Comment: Degree for local career can start with remote learning

By Tonya Drake and Keith Smith / For The Herald

Data from a recent rural jobs report reveals what many Washington and Idaho residents know all too well: The need to fill health-care jobs continues to dominate the employment landscape.

The pandemic accelerated the need to make investments in the health care workforce to ensure people in communities across the state have access to critical services. At the same time, we must create pathways for education to support those who want to answer the call wherever they live.

Western Governors University’s Northwest Regional team, in partnership with WGU Labs, recently released research generated from Lightcast’s job-listing data from 2017 to 2022 to understand how the employment landscape has shifted in rural regions of the Pacific Northwest and Mountain West states — Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Utah and Colorado — as they experienced and then emerged from the worst of the pandemic.

WGU’s report, Shifting Winds: Examining Employment Trends in Rural Northwest Regions, shows that while demand for talent shifted throughout the pandemic, rural health-care job listings continue to dominate the region, and rural STEM-sector job postings are rising significantly; with a 183 percent increase in rural areas.

The Lightcast data suggests that rural job applicants in the region have access to new and exciting opportunities if they have the necessary background and skills. However, rising expectations for bachelor’s degrees and for skills associated with the technology sector will mean that rural job seekers need to gain more education and/or skills.

How do we bridge that gap and meet these workforce needs? We begin by letting them know that we’re here, we see you, and have walked in those same shoes in our hometowns.

Smith: When I grew up in Anacortes, we didn’t have a hospital. It was a small pulp mill town with 12,000 people. I personally experienced these health care and education challenges. If there was any significant injury or illness of any kind, you had to drive 30 minutes to Mount Vernon. At the very least, it was inconvenient, if not downright dangerous.

Having children significantly amplified those concerns, as I wondered how long it would take to get to the emergency room. How long of a wait would you find in a rural setting where there weren’t that many practitioners?”

Drake: I was fortunate. In Longview, we did have a community college and a hospital. But from an education standpoint, I was only able to get my associate’s degree. In order to get my bachelor’s, I had to leave my community. A lot of people leave and don’t come back.

Great strides have been made, but I still have nieces and nephews who live in rural parts of the states and wonder if they will have to leave their towns to get a good-paying job.

One solution to fill both the workforce needs and the educational requirements is remote learning, which allows you to learn where you live in addition to meeting those needs in rural communities.

To help and encourage those in rural areas who would like to pursue a bachelor’s degree to meet the existing and emerging job demands in their hometowns, WGU has launched the Learn Where You Live Scholarship for new students or returning graduates who want to further their education.

Smith: This is a commitment the university has made and certainly the School of Health has made. We’re in the process of adding several non-clinical programs, a portfolio that meets the entire spectrum of needs for rural health. And unlike our experience, they don’t have to leave their hometown.

Drake: Rural communities are the backbone of our economy. I think it’s our biggest hurdle to make sure that those communities know that we’re here. We are more determined than ever to help people access the education they need to obtain in-demand jobs in their communities — knowledge that creates a pathway to reimagine your hometown career.

Tonya Drake, Ph.D., is chancellor and regional vice president for Western Governors University. Keith Smith, Ph.D., is the senior vce president for Western Governors University’ Michael O. Levitt School of Health. Learn more at www.wgu.edu.

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