Less is more: Leveraging the power of de-implementation to drive excellence in education
March 2026
Entering the skilled technical workforce after college
Key Points
- By 2017, about 6 years after college entry, 58 percent of 2011–12 beginning postsecondary students were working and not in school and, among these workers, 9 percent held skilled technical workforce (STW) jobs that required high-level technical expertise but not a bachelor’s degree.
- Seventeen percent of male workers in the cohort held STW jobs compared with 4 percent of female workers.
- Compared with workers in skilled professional workforce (SPW) jobs, which require high-level technical expertise and a bachelor’s degree, proportionally more workers in STW jobs were Hispanic, from low-income backgrounds, and had parents who did not have college education.
- The median salary for workers in STW jobs was $35,900, which was higher than the median salary for all workers ($28,000) and for those in nontechnical jobs ($25,000). STW workers’ salaries did not vary with socioeconomic indicators like family income and parental education.
- Compared with workers in nontechnical jobs (75 percent of the study sample), STW workers were more likely to be offered a variety of workforce benefits, to work in jobs related to their college majors or in their career paths, and to be satisfied with their jobs.
Abstract
This research brief uses nationally representative data from the 2012/17 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:12/17) to examine post-college transitions of US undergraduates into the skilled technical workforce (STW), defined here as workers in a collection of occupations that require significant levels of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) knowledge but not necessarily a bachelor’s degree for entry. Thus far, empirical research on the STW has been limited by a dearth of data; however, based on newly available data from BPS:12/17, the findings in this report indicate that STW employment provides workers with above-median salaries, more equitable wages, a variety of benefits, and clear career paths. STW jobs attract diverse populations, especially those from underrepresented groups (e.g., Hispanics, individuals from low-income backgrounds, and those whose parents do not have college education). US community colleges and sub-baccalaureate programs play a large role in developing the STW.
© 2026 RTI International. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
