Action Collaborative

Action Collaborative on Education and Workforce Trajectories in Tech

The Action Collaborative on Education and Workforce Trajectories in Tech brings institutions and organizations together to turn the recommendations and findings of National Academies reports into sustained, collective action. Its mission is to strengthen tech education and workforce pathways and support a thriving tech ecosystem.

The Tech Action Collaborative advances this mission by sharing evidence-based practices – learning from organizations on-the-ground experience – and supporting cross-sector networking, collaboration, and partnership among member organizations and external organizations in academia, industry, government, and nonprofit. Together, members work to improve recruitment, retention, and advancement across tech education and careers.

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Description

Building on decades of National Academies consensus reports focused on strengthening the U.S. STEM workforce, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will launch an Action Collaborative on Education and Workforce Trajectories in Tech. This initiative will bring together institutions of higher education and other organizations to transform pathways in tech education and careers that enhance opportunities for STEM-trained individuals to effectively contribute to work in the tech industry.

The Action Collaborative will engage in the following activities:

Collaboration: Engaging leaders from across the research enterprise to establish partnerships and networks among themselves and with the tech industry.

Collection of Novel, Promising, and Evidence-based Practices: Sharing, compiling, exchanging, and identifying novel approaches, pilot initiatives, and promising practices designed to support the well-being and success of the tech workforce in order to meet the high demands of the industry.
Discussing and Advancing Research Priorities: Developing and designing shared agendas for research that addresses gaps in supporting a thriving tech workforce, as identified by consensus study reports.
Communication Strategies and Resources: Developing joint communication materials that share resources and lessons learned from the work of the Action Collaborative.

Specifically, the Action Collaborative will:

Hold meetings for Member Organizations to learn from each other as well as from experts and key constituencies;
Convene public workshops involving the broader higher education and research community, key constituencies, and experts for the purpose of sharing and advancing innovative ideas and successful practices;
Facilitate and organize working groups that may produce individually-authored publications for the broader tech community; and
Publicly share practices, resources, tools, research, and lessons learned from the work of the Action Collaborative Member Institutions, researchers, and other organizations.

Membership Organizations

The Action Collaborative uses a streamlined evaluation approach to surface priority areas and identify opportunities for action across its membership. This approach includes short questionnaires—most notably the annual Actions Planned or Taken (APT) Questionnaire—alongside reflective discussions and regular member check-ins.

These tools are not designed to rank organizations or produce comparative metrics. Instead, they support continuous learning and program improvement by illuminating emerging topics, fostering collaboration, and showcasing the wide range of efforts underway to strengthen recruitment, retention, and advancement in tech education and workforce.

The APT Questionnaire, in particular, captures concrete actions and promising practices across the Collaborative. Highlighted below are selected institutional efforts that emerged from the 2024 Annual APT Questionnaire.

Featured Member Organization Actions

The ASEMS (Arizona’s Science, Engineering, and Math Scholars) program at the University of Arizona is a comprehensive student support initiative designed to increase STEM degree completion. ASEMS focuses on undergraduates with strong potential who may face additional barriers to academic success—specifically, those who are the first in their family to attend college, come from low-income backgrounds, have transferred from community colleges, or come from communities that do not typically pursue STEM careers.
Through a combination of financial support, mentorship, skill-building workshops, and community-building activities, ASEMS helps students navigate the challenges of STEM education and persist through graduation. The program is grounded in research-backed strategies that foster a sense of belonging and professional identity in STEM, build academic confidence, and connect students with resources that enable long-term success in science and engineering fields. ASEMS participants from low-income households have a 92% 1-year retention rate compared to a 79% rate for non-ASEMS freshmen in STEM majors.
By addressing both academic and non-academic factors that impact persistence in STEM, ASEMS serves as a model for how organizations can intentionally support promising students along the pathway to a STEM degree.
*This institutional example surfaced from the University of Arizona’s 2024 Actions Planned or Taken Questionnaire response.
The University of New Mexico (UNM), through its Tech Transfer and Economic Development Office, UNM Rainforest Innovations, is advancing place-based partnerships that respond directly to the economic needs of tribal and coal-impacted communities across the state. Central to this effort is the New Mexico Tribal Entrepreneurship Enhancement Program (NMTEEP), a three-year initiative funded by the U.S. Economic Development Administration.
From April 2022 to April 2025 NMTEEP provided targeted support to the local community, including Native American entrepreneurs, by building sustainable pathways to economic growth, wealth creation, and business development—particularly in communities deeply affected by coal mine closures. The program’s model emphasizes trust-building and culturally informed engagement, employing tribal liaisons to lead discovery sessions, facilitate entrepreneurial training, and collect insights through storytelling and community events. Rather than relying solely on conventional data collection, NMTEEP recognizes oral storytelling and lived experience as valid and valuable methods for understanding barriers and solutions.
These discovery efforts have already surfaced critical information on the unique challenges and opportunities faced by Native entrepreneurs throughout New Mexico. The findings are being used to inform UNM and other service providers on how to more effectively support these communities. As the program evolves, it aims to shift from broad, statewide discovery toward more targeted engagement at the local level, while also seeking sustained investment to continue and deepen its impact.
*This institutional example surfaced from the University of New Mexico’s 2024 Actions Planned or Taken Questionnaire response.

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Contributors

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Jeena M. Thomas

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Ashley Bear

Andrea Dalagan

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Center for Advancing Science and Technology

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Science and Engineering Education and Workforce Program Area

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Action Collaborative on Education and Workforce Trajectories in Tech

Description

Membership Organizations

Featured Member Organization Actions

Featured Member Organization Actions

Empowering Promising STEM Talent at University of Arizona: From Access to Graduation*

Community-Rooted Collaboration: University of New Mexico’s Institutional Partnerships with Tribal and Coal Communities*

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