Higher education research expert David Radwin will lead California Competes’ policy research projects focused on the state’s economic recovery.
California Competes: Higher Education for a Strong Economy has announced that David Radwin has joined the team as Senior Researcher. David brings with him more than 15 years of experience analyzing survey and administrative data in education and workforce policy. In his new role, he will help develop and advance the organization’s higher education and workforce policy research agenda to help shape and inform California’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prior to joining California Competes, David was a senior research associate at RTI International and MPR Associates (acquired by RTI International). While there, he studied workforce and employment outcomes for graduates with postsecondary credentials ranging from certificates to doctoral degrees. He also analyzed the effects of college type and selectivity on postgraduate outcomes and is a contributing author for a study of high-achieving students to be published by the University of Chicago Press in 2021. David led methodological reporting for the 2008/18 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study, which follows a nationally representative sample of individuals 10 years after graduating college. No Longer Overlooked: New Federal Data Reveal Outcomes For Non-Traditional College Students (2018), which David coauthored, looks at outcomes for part-time and returning adult students. He also coauthored Measuring Workforce Preparation and Employment Outcomes (2014), which reviews how community colleges can better measure students’ experience in the workforce after completion.
“Education has the power to transform individuals, families, and whole societies—especially as we face the current global crisis. California has been widely recognized for its COVID-19 response and has historically been a leader in higher education, so what happens in our state has an impact across the nation and even beyond,” said David.
Earlier in his career, David worked in the Office of Student Research and Campus Surveys, the Survey Research Center, and the Department of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley.
“We are thrilled to welcome David to the team,” said California Competes Executive Director Dr. Su Jin Gatlin Jez. “His extensive experience in higher education and workforce research will be a tremendous asset as California Competes builds a new body of work to support a strong, equitable, and inclusive economic recovery.”
