Petrel Research & Strategy brings rigorous applied research to the institutions and practitioners working to make education and workforce pathways work — for everyone.
Rigorous methods, transparent analysis, and evidence that stands up to scrutiny — held to the standards of the research community.
Designing and evaluating pathways that actually work in the real world — legible, navigable, and built for the learners and workers who need them most.
Success is measured not by program completion, but by whether people reach — and sustain — meaningful careers and better lives.
Sara Haviland, Ph.D.
Founder & Principal
Petrel Research & Strategy
Sara Haviland holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she trained in the tradition of organizations, work, and the life course. The questions that shaped her research — why some people navigate education and career pathways with relative ease while others encounter dead end after dead end — drew her toward applied work, where findings could move directly into the hands of the practitioners and communities building better systems. Two decades of research have deepened her conviction that rigorous, honest inquiry is the most durable foundation for meaningful change, and sharpened her understanding of how much collaboration, method, and institutional knowledge it takes to build pathways that hold.
That conviction has driven every chapter of her career: evaluating foundation- and federally-funded workforce programs at the Rutgers Education and Employment Research Center, leading research on postsecondary pathways, competency-based education, and credential quality at ETS, and now building Petrel Research as an independent practice. She has worked across 17 states, contributed to more than $10 million in competitive grants, and produced 60+ publications spanning peer-reviewed journals, policy briefs, and practitioner reports. Petrel Research takes its name from the storm petrel — a seabird known for navigating open water in conditions that disorient others. It is the right symbol for a practice oriented toward finding, and building, clearer paths forward.
Applied across community colleges, state systems, federal agencies, employer and education technology partners.
Deep experience with grant writing, implementation, and evaluation across foundation, state, and federal sources.
Research and strategy for credential pathways and skill-building through secondary, postsecondary, and workforce training programs — with a focus on equity and real labor market outcomes.
Strategy and research for CBE program design, skills documentation, and credential recognition — connecting learner competencies to employer needs and stackable pathways.
Policy analysis and strategic guidance across WIOA, Perkins V, and emerging federal workforce initiatives — grounded in multi-state research and practitioner engagement.
Facilitating cross-sector collaboration among educational institutions, employers, state agencies, and technology partners — with relationships across 17+ states and diverse political landscapes.
Translating rigorous academic methods — quantitative, qualitative, and mixed — into findings that policymakers, practitioners, and funders can actually use.
Every Petrel Research engagement is led by Sara directly — clients work with the principal, not a junior team, from proposal to final report.
Research is held to the standards of the academic community, and translated into language and formats that are immediately useful to policymakers and practitioners.
Every engagement draws on relationships with community colleges, state systems, federal agencies, and research organizations cultivated across 17 states and more than two decades of applied work.
Education and workforce pathways are not partisan issues. Sara works across political landscapes and crafts evidence-based solutions designed to resonate with diverse constituencies.
Whether you're building a federal grant proposal, evaluating a workforce program, or designing pathways for the learners you serve — Sara would like to hear about your work.
Get in Touch