A new report from the RAND Corporation examines trends across twenty-seven counties in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia where fracking is a booming business. This is the second of five periodic reports from RAND that track workforce, economic, and educational trends (the previous one is available here). The reports are commissioned by the Appalachian Partnership Initiative, whose aim is “to build the pool of local workers for jobs in the energy and advanced manufacturing sectors” across the tristate region.
This paper uses Census Bureau statistics to highlight a few key workforce trends:
- From 2000 to 2014, the working age-population (age eighteen to sixty-four) declined in twenty of the twenty-seven counties across this region.
- Wages were strong for workers in the extraction industries, which include oil and gas along with mining. Across this region, the average wage for employees in this industry was $58,290, higher than the averages in other fields such as health care ($28,690) or manufacturing ($43,967).
- Within the extraction industry, workers with higher-level education received higher wages: In 2015, college graduates (bachelor’s or above) earned about 37 percent more than those without a high school diploma.
- Roughly half of the workers in the extraction industry possess a high school degree or less.
- Most of the jobs in this industry are being filled by local workers, a sign that employers are thus far finding talent regionally.
In short, oil and gas development has brought decent paying jobs for local workers of varying backgrounds. But can the region continue to meet employers’ demands over the long haul, especially for jobs that require higher levels of education? Not just on oil rigs, but also environmental engineers, surveyors, market analysts, land agents, and the other careers that support this industry? To look into this question, the report examines indicators from K–12 and higher education.
The analysts report eighth-grade NAEP science and math data from 2015. While they cannot isolate the NAEP data for students specifically from this region—they are reported at the statewide level—proficiency on these exams remains troubling. In Ohio, for example, just 35 percent of eighth-graders reached proficiency in math and 38 percent in science. While slightly above the national averages, these data suggest that too few students are on track for post-secondary success in rigorous STEM majors, should they want to pursue that pathway. For a clearer depiction of achievement in this region, future RAND analyses should dig into the state-level data.
Speaking of higher education, the report also offers data from the post-secondary institutions located in these twenty-seven counties. They find that less than 20 percent of college students seek degrees in STEM fields, including math, engineering, or chemistry. With respect to college completion (in any major), the researchers find that at four-year universities, just three in five students graduate. The completion rates nose-dive to a mere 12 percent at two-year institutions.
This report reminds us that the oil and gas industries offer well-paying jobs to capable workers, including those who do not have higher education. Yet the working age population is declining in many parts of the region, and as the industry grows, employers will continue to need workers with a wide range of skills and abilities—from roughnecks and mechanics to geologists and engineers. In order for the region to maintain a full pipeline of talent, K–12 and higher education will need to equip young people with the abilities needed to excel in all types of careers in this industry.
SOURCE: Gabriella C. Gonzalez et al., “Wages, Employment, and STEM Education in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia,” RAND Corporation (2017).
