Laura Bogardus - Clemson University

Key Stakeholder Perceptions of the Michigan Food and
Agricultural Sector Workforce Development System:
A Qualitative Study Using Grounded Theory
Laura Bogardus
Clemson University
August 13, 2014
Key Stakeholder Perceptions of the MI Food &
Agricultural Sector Workforce Development System
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Introduction
Literature Review
Method
Results
Implications / Future Research
MI Food & Ag Workforce Development System
Introduction
• Global Food Protection Institute, Battle Creek, MI
• Clemson Comprehensive Examination Component
• Grounded Theory, Qualitative Study
– Preliminary
– Part of a Larger Study
MI Food & Ag Workforce Development System
Literature Review
• About the Food & Agriculture Cluster in MI
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2nd Strongest Industry Cluster: Food & Agriculture
$91.4B Annual Economic Impact, 923,000 Jobs
2013-2015: 90,000 Food & Ag Jobs (10% increase)
47% Food Processing; 30% Farming; 22% Wholesale/Retail
• No Coordinated System for Supplying Workers
– Food Processing & Manufacturing; Farm Workers
– Domestic, Seasonal, Migrant Workers
– High School & Below; Tech Certificate (1 to 2 Yr deg); 4 Yr and up
MI Food & Ag Workforce Development System
Method
• Stakeholder Perceptions
– Staffing & Placement, Employer Associations, Unions
– Education, Government, Industry, Workers, Foundations
• Research Plan Developed
• Proposal Approved by Committee, IRB, GFPI
• Research Plan Implementation
MI Food & Ag Workforce Development System
Method
• Grounded Theory – Exploratory, Iterative
• Generative Questions
– Your involvement? What’s working? What’s not? What
issues need to be addressed? By whom? Why?
– List of Organizations, Stakeholders
• Associations, Unions, Staffing & Placement Agencies
• 90 Prospective (28 Assoc; 20 Other; 34 Staffing; 8 Union)
• 45 Contacts
– Interview Protocol & Questions
– Stakeholder Contact – Email & Phone
• 30 Subject matter experts interviewed 10 Assoc; 5 Other; 12 Staffing; 3 Union)
MI Food & Ag Workforce Development System
Method
• Core Concepts Identified
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Public perceptions of the industry
Increasing use of technology in work processes
Traditional nature of industry
Links between education tiers, industry
Domestic, seasonal, migrant farm worker issues
MI Food & Ag Workforce Development System
Method / Results
• Links between Core Concepts and Data
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Traditional Nature of Industry
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Low use of Internet job postings, government work supports
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Frustration with labor regulations
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High use of local networking to find workers
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Gender, race, age of farmers, owners
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Links Between Education Tiers, Industry
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ONET and SOC codes do not sync with Career Cluster curriculum
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Enrollment up in higher ed
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Domestic, Seasonal, Migrant Farm Worker Issues
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Few staffing agencies
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Fewer domestic workers and fewer migrant workers
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Improvements in housing, coordinated efforts to recruit migrants
MI Food & Ag Workforce Development System
Method / Results
• Key Analytic Strategies
– Coding, Memoing, Diagrams
• New Observations, Revisions, More Data
• Core Concept(s) Identified, Detailed
• Report combined, sent to Michigan Dept. of
Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD)
MI Food & Ag Workforce Development System
Implications / Future Research
• Further research to validate this limited qualitative study
• Study best practice examples / innovative solutions
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MSU Agriculture Technology Inst. / FFA of Michigan
Apprenticeship Development
FFA / K-12 programs and Industry
Industry Partnerships
New methods for farm worker recruiting and onboarding
• Reconcile ag industry data and jobs data
• Develop job posting tool
MI Food & Ag Workforce Development System
Implications / Future Research
QUESTIONS?