Do stackable credentials reinforce stratification or promote upward mobility? An analysis of health professions pathways reform in a community college consortium

Abstract

Career pathways, comprised of stackable credentials and a coherently aligned sequence of programmes of study, are being hailed as an effective means for promoting postsecondary attainment and upward mobility, particularly for low-income and low-skilled adult workers. However, concerns have been raised regarding whether this strategy accomplishes its intention or instead reinforces stratification by channelling under-represented students into short-term programmes with questionable value. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of stackable credentials as they were implemented by a consortium of community colleges in the United States that were part of the Health Professions Pathway (H2P) initiative. The results show that many students who completed short or very short programmes went on to earn longer credentials or maintained their enrollment, but there were noticeable racial disparities in the credentials students earned. Additionally, many of the short-term credentials had limited labour market value. The findings call for a closer analysis of the impact of short-term programmes and stackable credentials on student outcomes.

Keywords:

• Curriculum innovation
• policy issues
• vocational education & training
• class
• race/ethnicity