Can apprenticeships alleviate a regional skills gap? : a case study of programs at Trident Technical College in Charleston, SC

In attempts to address a skills gap, the state of South Carolina established Apprenticeship Carolina in 2007 which helps businesses create federally registered apprenticeships. Apprenticeship Carolina is a newer addition to the longstanding worker-training programs that make up the South Carolina Technical College System's Division of Economic Development. In the Charleston area, actors in the public and private sectors have partnered with the region's technical college (Trident Technical College or "Trident Tech") and leveraged Apprenticeship Carolina to create robust adult and youth apprenticeship programs in addition to leading other new workforce initiatives. At the same time, the local economy is growing and diversifying rapidly in the fields of advanced manufacturing, information technology, and other STEM-related sectors. This makes Trident Technical College's work in Charleston an attractive case study on apprenticeships as a means for addressing skills gaps. Since 2007, Trident Tech, businesses, and community partners have expanded the number of adult apprenticeships and created a regional youth apprenticeship program where both programs offer positions in career pathways in diverse sectors. This thesis examines what program administrators, community partners, and participating businesses ("sponsors") believe is working well and where there could be improvements.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Urban Studies and Planning

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2019

Author dc:creator

• Vice, Tia Marie.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Paul Osterman.

• Urban Studies and Planning.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Repository record dc:identifier.uri

https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/121753

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/121753