Vocational education has a crucial role in regional labour markets, providing skills to meet local employment demand. In many regional areas of Australia, there has been a transition in employment from manufacturing and agriculture to service industries. The increase in employment has been most evident in the health and community services sector…

Purpose: This paper explores the economic and social effects of human capital investment in the 20th century. As well as drawing on census data and statistical yearbooks in Australia and Aoteoroa/New Zealand, the paper develops its argument by an intersection of scholarly work in sociology, economics and the history of education to consider the…

This report projects Northern Ireland's skills base through to 2030 and compares this to a number of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. The report shows that on current trends Northern Ireland will continue to lag many other countries on a number of measures of learning and skills in 2030. These shortfalls can…

Governments in advanced liberal democracies have assigned Vocational Education and Training (VET) a critical role in preparing a productive workforce for the broader economy. This linkage opens the way to use economic theories to expand the understanding of VET. Noted economic theorists have described the use of one economic reductionist technique…

A nation's culture, competitiveness and economic performance explain academic performance. Partial Least Squares (PLS) testing of 2252 students shows culture affects competitiveness and academic performance. Culture and economic performance each explain 32%; competitiveness 36%. The model predicts academic performance when culture, competitiveness…

This report examines the link between human resource management practices and innovation. It is based on a conceptual framework in which "human resource stimuli measures"--work organisation, working time, areas of training and creativity--feed into innovative capacity or innovation. Of course, having innovative capacity does not…

In many parts of the world, higher education is viewed as a prime "motor" for the development of a knowledge-based economy. Under the banner of this "new economy", higher education policies, programmes and practices have been increasingly co-opted and shaped by wider geo-strategic political and economic interests. This paper…

This document was produced by the authors based on their research for the report "Building the Capacity to Innovate: The Role of Human Capital," and is an added resource for further information. This document contains the following appendices: (1) Survey methodology; (2) Synopsis of the literature; (3) Interview questions; and (4) Survey…

This article examines shifts in educational and social governance taking place in Queensland, Australia, through Education Queensland's Industry School Engagement Strategy and Gateway Schools program. This significant educational initiative is set within the context of Queensland's social investment agenda first articulated in its education policy…

Summarizes outcomes of the 1994 international conference, "Issues Affecting Rural Communities," held in Townsville, Australia. The aim of the conference was to identify major issues in health, education, and community development, and to explore possibilities of applying international and interdisciplinary perspectives to the remediation…

A "regional order," let alone a "world order," will be very difficult to achieve. In fact, global disorder has persisted throughout the last century. This paper describes concerns about the existing world order and delineates some of the apparent alternatives. Problems involved in revitalizing civil society in order to…

An international consultation meeting was organized to identify major issues and priorities in the formulation of technical and vocational education (TVE) policies and strategies and to propose guidelines and format of future regional case studies. Participants submitted country reports focusing on issues considered essential to the development of…

Addresses Australia's changing economic structure and the increasingly important role of adult education in rural economic development. Adult programs that positively impact rural development include training for employment, small business training, enterprise education, community awareness programs aimed at promoting understanding of how money…

A study to compare vocational education and training (VET) systems examined nine countries across these three large geographical regions: Europe, East Asia, and the Americas. It explored variables that most define and influence characteristics, behavior, and apparent success of VET systems and the impact of change. The nine systems were chosen on…

Globalization is an evolving concept characterized by economic, technological, social, and political dimensions. Vocational education and training (VET) practitioners and the VET system must make more conscious efforts to lead thinking about the social dimension of globalization. The mission of Australian VET today is largely couched in economic…