By Sharla Hooper
Geography often becomes a barrier for workers in rural America, particularly those of younger generations, as they feel driven to leave their communities to progress in their careers
Today, the University of Phoenix Career Institute® and the Center on Rural Innovation (CORI), a nonprofit seeking to advance economic prosperity in rural communities, released the G.R.O.W. ™ Generating Rural Opportunities in the Workforce™ report, providing a comprehensive look at the barriers Americans living in rural communities face in their day-to-day lives, and the impact these barriers have on career development and advancement opportunities.
The findings of this study underscore the ways in which recent workforce transformation trends are not reaching or benefiting all communities equally — namely an increased focus on skills development, artificial intelligence (AI), and flexibility in where we work, as identified by the University of Phoenix Career Institute® Career Optimism Index® study over the past four years. The G.R.O.W. ™ report indicates that while workers in rural America have a great deal of optimism, they also feel increasingly left behind and under-leveraged as they are unable to stay competitive in their industries due to myriad challenges that stem from limited technological infrastructure — namely a lack of access to quality broadband internet.
This continued gap in access to quality internet divides workers’ future career trajectories and ability to leverage technological innovation, and yet conversations around the future of work race ahead. The G.R.O.W.™ report further unpacks the consequences of this reality, while offering a potential path forward to level the playing field for workers across the country.
Risks to Rural America’s Future Workforce
Workers living in rural America are just as optimistic about the future of their careers as their nonrural counterparts (68% vs. 71%). However, this professional optimism comes at a personal cost. Approximately two-thirds of Gen Z and Millennials living in rural parts of the country have had to consider relocating to act on that optimism and improve their career prospects (61%, 76%). Non-white workers living in rural America are significantly more likely to have considered leaving for employment opportunities in comparison to white workers in rural America (79% vs 66%).
For many, the need to relocate stems from the way rapid technological innovation has transformed the labor market at a rate that outpaces their communities’ ability to access and implement necessary technological infrastructure. Thirty-two percent of workers in rural America report poor quality internet, and 36% report poor quality technology for educational purposes. Without the right resources and tools, local economies cannot unlock their labor markets’ desired opportunities for education and career advancement.
Regardless of age or background, workers in rural America are more likely to feel held back in their career because of where they live compared to nonrural counterparts (49% vs. 30%). This is especially true for rural Gen Z and Millennials (64%, 54%). Resulting dissatisfaction could lose rural America critical community members, especially its future generations and its diversity.
The G.R.O.W.™ report points to the need for a concerted approach to improve local access to career pathways, technological innovation, and education opportunities through greater collaboration between the government, business, nonprofits and higher education.
As a first step, the University of Phoenix Career Institute® and CORI will be hosting a webinar, “Bridging Barriers to Career Opportunity and Economic Growth for the Future of Rural America”, on December 3, 2024, in which key leaders across these sectors will explore the following opportunity areas and the potential for integrated solutions.
What Employers and Institutions Can Do to Support Americans Living in Rural Communities
Capacity Building to Access Public Funding for Infrastructure Improvements: A primary barrier for workers living in rural America, particularly in furthering education, is access to high-quality internet. As previously noted, a third of workers in rural America cite poor / fair quality of technology (36%) and internet (32%) in their area for education. Institutions have an opportunity to support these localities in building capacity to navigate the policy systems in place to access existing funds for improving broadband infrastructure, helping to solve this challenge.
Building Professional Social Capital: Professional social capital is the crucial connections, networks, and resources that help people understand, access, and navigate educational systems and the labor market—and it is a proven accelerant to learner and worker success. This is a top area of concern for workers in rural America, as 47% said they need to develop skills to build a professional network, and 38% cite not having access to the right tools and resources to achieve their career goals, compared to only 20% of their nonrural counterparts. Building formal and informal mentorship programs and hosting local networking events are steps employers and institutions can lead to advance the development of professional social capital among rural workforces.
Career Mapping: Less than half of workers in rural America are satisfied with professional training / skills development opportunities (43%) and job opportunities (41%) in their area, compared to 68% and 67% of their nonrural counterparts. Connecting workers with the right pathways for skills development and overarching career options through personalized career mapping could be a vital key to unlocking advancement.
Fostering Entrepreneurship: More than half of the rural workforce wants to own their own business partially/wholly in the future (51%). This is especially true for Gen Z (53%), Millennials (56%) and Gen X (50%). In fostering pathways to entrepreneurship, institutions can help workers in rural communities broaden potential for employment by creating opportunities in industries that may not already exist locally and spurring the local economy.
“The University of Phoenix Career Institute was founded to underscore our commitment to understanding the barriers our students, as well as workers across America face, in order to develop career pathways and wrap-around services that can effectively support them in reaching their professional goals,” said Raghu Krishnaiah, Chief Operating Officer for University of Phoenix.
“Workers in rural communities are a critical segment of the workforce, and they have much to contribute to conversations around the future of work. In commissioning the G.R.O.W.™ report and convening key voices across government, nonprofit, business, and education during our upcoming webinar, we can increase our capability to serve current and potential students from these communities and determine the best solutions to fuel the future of the rural workforce for their betterment as well as the American economy as a whole,” Krishnaiah said.
Housed within the University’s College of Doctoral Studies, the University of Phoenix Career Institute® seeks to form meaningful partnerships with leading organizations like CORI to break down barriers to career advancement, as identified through its research.
“At CORI, we’ve long observed a strong desire for career opportunities that keep people in their hometowns and the University of Phoenix Career Institute® G.R.O.W.™ report brings a new perspective to this conversation,” said Matt Dunne, Founder and Executive Director of Center on Rural Innovation. “It is powerful to hear that 86% of rural workers believe there should be more partnership between employers and education institutions to create employment opportunities. Collaborating to establish broad and deep networks of cross-sector support is critical to generating impactful educational and employment offerings — and integral to creating sustainable new pathways to prosperity in rural communities. We look forward to digging into the tactical side of what this can look like moving forward.”
For more about the Center on Rural Innovation, visit http://ruralinnovation.us/.
For more information about the University of Phoenix Career Institute, the complete G.R.O.W. report, and the upcoming “Bridging Barriers to Career Opportunity and Economic Growth for the Future of Rural America” webinar, visit kgxv.vaftizo.com/career-institute.
The G.R.O.W. Generating Rural Opportunities in the Workforce report is a comprehensive study on the barriers Americans living in rural communities face in their day-to-day lives, and the impact these barriers have on career development and advancement opportunities. The study was conducted by the University of Phoenix Career Institute®, part of the University’s College of Doctoral Studies, in partnership with the Center on Rural Innovation— a nonprofit seeking to advance economic prosperity in rural communities — in order to unpack the consequences of the slower adoption of technological infrastructure in rural communities and the subsequent workforce barriers that keep workers in rural America from benefiting from the latest workforce trends.
The G.R.O.W.™ report comprised a 15-minute online survey of workers in rural America (n=1,000) and workers in nonrural America (n=986). All participants were U.S. adults (age 18 and up) who were employed or seeking employment at the time of research. Researchers conducted fieldwork between May and June 2024. Rural residency was determined using the Rural-Urban Continuum Codes that are publicly available from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). A full methodology can be found at kgxv.vaftizo.com/career-institute.
University of Phoenix Career Institute® was created to address broad, persistent, and systemic barriers to career advancement through research-based solutions and impactful partnerships that break down barriers Americans face in their careers.
University of Phoenix innovates to help working adults enhance their careers and develop skills in a rapidly changing world. Flexible schedules, relevant courses, interactive learning, skills-mapped curriculum for our bachelor’s and master’s degree programs and a Career Services for Life® commitment help students more effectively pursue career and personal aspirations while balancing their busy lives. For more information, visit vaftizo.com.
The Center on Rural Innovation (CORI) is a national nonprofit committed to advancing economic prosperity in rural America through the creation of inclusive tech economy ecosystems that support scalable entrepreneurship and tech job creation. Established in 2017, CORI is at the heart of a dynamic social enterprise focused on closing the rural opportunity gap. The organization partners with a taxable nonprofit, Rural Innovation Strategies, Inc. (RISI), and a seed fund, the CORI Innovation Fund, focused on early-stage technology companies located in rural areas. For more information, visit www.ruralinnovation.us.
