For access and more information regarding the NPWR Research Portal, please email Jackie Fernandes at j-fernandes@detr.nv.gov For media inquiries please also email Jackie. Click here to navigate to the NPWR Research Portal. The NPWR Data Dictionary can be found here.

If there are data sets you are interested in or potential partners you think may be a fit, please reach out to Jackie Fernandes. OWINN helps convene partners across the State, but cannot guarantee any data commitments.

Research Projects

Are you interested in using NPWR data to study Nevada’s most challenging policy problems in the areas of workforce development, economic diversification, and education? If so, consider applying for an NPWR Research Funding Request. This research will be published and made publicly available. The 2024 application is closed but please be on the lookout for the 2025 application in the Fall 2024. You can also always request access into the NPWR Research Portal at any time.

The 2024 funded projects are:

Workforce and Economic Development

  • Assessing Workforce Availability and Associated Skill Sets Needed to Close Gaps in the Value Network and Supply Chain of Nevada’s Healthcare Industry Sector will focus on specific workforce development needs associated with identified gaps in the value network and supply chain of Nevada’s health care industry sector. Led by Dr. Frederick Steinmann with the University Center for Economic Development, part of the College of Business at the University of Nevada, Reno.

  • Strengthening Nevada’s P-20 Teacher Pipeline: An Assessment to Meet Workforce Projections aims to understand the current trends for Nevada’s P-20 student-to-teacher pipeline and to offer policy recommendations that will strengthen the current pipeline to meet Nevada’s projected occupational needs. Led by Dr. Brenda Pearson with the Clark County Education Association.

  • AI-Enhanced Education in Nevada and its Transformative Impact on Workforce Development, Employment Prospects, and Tomorrow’s Job Market Proficiencies will research how the integration of artificial intelligence is impacting Nevada’s K-12 and higher education systems in relation to the prospects for workforce development, employment opportunities and the skills demanded by the future job market in Nevada. Led by Dr. Tiffiany Howard with the Center for Migration, Demography and Population Studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

  • Care Workers in Nevada: A Crisis Now and in the Future will focus on Nevada’s shortage of child care and home care workers, the need for this line of work, as well as this research seeks to gather empirical data to examine the present and future of care work, especially for women, low-wage workers and workers of color. Led by David Damore, William Brown, Caitlin Saladino, and Fatma Nasoz with The Lincy Institute at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

  • The Dynamics of Labor Force Participation – A Statewide Analysis and Survey in a Post-Pandemic Nevada will seek to expand our analysis to determine why Nevada’s labor force participation rate fell between 2020 and 2023, and why certain demographic sub-groups in Nevada experience lower levels of labor force participation than before the COVID-19 pandemic, despite a historically strong post-pandemic job market. Led by Andrew Woods and Meredith Levine with the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and the Kenny Guinn Center for Policy Priorities.

Education

  • An Exploratory Study of Two Postsecondary Policies and Student Outcomes will research tuition waiver and enrollment policies in relation to student outcomes, as well as how those policies impact college access and success for under represented and underserved students. Led by Dr. Kenyon Whitman and Dr. Federick Ngo at the Educational Psychology, Leadership, and Higher Education with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas,

  • Nevada Goes to College: A Statistical Portrait of Higher Education Enrollment and Degree Attainment of Minoritized Students in Field of Education will focus on undergraduate and graduate enrollment, degree attainment trends for minority students in NSHE and how these trends impact the field of education and the demographics of future educators in Nevada. Led by Dr. Carolyn Souza Fonseca da Silva with the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Nevada, Reno

  • The Potential Economic and Fiscal Benefits of Connecting Over 30,000 Disconnected Youth in Nevada to Education or Employment by 2030 will focus on the economic and fiscal benefits through 2030 of educating and/or employing over 30,000 youth in Nevada and who as of 2023 were neither employed, pursuing their high school equivalency, nor enrolled in postsecondary education. Led by Grant McCandless, a consultant to Workforce Connections.

Students

  • An Examination of Novice Teacher Career Persistence Trends will focus on novice P-12 (Pre-k-12th grade) teachers in Nevada and finding out why some exit the teaching profession within the first five years of their career. Led by Elizabeth Hofschulte Collins, a Doctoral Fellow in Teacher Preparation and Retention for the National Institute for the Advancement of Education at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

The 2023 funded projects are

Below you can find copies of presentations and reports associated with each project. View the overarching presentation here

Workforce and Economic Development

  • The Brookings Mountain West’s project, The Gender Cap in Nevada: A K-12, Higher Education, and Workforce Study will explore the gender gap in Nevada and propose public policy interventions to improve educational and workforce outcomes. PRESENTATION REPORT

  • The Kenny Guinn Center for Policy Priorities and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Center for Business and Economic (CBER) Research’s project An Analysis of Nevada’s Pre- and Post-Pandemic Labor Force Participation Rate will identify and evaluate factors contributing to Nevada having the 3rd largest decrease in labor force participation following the pandemic. PRESENTATION REPORT

  • The University of Nevada, Reno’s (UNR) Center for Economic Development’s Examination of the Relationship between Workforce Development and Housing, Education and Childcare Services, and Healthcare Services will explore how labor force barriers impact workforce and economic development and business creation, retention, and expansion abilities. PRESENTATION REPORT

Education

  • The Lincy Institute’s project Nevada K-12 Performance and Implications for Economic Diversification will evaluate the differentiating factors between Nevada’s highest and lowest performing schools and districts in terms of on-time graduation rates, performance on standardized tests, and college-going rates. PRESENTATION REPORT

  • UNLV’s Center for Research, Evaluation, and Assessment’s project Piloting School Funding Equity: How the Enactment of Senate Bill 178 Impacted Student Outcomes After Graduation explores how Nevada's student funding pilot program impacted students post-secondary and vocational outcomes. PRESENTATION

  • Dr. Megan Rauch Griffard from UNLV’s Department of Educational Psychology and Higher Education’s project Dissecting the Educator Talent Pipeline and Educators’ ROI in Nevada will focus on whether CTE certificates in education concentrations lead to eventual employment in education, seek to understand how long NSHE education majors take to earn their desired degree by educational attainment level, and how the wages of educators compare to other workers with comparable education and experience in Nevada by educational attainment level. PRESENTATION REPORT

Students

  • Anna Dreibelbis, a UNLV law and doctorate student, for her project Assessing Career Readiness Gaps in Nevada to understand what the gaps are in soft skill development in CTE programs across Nevada PRESENTATION REPORT

  • Curtis L. Cobbins, a doctorate student, for his project Causes of Innovation Engineering Management Failure in Workforce Development Within the Nevada System of Higher Education to understand how strong the correlation is, if any, between employee analysis of skills gap alignment and the role of innovation engineering management. PRESENTATION REPORT

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