Impact Evaluation of New England Institute of Technology’s Shipbuilding/Marine Advanced…

“The [Shipbuilding/Marine Advanced Manufacturing Institute] SAMI program was organized by New England Institute of Technology to provide education and training services to unemployed workers in industries and occupations hardest hit with job losses from international trade and the Great Recession. Using funds from the U.S. Department of Labor, the SAMI program was created to provide training in welding and machine trades that was focused on meeting the hiring requirements in the Rhode Island shipbuilding, marine and advanced manufacturing industries.

Over a two year period, the SAMI program enrolled about 300 unemployed workers who had previously worked in blue-collar and lower skill service occupations. The training was focused on developing abilities and knowledge of enrollees in welding and machine trades and providing training-related employment opportunities with good pay and a chance for advancement” (p.i).  

“The paper begins with a discussion of some of the most important elements of the SAMI program…[It] is followed with a description of the post-graduation employment and earnings outcomes of SAMI participants. The second part of this paper focuses on the evaluation of the net impact beginning with a discussion of the propensity score matching method.…The final section presents estimates of the net impact of SAMI training programs on three outcomes measuring post-program employment and earnings of participants” (p.2).

“The net impact evaluation is based on a statistically rigorous and data-intensive quasi-experimental evaluation method using the propensity score matching technique. This method used a counterfactual consisting of a matched comparison group of unemployed workers with characteristics much like those of SAMI enrollees. The findings presented in this study represent the net impact of participating in the SAMI program on post-program employment and earnings” (p.i).

The primary data source was “a de-identified employment and wage records data file for both the SAMI participant group as well as the matched comparison group of UI claimants” from the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training and the New England Institute of Technology (p.19).(Abstractor: Author and Website Staff)

Full Title: Impact Evaluation of New England Institute of Technology’s Shipbuilding/Marine Advanced Manufacturing Institute (SAMI) Program TAACCCT II Grant

“The primary finding from the evaluation is that SAMI participants were substantially more likely to be employed and that their earnings were sharply higher relative to the matched comparison group. Specifically: • In 2016-Q2, the quarter after the SAMI program ended, SAMI participants had an employment rate that was 1.17 times that of the matched comparison group. • SAMI participants were about 1.09 times more likely to be employed over the potential number of quarters of employment after SAMI participation relative to the matched comparison group. • In 2016-Q2, the quarter after the SAMI program ended, the quarterly earnings of SAMI participants were 1.19 times higher than the matched comparison group. These outcomes are partially the product of an exceptionally high completion rate of SAMI enrollees and very clear pathways to employment that were well understood by SAMI students. Strong positive impacts of the SAMI program were also the result of SAMI faculty and staff efforts to build relationships with a large number of Rhode Island manufacturers who were involved not simply in the hiring process, but also in creating the program structure and curriculum that increased the chance of employment for SAMI students” (p.i-ii). (Abstractor: Author)

• Last Updated:
• Created:
• Resource Publication Date: 2016
• Author(s): Fogg, Neeta P.; Harrington, Paul E.; and Khatiwada, Ishwar.
• Organizational Author(s): Drexel University, Center for Labor Markets and Policy
• Funding Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration
• Resource Availability: Publicly available
• Posted by: Wesley Peterson
• Posted in: Workforce System Strategies