Community College Plays a Key Role Addressing Workforce Shortage

When Ariel Marroquin graduated from New York City College of Technology, he immediately went to work with ComEd, an energy utility company in Chicago. He credits ASME program for helping him get a job so quickly.

The ASME Community College Engineering Pathways (CCEP) program “gives a student like me a fighting chance,” said Marroquin, who holds a mechanical engineering technology degree and was featured in an ASME video about CCEP. “It basically polished me up. It gave me a mentorship, leadership skills, interview preparation skills, and resume preparation skills that could be utilized to land a job.”

Community colleges support the workforce pipeline

Community college students like Marroquin may be a key piece to solving the engineering workforce shortage puzzle, said Kathleen Kosmoski, director of workforce development at ASME. Kosmoski co-authored a recent white paper that highlights how community colleges can play a decisive role in addressing the shortage and expanding access to high-demand careers. 

The white paper documents outcomes from ASME’s Accelerating Engineering Pathways (AEP) initiative, which was implemented through the CCEP program. The goal of AEP was to strengthen the engineering talent pipeline by expanding access, increasing persistence, and improving career readiness for community college students.