Perceptions of Displaced Manufacturing Workers about Their Transition to Successful Re-Employment Through a Community College Education Experience: Six Stories of Success

The significant economic shift of the past ten years within the United States has forced thousands of long-time manufacturing workers to change careers. Within this life transition process, dislocated workers have chosen to attend community colleges using the education benefit within the federal Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program. Using narrative methodology, this qualitative study explored how North Carolina workers, dislocated from traditional manufacturing jobs, successfully navigated transition from work to college into a new career field through the use of TAA benefits. Six individuals who earned an associate’s degree from a North Carolina community college and began work in a new field were interviewed using a semi-structured format. Because all six participants successfully navigated the transition, determining how and why they were successful was a focus in data analysis.