Absence of conflict of interest. This study was conducted by staff from Mathematica Policy Research. The review of this study was conducted by staff from ICF Incorporated.
Citation
Maxwell, N., Dolfin, S., Bruch, J., & Luca, D. L. (2017). Outcomes from a certification program for early career professionals in supply chain management. Princeton, NJ: Mathematica Policy Research.
Highlights
- The study’s objective was to examine the impact of the Leveraging, Integrating, Networking, and Coordinating Supplies (LINCS) program on employment and earnings.
- Using a nonexperimental design, the study authors compared students in the LINCS program to a historical comparison group who had not participated in the LINCS program.
- The study found no statistically significant relationships between LINCS program participation and employment or earnings.
- The quality of causal evidence provided in this study is moderate because it is based on a well-implemented nonexperimental design. This means we would be somewhat confident that any estimated effects would be attributable to LINCS, but other factors might also have contributed. However, the study did not find statistically significant effects.
Intervention Examined
The Leveraging, Integrating, Networking, and Coordinating Supplies (LINCS) program
Features of the Intervention
The U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) program provided $1.9 billion in grants to community colleges to improve skills and support employment in high-demand industries, notably manufacturing, health care, information technology, energy, and transportation. Through four rounds of funding, DOL awarded 256 TAACCCT grants to approximately 800 educational institutions across the United States and its territories. In 2013, Broward College led a consortium of nine colleges that received a 24.5 million dollar, four-year TAACCCT grant for the Leveraging, Integrating, Networking, and Coordinating Supplies (LINCS) program in Supply Chain Management (SCM). The consortium created a certification track at the college-level as well as certifications in eight areas of SCM, with the objective to increase skilled SCM workers in entry and mid-level positions. The eight areas of SCM were identified by the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals and included: supply chain management principles, customer service operations, transportation operations, warehousing operations, demand planning, inventory management, manufacturing and service operations, and supply management and procurement. LINCS provided certification tracks to increase skills and knowledge in SCM and aligned with the Council's certification exams. In "about half" of the colleges in the Consortium, they provided academic support, career guidance, and job placement as well as life skills training, child care, housing assistance, and case management. The nine colleges also increased their recruiting efforts, outside of their traditional SCM recruitment methods.
Features of the Study
Using data only from Broward College in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the authors conducted a nonexperimental study to assess the impact on the program on employment and earnings outcomes. The authors compared students who had enrolled in the LINCS program in 2015 to students who had taken a course in SCM in 2014 (the year prior to LINCS implementation). The sample size included 150 students in the treatment group and 103 in the comparison group. To evaluate the impact of LINCS, a regression model was used that controlled for demographics, education, unemployment in the local labor market, and other characteristics.
Findings
Employment
- The study found no statistically significant relationships between the LINCS program participation and employment.
Earnings and wages
- The study found no statistically significant relationships between the LINCS program participation and earnings.
Considerations for Interpreting the Findings
The authors used a historical cohort as the comparison group and note a potential confound because the local labor market improved from 2014 to 2016. Differences in the outcomes could be due to these time-varying factors and not the intervention; however, the authors controlled for local labor market and unemployment in the statistical models.
Causal Evidence Rating
The quality of causal evidence provided in this study is moderate because it is based on a well-implemented nonexperimental design. This means we would be somewhat confident that any estimated effects would be attributable to LINCS, but other factors might also have contributed. However, the study did not find statistically significant effects.