photo of Shayne Spaulding
Shayne Spaulding
SHE/HER/HERS
Senior Fellow
Managing Director, CTE CoLab
Income and Benefits Policy Center
  • Profile
  • Outside Affiliations
  • I am excited to build knowledge about effective workforce and employment strategies that support economic security, equity and mobility for people who are low income or historically marginalized, and to maximize impact through strong connections between research, policy and practice.

    Shayne Spaulding is a senior fellow in the Income and Benefits Policy Center at the Urban Institute, where her work focuses on workforce development, postsecondary education, and employment. She has spent more than 25 years in the workforce field as an evaluator, technical assistance provider, and program manager. Her research has examined the public workforce system; community college innovations; employer engagement in workforce programs; services to parents, youth, and noncustodial fathers; people with criminal records; performance measurement in workforce programs; apprenticeships; and strategies for supporting workers in alternative work arrangements.

    Spaulding is the managing director for the CTE CoLab, a research-informed community of practice focused on building knowledge to advance racial equity in online career and technical education programs.

    Before joining Urban, Spaulding was the university director of workforce development for the City University of New York (CUNY), the nation’s largest public urban university system, where she oversaw workforce and continuing education programs in CUNY’s 24 colleges and professional schools. From 2001 to 2009, she worked for Public/Private Ventures, where she was a senior program director, leading evaluations of sectoral programs, social purpose staffing agencies, and services for noncustodial fathers.

    Spaulding holds a BA in American government from Wesleyan University and an MA in public policy from Johns Hopkins University.

    Spaulding serves on the advisory committee for the New Jersey Education and Employment Data System. She is also an elected Swampscott Town Meeting representative.

    Research Areas
    Children and youth
    Economic mobility and inequality
    Education
    Social safety net
    Workforce
    Tags
    Apprenticeships
    Assistance for women and children
    Alternative or nonstandard work arrangements
    Beyond high school: education and training
    Child care and workers
    Community colleges
    COVID-19
    Digital divide
    Early childhood education
    Employment
    Economic well-being
    Employment and income data
    Employment discrimination
    Families with low incomes
    Higher education
    Inequities in educational achievement
    Job markets and labor force
    Job quality and workplace standards
    Job search and matching
    Job training
    Job opportunities
    Inequality and mobility
    Labor force
    Kids in context
    Men and boys
    Postsecondary education and training
    Youth employment and training
    Youth development
    Workplace and industry studies
    Workplace protections
    Technology and future of learning and training
    Student parents
    Technology, trade, and automation
    Workers in low-wage jobs
    Worker voice, representation, and power
    Work supports
    Employer engagement
    Public service and subsidized employment programs
    Racial equity in education
    Racial inequities in employment
    Reentry
    Student parents
    Subsidized employment
    Technology and future of learning and training
    Workplace and industry studies
    Workers in low-wage jobs


    Outside Affiliations
    Swampscott Town Meeting
    Representative
    Body

    Urban experts are permitted and empowered to work and affiliate with outside organizations, whether serving on boards, volunteering their time, or providing advice and counsel. And Urban welcomes visiting scholars, nonresident or affiliated fellows who work for other organizations. These outside affiliations enrich our perspectives and our learning environment. We also require all paid and unpaid experts to disclose their affiliations to Urban leadership and follow rules governing their engagement to ensure transparency for audiences and independence of experts.