Despite a pervasive emphasis on attending college, the majority of young adults won't enroll, and even fewer will attain a degree. Studies show that the social and financial divestment in vocational pathways correlates to worse health and socioeconomic outcomes, and a nationwide skills gap. As we invest in modernizing and electrifying our infrastructure, demand for skilled tradespeople will further outstrip supply unless younger people step into these roles, curbing our ability to meet climate, health, and economic security goals.

Of the 53 high school students surveyed, none indicated planning to pursue a career in the trades or enroll in a vocational program, despite good ROI, job security and pay. Most emphasized financial security, property attainment, and supporting a family as their main motivations for going to college, rather than interest in academia. But the majority hadn’t been exposed to technical pathways.

Comprehensive, open-source trade career information is published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, data.gov, and departments of industrial relations. But it's buried in disparate and dense data sets that are unlikely to be discovered or understood by our core audience.
‍
The Tradeways catalog is built on connectors between this data and Tableau, a visualization API. Relevant info is pulled continuously to generate up-to-date visualizations, illuminating straightforward facts for each trade that respond to young people's needs and motivations.