Workcred and the National CyberWatch Center (now Cyber Ready Professional) developed an accreditation model that validates both the skills of learners and the effectiveness of cybersecurity community clinics. These clinics are operated by non-profit or for-profit organizations outside of higher education, and provide essential cybersecurity services to local governments, non-profits, and businesses. The model ensures clinics deliver high-quality and consistent learning for cyber professionals while offering quality services to the clients they serve. Read more about the model here:
Along with partners Corporation for a Skilled Workforce and George Washington Institute of Public Policy, Workcred focused on the current and potential roles for industry and professional certifications as a vehicle for increasing labor-market mobility to explore where certifications present the risk of being dead-end credentials that can limit access to opportunity, and how to instead ensure certifications serve as part of lifelong pathways for advancement.
To inform this work, the project team conducted research and interviewed staff of certification bodies for 16 certifications within cybersecurity, health care, information technology, and manufacturing. An overview of each certification was developed that provides information about eligibility, costs, prerequisites, and other related information. Along with the individual overviews for each certification, the project culminated in five reports:
As one of the founders of the Credential Transparency Initiative (CTI), along with partners George Washington Institute of Public Policy and Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Center for Workforce Development – and funded by Lumina Foundation – Workcred sought to ease confusion about the different types of credentials, which are often difficult to understand, translate, and differentiate.
The initiative grew and became Credential Engine, a nonprofit organization on a mission to map the credentials, qualifications, and skills landscape with clear information, fueling the creation of resources that empower people to discover and pursue the learning and career pathways that are best for them.
The U.S. manufacturing sector is central to the national economy, and relies on a highly skilled workforce. Under two grants from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), Workcred spearheaded research to better understand how effective use of credentials could support a more competitive manufacturing workforce.
Workcred conducted interviews with frontline workers (credential holders), hiring managers, and supervisors at small- and medium-sized manufacturing facilities across the U.S. By examining the viewpoints from these three different stakeholder groups, Workcred developed a more nuanced understanding of the use and value of credentials in this important sector. Regardless of the geographic location, industry, or job role held, there were two common themes in manufacturing that were uncovered as part of this study: both workers and employers expressed a value for credentials and also confusion about the worth of specific credentials.
The following reports highlight how manufacturing employers and workers value credentials, which credentials they value, and how they determine whether to pursue additional credentials.
