Use data to tell your story
“A lot of people don’t like data,” said BE NKY Director of Research David McAleese as he opened his discussion about using data in decision making. “I get where they are coming from. What I like is what data can do.”
McAleese spoke at the recent NKADD/NKWIB Partner for Success workshop with Sam Keathley, Sr. Workforce Analyst for KY-Stats. Both presenters described the role of data in creating a narrative to achieve workforce goals. “It’s all about how data can help build your story,” McAleese said.
He highlighted the difference between data-driven and data-informed decisions. Data-driven decisions are based almost exclusively on data, while in data-informed, the data is a tool that enables decision-makers to blend data with other insights and experience. While there are pros and cons of both approaches (see chart below), McAleese suggested most workforce practitioners would likely use data to inform their decisions.
Chart comparing data-informed to data-driven decision making
BE NKY maintains an open-sourced, interactive data dashboard called Atlas (atlas.northernkentuckyusa.com). The goal of the site is to enable Northern Kentucky business and community leaders to contribute to increased prosperity, growth, and equity by providing them with data, insights and a forum to inform their decision-making. The site publishes data from dozens of publicly available sources. A detailed tutorial about how to use the resources available at the site is also provided.
McAleese shared a list of 13 federal statistical agencies that are particularly useful to workforce-development professionals. The list, created in collaboration with Janet Harrah of NKU’s Center for Economic Analysis and Development, is found at the end of the blog.
When it comes to Kentucky, the Kentucky Center for Statistics (KYStats) is tasked with collecting accurate education and workforce data. One of the first Longitudinal Data System in the country, KYStats seeks to evaluate, conduct research, and provide information about education and workforce to state decision makers. It integrates data from the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE), the Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE), the Education Professional Standards Board (EPSB), the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority (KHEAA), and the Kentucky Education and Workforce Development Cabinet. A quick video explaining more about the data and how its privacy and security are maintained is available at this link.
Keathley said that Kentucky is an especially good state for longitudinal data. “There is not a lot of migration out of Kentucky. By and large, people born here, stay here,” he said. “That means we can follow an individual from birth, through their entire educational history, into their career pathway and beyond. This creates a very stable data environment that we can have a lot of confidence in.”
One report Keathley highlighted is the multi-state postsecondary report. This interactive report connects postsecondary graduates from Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio with in-state and out-of-state employment outcomes from Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee. Users can explore the connection between employment outcomes associated with institutions, credential level, major group, specific major, student origin, and demographics.
Keathley’s team enjoys working with local businesses and organizations to address their data needs. Data support can be requested at their site. Companies can also reach out to NKY Works by emailing NKYWorks@NKADD.org with specific requests, and the NKY Works team will locate the best data source depending on the need and the timeline.
McAleese cautioned against comparing data from before the COVID-19 pandemic to current data. “Anything pre-2021 came from a different world,” he warned.
13 Recommended Federal Data Sites:
Bureau of Economic Analysis Bureau of Justice Statistics
Bureau of Labor Statistics Bureau of Transportation Statistics
Economic Research Service-USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service
National Center for Education Statistics National Center for Health Statistics
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics
Office of Research, Evaluation and Statistics