Career Academies: Impacts on Labor Market Outcomes and Educational Attainment

This randomized controlled trial study from MDRC examined the impacts of Career Academies on labor market outcomes. Career Academies appeared to have substantially improved the labor market prospects for males, including increased wages, hours worked, and employment stability. However, the same effect was not found among females. Further, the program did not appear to have been more effective than other options available, and the positive effects were concentrated among individuals that were of high or medium risk of dropping out of high school when they started the program.