Using Data for Better Career Outcomes

Macaulay Honors College Launches Enhancing Career Support Through Data-Driven Solutions

New partnerships with industry experts to collect data and redesign career development programming are predicted to enhance professional outcomes for all students.

Macaulay Honors College has received a $300,000 grant from the Booth Ferris Foundation to create Enhancing Career Support Through Data-Driven Solutions. This new initiative, spearheaded by the Office of Strategy and Planning, will allow Macaulay to better propel our students into successful, well-paid professions by using sophisticated data analysis to design career development programming.

A 2022 survey by CUNY’s Office of Institutional Research revealed that although the job market is promising for honors students, salaries for many professions still reflect societal inequities. Enhancing Career Support Through Data-Driven Solutions will:

• Identify common career paths and key occupational fields for Macaulay students
• Explore correlations between student demographics and long term post-graduate career outcomes
• Reveal which academic concentrations contribute to better post-graduate outcomes

“Given the national reports on post-graduate outcomes for women and people of color, it is imperative that we tap into the data analytics to help us better prepare our diverse student body to thrive in their careers,” said Macaulay Dean Dara N. Byrne.

The two-year program establishes partnerships with innovative organizations. Lightcast, a global leader in labor market analytics, will collect data from our graduates, including their financial status, career trajectory, and more and conduct rigorous analysis. Opportunity Network, a nonprofit consultant, will guide the implementation of results-based career services.

In addition, the grant provides for staffing the program with three new Macaulay roles: research associates to manage the study design, and two paid internships to assist in data processing and analysis.

“We’re eager to learn how the diversity of our graduates is reflected in the workforce,” said Macaulay Director of Career Development Gianina Chrisman. “And to use the data to dramatically enhance our career readiness services.”

Lightcast is a global pioneer in the collection and big-data analysis of information on the labor market. Their data provides detailed information about occupations, skills in demand, and career pathways. MORE

Opportunity Network was founded as a direct response to the inequitable structures of access, college opportunity, and professional mobility that disproportionately affect students of color and students from low-income communities. MORE