One Step at a Time: Participant Perspectives on Career Pathways. HPOG 2.0 Participant Perspectives, Brief 1. OPRE Report 2022-48

"Career Pathways" is a framework that combines education, occupational training, and support services that align with the skill demands of the local economy to help participants enter and advance in a sequence of occupations within a specific sector or occupational cluster. Career pathways programs seek to address many of the challenges that disadvantaged adults face in succeeding in training and progressing along a career pathway's occupational steps. For example, career pathways training programs might offer flexible schedules, provide financial and other assistance, and connect participants to employers and employment, including work-based learning opportunities. This first brief in the HPOG 2.0 Participant Perspectives series presents insights from in-depth, in-person interviews with participants in career pathways programs funded by the Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) Program. The brief describes participant experiences navigating career pathways and suggests implications for career pathways program practice and for evaluations of career pathways programs.