An Analysis of the Connection Between Workforce Development and Higher Education Within State Policy and the Sharing of Best Practices

Workforce development policy is a major cornerstone for many governments. The success can be linked to educational programs that support the training of the workforce. Sharing of best practices among higher education institutions supporting workforce development can help newer institutions and support regional workforce development goals. Workforce development policy has been a critical part of government structures worldwide. The success of these policies has been based on critical components, such as training and the increased knowledge of a societal segment (Giloth, 2000; Leigh & Blakely, 2013; Porter, 2000). There also has been a significant requirement within economic development policy to further develop or cultivate a workforce to support the focused industry (Giloth, 2000; Waits, 2000). This close attention to the education policy, its structure, format and sub-components, is important to best support the workforce development policy. The education portion of workforce development policy also demands involvement of educational leaders in the early policy framework (DeLeon, Haldane, Heldring, & Willis, 2014; Gabel & Scott, 2011). This involvement would include a determination by educational leadership of the education requirements of the government and business stakeholders, recommendations for crafting the educational programs, and the format to best support skills training (DeLeon et al., 2014; Gabel & Scott, 2011). This set of topics does not represent the complete set of factors that educational leaders need to consider in a workforce development program. However, to make sure that the policy framework is supported effectively, education leadership needs to be considered as essential stakeholders within the early stages framework of the workforce development policy (Waits, 2000). This is supported by many different research studies, and the connection between government, business community, and higher education within workforce development policy requires some examination into how information and best practices are shared among higher education institutions (DeLeon et al., 2014; Gabel & Scott, 2011). This paper seeks to examine some of the key stakeholders required for the development of workforce development policy. Also, this paper investigates some of the structures used for workforce development programs and analyzes the role of higher education institutions in developing key parts of the training and education, specifically curriculum development. Furthermore, the importance of sharing of best practices is discussed. Finally, some recommendations are made on how best practices can be better shared between state higher education institutions, specifically in workforce development programs. Typical Structures of State Workforce Development Programs The structure of workforce development programs at the state level is usually decided upon by state level leadership. This decision in part or as a whole has a dotted or solid line to the governor’s directions and goals for the state to grow economically. As a result, many of the goals reflected in any type of workforce development policy also have political components that can be at the core of the policy itself (Cooper, Cibulka, & Fusarelli, 2015; Porter, 2000; Waits,