Houston: we have an education gap
By L.M. SIXEL, HOUSTON CHRONICLE
The Houston area doesn't have enough educated workers to fill all the jobs that local industry creates, according to a study released today by the Brookings Institution.
That education gap, in turn, pushes up the local unemployment rate, according to the study, which ranked the Houston area 94th among the nation's 100 largest regions. The Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area came in at No. 96.
The average job in Houston requires 13.53 years of education, said Jonathan Rothwell, senior research analyst at Brookings in Washington, D.C. The average Houston area resident has only 13.31 years.
The study used several years of data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to determine the type and number of jobs in each region and what kind of education is required to do the work. It compared that to a Census Bureau survey of actual education levels for each community.
"Ninety-four is not where we want to be," said Donna Rybiski, director for strategic initiatives for the Center for Houston's Future, which calls itself the region's "think tank."
It appears Houston may have structural issues, she said, pointing to the number of times employers must bring in skilled professionals from elsewhere - whether they be engineers or medical specialists - to fill critical openings.
"We know we're not educating our own talent locally to fill those jobs," said Rybiski, whose nonprofit group recently launched an effort to boost the number of local college graduates.
Houston didn't fare as well as San Antonio, even though the Alamo city has a bigger education gap. (San Antonio employers want an average of 13.52 years of schooling for jobs while the average resident has 13.24 years.) What made San Antonio No. 66 is that its mix of jobs favors growth, said Rothwell.
San Antonio has a higher percentage of jobs in health care, education and government, all of which did better during the recession than the manufacturing and construction that dominates Houston's economy, he said.
That could change, though, as San Antonio - along with the rest of Texas - faces big job cuts in education and government, he said.
Dallas fared poorly because it has a disproportionate number of jobs in some of the worst-performing sectors, including construction, transportation, equipment manufacturing and financial services.
The Greater Houston Partnership criticized the Brookings report for using what it called out-of-date information and not taking into account the huge population growth that has spurred demand for services or the Port of Houston's growing role in international trade.
