The STEM Dilemma: Skills that Matter to Regions

Fran Stewart dives into the murky waters where education and economic goals meet to confront several key issues facing policymakers and educators, including the role of public investment in human capital, the types of human capital investment that provide the greatest public return, and whether those investments should vary by region. She shows that not all high-paying jobs require STEM skills; that not all good-paying, highly skilled STEM jobs require college degrees; and that soft skills are important for STEM as well as other high-paying jobs.https://research.upjohn.org/up_press/1263/thumbnail.jp

Adolescent and caregivers’ experiences of electronic adherence assessment in paediatric problematic severe asthma

This study explored the experiences of adolescents and their caregivers regarding adherence to inhaled corticosteroids which are assessed through an electronic monitoring device (EMD). These devices are increasingly being used for assessing medication adherence, yet there is little information about patient’s experience of these tools. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight adolescents with severe asthma, aged 11–15 years, who were electronically monitored as part of their care, along with their caregivers. Interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. Three themes were identified: ‘they were trying to help me get better’, ‘checking up and catching out’ and ‘who is responsible?’ The themes highlighted differences in priorities between participant groups, the impact of monitoring on the healthcare relationship and the dilemma of transferring responsibility for asthma management to adolescents. The findings suggest it is important for healthcare professionals to engage with patient’s preferences and priorities when introducing EMDs

Forming Cleveland: A Visual Arts, Craft And Design Industry Study: Full Report

“The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.” - Pablo Picasso Art, as illustrated by Picasso’s quote, possesses the unique ability to cleanse our souls of everyday monotony. Given the transformative capabilities of art, we wondered how the arts could help revitalize a city, and, perhaps, revive an entire region. Can the same then be true for the “souls” of our cities, or even the collective soul of a region? The Visual Arts, Craft, and Design (VACD) sector, encompassing a wide spectrum of creative endeavors, has an impact on all of us in often surprising ways. When we speak generally of the “visual arts,” names like Rembrandt, Cassatt, Warhol, and Bearden may come to mind; however, the Cleveland VACD sector, including all of Cuyahoga County for the purposes of this study, reaches well beyond conventional definitions of art to encompass a variety of consumer products such as jewelry, furniture, and even homes

Forming Cleveland: A Visual Arts, Craft and Design Industry Study: Executive Summary

“The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.” - Pablo Picasso Art, as illustrated by Picasso’s quote, possesses the unique ability to cleanse our souls of everyday monotony. Given the transformative capabilities of art, we wondered how the arts could help revitalize a city, and, perhaps, revive an entire region. Can the same then be true for the “souls” of our cities, or even the collective soul of a region? The Visual Arts, Craft, and Design (VACD) sector, encompassing a wide spectrum of creative endeavors, has an impact on all of us in often surprising ways. When we speak generally of the “visual arts,” names like Rembrandt, Cassatt, Warhol, and Bearden may come to mind; however, the Cleveland VACD sector, including all of Cuyahoga County for the purposes of this study, reaches well beyond conventional definitions of art to encompass a variety of consumer products such as jewelry, furniture, and even homes

Forming Cleveland: A Visual Arts, Craft and Design Industry Study: Executive Summary

“The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.” - Pablo Picasso Art, as illustrated by Picasso’s quote, possesses the unique ability to cleanse our souls of everyday monotony. Given the transformative capabilities of art, we wondered how the arts could help revitalize a city, and, perhaps, revive an entire region. Can the same then be true for the “souls” of our cities, or even the collective soul of a region? The Visual Arts, Craft, and Design (VACD) sector, encompassing a wide spectrum of creative endeavors, has an impact on all of us in often surprising ways. When we speak generally of the “visual arts,” names like Rembrandt, Cassatt, Warhol, and Bearden may come to mind; however, the Cleveland VACD sector, including all of Cuyahoga County for the purposes of this study, reaches well beyond conventional definitions of art to encompass a variety of consumer products such as jewelry, furniture, and even homes

Pennsylvania’s True Commonwealth: The State of Manufacturing – Challenges and Opportunities (Full Report)

The Industrial Resource Center Network of Pennsylvania is the state’s affiliate of the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership program. Both the IRC program and the MEP have longstanding traditions of self-assessment and evolution as ways of being accountable to the public and of promoting continuous improvement. The IRC program and the MEP are charged with helping manufacturing in general, and small to midsized manufacturers in particular, improve their competitive position. The IRC program uses the outcomes from these assessments to think about the challenges their constituents face due to rapid evolution in the globally competitive environment. Additionally, the IRC Program has joined with the MEP to discover best management and production practices, standardize them in terms of educational and training practices, and then disseminate these practices widely. Again, this is with an emphasis on small and midsized establishments and businesses. This report builds on the 2004 report, Manufacturing Pennsylvania’s Future, written by Deloitte Consulting and the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University. In August 2010, as the negative impact of the Great Recession was beginning to ebb and after a decade of global competitive challenges, the IRC Program embarked on a new round of self-evaluation and assessment. The economic development and nonprofit management research groups at Cleveland State University’s Levin College were engaged to examine the state of manufacturing in the Commonwealth, discover the management practices of the “best of the best” manufacturers in the state, and suggest practice innovations that would enhance the competitive position of Pennsylvania’s manufacturers. This work was undertaken with the MPI Group. The project was supported by funding from the Industrial Resource Center program, the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the John D.and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s Network on Building Resilient Regions, and the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, with funding provided by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. The work benefited from the advice and review of an external advisory board that was facilitated by Ken Voytek, NIST/MEP’s chief economist, and Joe Houldin, CEO of the Delaware Valley Industrial Resource Center. They worked with: Emily DeRocco, President, the Manufacturing Institute of the National Association of Manufacturers; Samuel Leiken, Vice President of the Council on Competitiveness; Howard Wial, Ph.D., Fellow of the Metropolitan Policy Program of the Brookings Institution; and Mike Trebing, Senior Economic Analyst, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. The work was also reviewed and discussed by the IRC’s Strategic Advisory Board and the directors of the network\u27s seven centers. The report also benefited from data provided by the Central Pennsylvania Workforce Development Corporation (CPWDC). The research team acknowledges the many contributions of our advisers and funders. Their participation and support do not mean that each agrees with all we have written. The team alone is responsible for the findings and interpretation of the data