(upbeat music) - [Kevin] Growing up, I never really had a plan and I knew that that was the element that was missing.

- [Rochelle] After high school, Kevin Turner did what most graduates do.

He went to college and majored in business administration, but he never finished.

With no direction and no diploma, Turner was repeatedly passed over for jobs he wanted.

- [Kevin] It was very difficult.

Knowing that I have the experience that they're asking for and just not having that degree was devastating to me.

I start the imaging process.

- [Rochelle] Turner tried his hand at roles, ranging from school auxiliary counselor to nonprofit administrator.

Nothing felt right, until a friend who works for the transportation company, RXO, urged him to take an information technology course.

- These are routers and switches.

- [Rochelle] Joe Little is associate dean of technology at Central Piedmont Community College.

You can see on the inside, it's got these pens, which offers continuing education courses, like this one designed for adults seeking basic learning to advanced level training.

Took us to a gigabit.

- If you can't be successful in a degree program, there's still an opportunity to be successful in CE.

And in CE, it's a lot less intimidating because it's just pass fail, you know, versus the grading systems that you have in the degree program area.

- [Rochelle] Ideal for 38-year-old Turner who enrolled in Central Piedmont's CompT A plus course, a preferred certification for IT operational and technical support roles.

- I'm usually able to get 16 to 24 computers ready in a day.

- [Rochelle] Armed with a certificate and a recommendation from his friend, Turner landed his current role as associate desk site support at RXO.

The engaged dad is finally doing what he loves, repairing computers and eyeing more courses in cybersecurity.

- I kind of felt like I didn't deserve to be there, but the class ultimately gave me the confidence to be able to pull my own weight on the team.

- As new equipment comes out.

- [Rochelle] Little says, the continuing education program is a way for professionals without a four year degree to earn the qualifications they need to advance in their careers.

- [Joe] Instead of having to take four or five semesters of 16 week courses over the course of a year and a half, two years, you do the CE training in four to eight weeks and you're ready to sit for a certification, which can then lead to a meaningful job to start your career.

- [Rochelle] Central Piedmont offers dozens of continuing career education classes in areas like financial services, business, healthcare, and hospitality.

According to the nonprofit Opportunity at Work, there are more than 70 million US workers who don't have a bachelor's degree, but are skilled through alternative routes, which could be certifications, military service, or on the job experience.

Referred to as stars, the population makes up more than half of North Carolina's workforce, or slightly more than two million people, says Opportunity at Work's Papia Debroy.

The national nonprofit is leading a campaign to tear the paper ceiling, a term referring to the invisible barrier, keeping stars from advancing in their careers.

If you track that star's wages over 30 years, 30 years into their career, they're still not earning what the Bachelor's degree'd candidate was earning on day one of work.

- [Rochelle] According to Debroy, that inequality is fairly new, but not the only disparity.

A joint LinkedIn research study found that stars face significant professional network barriers.

- Workers with a bachelor's degree have professional networks that are three times as strong as stars.

(uplifting music) - [Rochelle] Alisha Etheridge is a star.

She attended a technical college and got her associate degree in electronics engineering.

She was hired by Motorola and then laid off.

She says college degree mandates not only hold people back professionally.

They take a mental toll.

- The doubt and the negativity coming into your mind even before you speak to someone, right?

Thinking that they're gonna automatically dismiss you because, nope, she doesn't have this degree.

- [Rochelle] Despite not having formal training, Etheridge has moved up in her career by teaching herself what she needed to know and making connections.

Her resourcefulness landed her a job with Trane Technologies, a global heating and HVAC manufacturer headquartered in Davidson.

- Everything has been based on experience.

People willing to teach me, me going out there and teaching myself, learning on my own.

- [Rochelle] Trained technologies has partnered with Opportunity at Work on the tear the paper ceiling campaign, their aim, to spark conversations with hiring managers and encourage them to reevaluate how they bring talent into their organizations.

- Growth in the manufacturing industry is still strong, but there's still big talent challenges and we, like a lot of employers, are subject to these gaps.

- Amy Volz is trained Head of Workforce Innovation.

She says the first step is to look at job descriptions.

- You've looked at over 50 positions within the organization and we've removed bachelor's degree requirements for those positions.

We've also started thinking about how we source talent differently, looking beyond just the HVAC industry and into other industries as well where candidates might have really relevant skills, but might not have had the opportunity to work specifically in our industry before.

- [Rochelle] In a LinkedIn post, Etheridge shared her experience being a star.

Whether it's overcoming challenges or seizing opportunities, she says the first step to success is believing in yourself.

- I've seen it, I'm doing it.

Don't give up.

If you need help, find someone that you can talk to and that can help advocate for you.

- [Rochelle] The best advice may be to take a page from her book and be prepared to write your own success story.

For "Carolina Impact," I'm Rochelle Mertzger.