Providing students with early exposure to career pathways reduces uncertainty, guides educational choices, and boosts motivation as students see how academic learning connects to real-world job prospects. As a state, our collective vision for the entire education to workforce pipeline is that we prepare students with the knowledge and skills to fulfill their career aspirations and Hawai‘i’s workforce needs. Building career pathways to support a local workforce helps to ensure that Hawai‘i has professionals who are familiar with the community’s needs and invested in its well-being, reducing dependency on workers from out of state.
This data story illustrates the journey of students as they progress through the healthcare career pathway, from HIDOE to the University of Hawai‘i (UH) system and from UH into the workforce. By analyzing outcomes of students along the healthcare career pathway, the state can better understand and strategically improve the exposure to careers as well as academic and career readiness at each transition along the education to workforce pipeline.
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Explore this data story
This data story is the product of a collaboration between subject matter experts from HIDOE, the University of Hawai‘i (UH), Department of Health, various workforce-related community organizations, and Hawai’i P-20 to better understand and support students as they progress through the healthcare career pathway.
Overview
Why Focus on Healthcare?
Healthcare was identified as a high-skill, high-wage, and high demand field in the state. Healthcare career pathways are particularly beneficial due to the vast opportunities and stability the sector offers. With an aging population and increasing demand for health services, healthcare consistently provides a high number of secure and rewarding jobs. Specialized career pathways within healthcare—such as nursing, medical technology, and health administration—allow students to pursue areas that match their interests while contributing to public well-being. Furthermore, healthcare career pathways often come with flexible educational routes, including certificate programs, associate degrees, and advanced degrees, accommodating different learning styles and financial situations. This flexibility makes the healthcare pathway accessible and appealing, empowering individuals to build meaningful careers in an essential high-growth field.
Healthcare career pathways provide structured, accessible routes for students to enter and progress within this field. They are designed to help individuals from various backgrounds, building a workforce that reflects the state’s population. Healthcare professionals in Hawai‘i earn an average annual salary approximately 10% higher than the national average, reflecting the state’s higher cost of living and demand for skilled workers. At almost every level of degree earned, healthcare graduates in Hawai‘i are earning a living wage within five years of graduating with most crossing that threshold by the second year.
*Wage thresholds are for a single adult.
Taking a Wider View
Preparing students for healthcare careers is an effort that involves multiple sectors. From K-12 to postsecondary to the workforce, students gain skills and knowledge at each step to prepare them to find success in their chosen career. The ultimate goal is for them to find living wage jobs in Hawai‘i. This data story breaks down goals for each sector that collectively contribute to strengthening the healthcare pipeline in Hawai‘i.
K-12
All HIDOE high schools (excluding charter schools) have selected specific career pathways and program of studies to offer based on student interest, facilities, equipment, faculty expertise, local labor market demand, and other factors. Participation in Career and Technical Education (CTE) supports students’ career awareness, exploration, preparation, and training.
For the Healthcare pathway, students will need additional skills and knowledge beyond their high school diploma, so their K-12 journey must help prepare them to transition to postsecondary education or training.
Terms Used in This Data Story
For this data story, “no CTE” refers to HIDOE graduates who didn’t take any CTE courses.
Click here to see more details about the HIDOE graduate cohorts used in this section
For the section below, we analyzed the HIDOE graduates (i.e., students who earned a regular high school diploma or an Individually Prescribed Program (IPP) Certificate) from the Class of 2020 through the Class of 2022 to evaluate their participation in and completion of a Career and Technical (CTE) healthcare program of study and immediate enrollment at a postsecondary education institution following high school graduation. This methodology excluded students who graduated from a Hawaii Public Charter School, except for Laupāhoehoe Community Public Charter School.
Who participates in CTE?
Students who were female or Filipino had the highest rates of healthcare concentrators compared to their peers.
*Al, Blk, Hisp, Mult includes American Indian or Alaska Native, Black or African American, Hispanic, and Multiple.
Does CTE affect college going rates?
71% of healthcare concentrators enrolled in college the first fall semester after graduating—21 percentage points higher than the statewide rate.
How do science courses impact college going rates for healthcare concentrators?
Healthcare concentrators who earned a B or better in both Biology and Chemistry had higher first fall enrollment rates.
Which healthcare concentrators go on to college?
Students who were female, never economically disadvantaged, Asian, or Filipino went to college at higher rates.
*Al, Blk, Hisp, Mult includes American Indian or Alaska Native, Black or African American, Hispanic, and Multiple.
Postsecondary
Postsecondary education plays a critical role in equipping students with the specialized skills and knowledge needed to enter the healthcare workforce. After students declare a healthcare major, it is important to provide a clear pathway to a career and support them through their college journey to earn an award that increases their employability.
Examples of healthcare programs at UH:
| Certificate | Associate’s | Bachelor’s | Master’s/Professional |
|---|---|---|---|
| Community Health Worker | Dental Hygiene | Dental Hygiene | Athletic Training |
| Dental Assisting | Health Information Technology | Dietetics | Communications Sciences & Disorders |
| Emergency Medical Technician | Medical Lab Technician | Medical Technology | Medicine |
| Health Care Administration | Nursing | Nursing | Nursing |
| Health Information Technology | Occupational Therapy Assistant | Pharmacy Studies | Nursing Practice |
| Pharmacy Technician | Radiologic Technology | Public Health | Pharmacy |
| Public Health | Respiratory Care | Public Health |
For this data story:
- “Healthcare majors” are students who ever declare a healthcare major within six years of first enrolling at UH.
- “Healthcare awards” are any degree or certificate earned by completing a healthcare program.
Click here to see more details about the UH freshmen cohorts used in this section
For the section below, UH analyzed two first-time freshman cohorts who enrolled at any of the ten UH campuses in the fall of 2016 and fall of 2017 and have had six years elapse to track enrollment and completion. This methodology utilized the Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code associated with each major to identify “healthcare” majors. All majors with a “51” 2-digit CIP code sequence were identified as “Healthcare”.
How does earning credit in college-level English and math in the first year of college impact college completion for healthcare majors?
Overall, 62% of students who ever enrolled in a healthcare major earned a postsecondary degree or certificate within six years (40% earned a healthcare award while 22% earned a non-healthcare award).
In comparison, 75% of healthcare majors who earned credit in college-level English and math in their first year, earned a postsecondary award within six years.
Over 40% of healthcare majors who only earned credit in either college-level English or math in their first year, stopped out (i.e., left without earning an award) within six years.
Over 70% of Healthcare majors who didn’t earn credit in college-level math or English in their first year (attempted but didn’t pass, or did not enroll), stopped out within six years.
*Suppressed due to small cell sizes.
Which healthcare majors end up earning a healthcare award?
Healthcare majors who were male, did not receive Pell, Asian, or Filipino earned healthcare awards at a higher rate than their peers.
*Al, Blk, Hisp, Mult includes African American, Hispanic, Native Alaskan, Native American, and Multiple
Workforce
Career pathways should be aligned to meet the workforce needs of industry. A successful pathway will lead graduates to find stable, living-wage jobs in the industry that they were trained for. Understanding how many healthcare graduates actually end up in the healthcare industry will help the state to better understand how many students should be recruited into the pathway to fill Hawai‘i’s workforce.
Limitations of the data include, but are not limited to:
- Health industry determined by employer’s North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code. Healthcare related occupations may not fall into healthcare NAICS codes. For example, a school nurse would be employed by an organization with an Education NAICS code.
- The data does not account for individuals who are self-employed, federal employees, work in a “cash economy”, work out of state, or enroll in college out of state.
Click here to see more details about the UH graduate cohorts used in this section
For the section below, we analyzed UH graduates from Academic Years (AY) 2017 & 2018. The graduates were linked to unemployment insurance wage records to determine if they were working in the state and in which industry. The methodology identified the highest award earned by a student. If a student earned multiple types of awards (i.e., healthcare and non-healthcare), the healthcare award was prioritized. Workforce outcomes at Year 1 through Year 5 following graduation were examined.
Are healthcare graduates working in the healthcare industry?
UH healthcare graduates found working in the healthcare industry each year after graduation had a relatively steady employment rate compared to those found working in a non-healthcare industry.
What is the wage difference between those working in the healthcare industry and those who are not?
Median wages of UH healthcare graduates found working the healthcare industry, met or exceeded the living wage threshold sooner than graduates working in non-healthcare industries.
*Wage thresholds are for a single adult.
Do healthcare graduates remain in Hawai‘i?
The proportion of healthcare graduates found working in the healthcare industry five years after graduation were highest for those who were male, received Pell, Filipino, or Native Hawaiian.
Do students who work in the healthcare industry while enrolled remain in the healthcare industry?
46% of healthcare graduates who were employed in the healthcare industry while enrolled in college were found working in the healthcare industry five years after graduation.
Key Findings
The creation of this data story was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant 84.372A (Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems) to the Hawai‘i State Department of Education. The opinions expressed are those of Hawai‘i P-20 Partnerships for Education and do not represent views of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education.