Power of Us Workforce Survey
Young people live, learn, work, and play across settings and systems: in afterschool programs, community centers, libraries, parks, museums, and many more places outside of the school day. Adults across these settings and systems play an integral role in supporting youth to thrive (National Commission on Social, Emotional, and Academic Development, 2018). Yet, we have little collective information about this essential workforce.
AIR is conducting a study of the youth fields workforce with a constellation of partners and with support from the Wallace Foundation. The Youth Fields Workforce Study includes two primary components: (a) the Power of Us Workforce Survey, a two-phase, national survey of the youth fields workforce; and (b) a set of case studies, each featuring a subset of the field (e.g., afterschool, parks and recreation, library-museum), specific organization, or geographic area. AIR is overseeing the study and leads the Power of Us Workforce Survey effort, and the National Institute on Out-of-School Time (NIOST) is leading the case study effort.
Results of this collaborative effort will help document the universe of the youth fields workforce, understand the diversity of the field and its various needs, and inform ongoing improvement, supports, and growth.
