Workforce Issues in Library and Information Science: An Overview

1
(No Transcript)
2
Careers of Library and Information Science
Graduates Preliminary Results from the WILIS
Study

• Joanne Gard Marshall, PhD, School of Information
  and Library Science UNC Institute on Aging
• Victor W. Marshall, PhD, Department of Sociology
  and UNC Institute on Aging
• Jennifer Craft Morgan, PhD, UNC Institute on
  Aging
• Cheryl A. Thompson, BA, UNC Institute on Aging
• Susan Rathbun-Grubb, MSLS, School of Information
  and Library Science UNC Institute on Aging

A study funded by the Institute of Museum and
Library Services (IMLS) A partnership of the UNC
School of Information and Library Science and the
UNC Institute on Aging
3
WILIS study

• Workforce Issues in Library and Information
  Science (WILIS) is a three-year research project
  (2005-2008) designed to study the career patterns
  of Library and Information Science (LIS)
  graduates.
• WILIS has identified over 9,000 North Carolina
  graduates from six LIS programs for the period of
  1964-2005. For UNC Chapel Hill, 2006-2007
  graduates are included.

4
Participating LIS programs

• Appalachian State University Library Science
  Program http//www.les.appstate.edu/libsci/
• Central Carolina Community College Library and
  Information Technology Program http//www.cccc.edu
  /Programs/Library_Info_Technology.html
• East Carolina University Department of Library
  Science and Instructional Technology
• http//lsit.coe.ecu.edu/
• North Carolina Central University School of
  Library and Information Sciences
• http//www.nccuslis.org/
• UNC Chapel Hill School of Information and Library
  Science
• http//www.ils.unc.edu/index.html
• UNC Greensboro Department of Library
• and Information Studies
• http//www.uncg.edu/lis/

5
Three Studies of the LIS Workforce

• Canadian Library Human Resources Study
• 8Rs Research Team
• http//www.ls.ualberta.ca/8rs/home.html
• The Future of Librarians in the Workforce
• Jose Marie Griffiths, Principal Investigator
• http//www.libraryworkforce.org/tiki-index.php
• Workforce Issues in Library and Information
  Science Joanne Gard Marshall, Principal
  Investigator
• http//www.wilis.unc.edu

6
The changing workforce

• Most of the projected growth in the US labor
  force between 2000 and 2050 will be composed of
  workers aged 55 and over.
• Workers aged 55 and over will account for a
  larger share of the US labor force (12.9 in
  2000 18.8 in 2050).

• Toosi, Mitra. (2002). A Century of Change the US
  Labor Force, 1950-2050. Monthly Labor Review,
  125.5, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved May
  16, 2006, from http//www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2002/05
  /contents.htm.

7
Librarians and aging - the quadruple whammy

• Baby boomer aging and retirement
• Linked lives (women with older spouses may retire
  earlier)
• Proportion of late entrants
• Job growth

8
Number of Librarians Reaching Age 65(2000 U.S.
Census Base)
Lynch, Mary Jo, et al. (2002) Retirement and
Recruitment A Deeper Look. 2002. Retrieved
May, 18, 2006. http//www.ala.org/ala/ors/reports/
reports.htm.
9
Age of MLS Students, 1983 and 2001
Graph and Tables based on Figure 8 Age of MLS
Students, 1983 and 2001 in Stanley Wilder
(2003), Demographic Change in Academic
Librarianship, 18.
10
Bureau of Labor Statistics (2004). Occupational
Employment, Training, and Earnings. Occupation
Search. Retrieved May, 19, 2006 from
http//data.bls.gov/oep/servlet/oep.noeted.servlet
.ActionServlet?Actionempoccp.
11
Needs addressed by WILIS

• Little systematic data exist on the workforce
  histories of LIS graduates who are either in or
  out of the LIS field
• Stakeholders need data to effectively educate and
  manage the LIS workforce
• Stakeholders need data to inform recruitment,
  retention and succession planning

12
WILIS Components

• Pilot study
• Non-response study
• Full alumni study
• Career tracking model for LIS graduates
• Now funded as WILIS 2 (2007-2010)

13
Todays paper

• Preliminary look at pilot data
• Discuss non-response study
• Focus on methodology
• Share early response rates from the full WILIS
  survey

14
WILIS pilot study

• Web-based survey, April-May 2007
• 505/9089 5.5 unable to contact
• Randomly selected 750 graduates from the five LIS
  masters programs
• Postcards used to check accuracy (119 cases
  updated)
• Invitation letter
• Email reminder
• Second letter and/or email

15
Response rates (pilot)

• 4 known sample loss (721/750)
• No potentially valid contact information
• Response rates
• Prior non-response study 31 (222/721)
• After non-response study 39 (280/721)

16
Non-response study of pilot group

• Conducted June-July 2007
• Web, paper and telephone surveys
• 450 alumni who did not respond to the pilot
  survey
• Invitation letter
• Email reminder
• Up to 8 phone calls with telephone survey option

17
Results of non-response study

• Comparison between pilot and non-response study
  indicates representativeness of sample
• Conducting the non-response study increased the
  overall pilot study response rate from 31 to 39
• As a result of the study, we added an additional
  mailed letter to the full study methodology.

18
Demographic composition (pilot)

• 82 female
• Of the 262 pilot participants, mean age was 50.6
  (SD 12.0)
• Of the 208 currently working, mean age was 48.4
  (SD 10.9)
• 11 non-white

19
Respondents by age cohort (pilot)
20
Median age of LIS grads (pilot)

• According to our pilot study, the median age of
  working NC LIS grads is 48.0 years
• In 2000, median age of the U.S. labor force was
  39.3 years
• In 2004, average age of U.S. nurses was 46.8 years

21
Employment status (N257)
22
Do you consider yourself to have left the LIS
field?
23
Do you consider yourself to be
24
Which of the following best describes your
current job?
25
Job quality (Current job)

• 84 had a yearly salary
• 16 had an hourly wage
• Median yearly salary 50,000
• Median hourly wage 19.25
• (annualized - 40,040)
• Median hours worked 40 hours per week

26
Job quality (Current job)

• 11 are part-time (median 20 hours/week)
• 58 supervise others
• 30 find it somewhat difficult or difficult to
  take time off for personal or family matters
• 98 have health insurance
• 88 have sick or personal days

27
Career rewards (Current job N194)

• 88 agree that they have the opportunity to
  develop and apply the skills needed to enhance
  their careers
• 71 agree that their employer does a good job of
  helping them develop their career
• 65 agree that they have opportunities for
  promotion within the field
• 89 see their job as part of a career

28
Retention
29
Retirement

• 25 will definitely be working full-time after 62
• 9 will definitely be working full-time after 65
• 27 will definitely NOT be working full-time
  after 65

30
Retirement plans
31
Volunteer

• 81 expect to volunteer after they retire
• 67 expect to volunteer in a library or
  information setting
• 72 expect to use LIS skills in their volunteer
  work

32
Pilot findings

• LIS is an aging workforce and this has
  implications for educators, employers and other
  stakeholders
• Most NC LIS graduates tend to work in libraries
  (72)
• Relatively few are not working in libraries
  (21).
• Those not working in libraries still tend to
  report using LIS skills (47)

33
More pilot findings

• Job quality is generally good, but may be
  reflective of older workforce
• Flexible work arrangements are underused (few
  part-time workers)
• Further analysis is needed to gain a full
  understanding of factors affecting careers of LIS
  grads and the impact of retirement transitions on
  the LIS workforce

34
WILIS full survey

• 7391 graduates from the five LIS masters and one
  paraprofessional program
• Web survey, Sep to Dec 2007
• Postcards to check address accuracy
• Invitation letter
• Email reminder
• Letter reminder
• Second and third email reminders

35
Full survey results so far

• Response rate (20 days into the data collection)
• Completed surveys 21.1 (1562/7391)
• Partial surveys 5.1 (378/7391)
• At the same point in the pilot (20 days), the
  response rate was 14.4 completed surveys.