About Indiana Skills2Compete Coalition

Since 2010, the Indiana Skills2Compete Coalition has convened a bipartisan group of state legislators as well as education, business, labor, and community leaders with the aim of developing a skilled workforce and serving as a resource for policymakers working toward that end. We use research on best practices to promote public policies that create education and training opportunities in alignment with the needs of employers, offering more Hoosiers an opportunity to secure high-wage, family-sustaining jobs. 

The Coalition’s roots began with the report Indiana’s Forgotten Middle Skills Jobs, produced by Indiana Community Action Poverty Institute and the National Skills Coalition. The core group of advisors for that report formed the Indiana Skills2Compete Coalition, and with generous support from the Joyce Foundation and the National Skills Coalition, the Institute was able to expand the initial group, growing the membership to 25 coalition members representing 20 different education, business, labor, and community-based organizations.

With guidance from the National Skills Coalition, Skills2Compete Campaigns across the nation have had tangible impact on changing the tone of policy discussions in their respective states while cultivating a host of new allies in support of an expanded skills agenda. Indiana’s Skills2Compete Coalition is actively mobilizing stakeholders around the campaign’s policy goals, which work to bring increased press attention to Indiana’s forgotten middle-skills jobs and the workers needed to fill them, and which present these issues to Indiana’s state and national policymakers in order to build awareness and interest in advancing the skill levels of Indiana’s workforce.

What is the definition of Middle-Skill Jobs?

We typically use this as the standard definition: Middle-skill jobs require more than a high school diploma but less than a four-year college degree. The term middle-skill refers to the level of education and training required by a particular job. It should not be confused with the actual competence and capacity of workers and occupations — many middle-skill occupations require highly skilled trade and technical workers. Examples of middle-skill occupations include nurses, police officers, fire fighters, medical technicians, air traffic controllers, electricians, and mechanics, amongst many others.

Vision of the Indiana Skills2Compete Coalition

The 21st-century economy demands that every Hoosier have the opportunity to earn high-quality post-secondary education or training — leading minimally to an occupational credential, industry certification, or associate’s degree — to be pursued urgently and with dedication. Every person should also have the opportunity to attain the basic skills needed to pursue such education.