers:

Age (Adults (age 25+)), Educational attainment (At least a high school diploma or equivalent)

Services provided:

Employer-focused retention strategies, Job placement, Job search assistance

Setting: Urban only

Study design

Design:

Quasi-experimental design

Study group formation:

Evaluators used propensity score matching to balance the background characteristics (basic demographic characteristics and previous work history and earnings) between the intervention and comparison groups. People in the comparison group were a sample of those who had not received sector-focused career center services.

Time period of study:

The study used data from January 2009 to September 2011.

Pathways only reports results from studies with a study quality rating of high or moderate.

Sample characteristics

Age

Mean age	38 years
Young adults	12%
Adults (age 25+)	88%

Sex

Female	32%
Male	66%

Participant race and ethnicity

Black or African American	39%
White, not Hispanic	11%
Hispanic or Latino of any race	28%
Unknown, not reported, or other	23%

The race and ethnicity categories may sum to more than 100 percent if the authors reported race and ethnicity separately; in these cases, we report the category White, rather than White, not Hispanic.

Participant employment and public benefit status

Were employed	48%
Were unemployed	53%

Participant education

Had a high school diploma or GED	93%
Did not have a high school diploma or GED	8%
Postsecondary credential	16%

Specific employment barriers

Had a disability	2%
Were military veterans	4%

Intervention implementation

Implementing organization:

The New York City Department of Small Business Services

Intervention services:

The intervention group consisted of individuals who received services from sector-focused career centers, which provide industry-specific job services and training to unemployed job seekers and incumbent workers looking to advance in their careers.

Mandatory services:

None.

Comparison services:

The comparison group consisted of individuals who received services from standard (not sector-specific) Workforce1 Career Centers, which provide a full array of employment services to New York City residents. The services provided include job placement, career advisement, job search counseling, and skills training.

Study publications

Gasper, Joseph M., Kathryn A. Henderson, and David S. Berman (2017). Do sectoral employment programs work? New evidence from New York City's sector‐focused career centers, Industrial Relations 56(1): 40-72.

Gasper, Joseph, and Kathryn Henderson (2014). Sector-focused career centers evaluation: Effects on employment and earnings after one year, New York: New York City Center for Economic Opportunity. Available at https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/opportunity/pdf/CEO-Sector_Based_Approaches_Evaluation_Report-2014_final.pdf.

View the glossary for more information about these and other terms used on this page.

The Pathways Clearinghouse refers to interventions by the names used in study reports or manuscripts. Some intervention names may use language that is not consistent with our style guide, preferences, or the terminology we use to describe populations.

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Study of Sector-Focused Career Centers