In "America's Hidden Economic Engines," editors Robert B. Schwartz and Rachel Lipson spotlight community and technical colleges as institutions uniquely equipped to foster more equitable economic growth across America's regions. As Schwartz and Lipson show, these colleges are the best-placed institutions to reverse the decades-long rise…

While community colleges promote American ideals of democracy, opportunity, and social mobility; provide a vital accessible and affordable education for nearly 12 million first-generation, economically-disadvantaged, and minoritized students; are engines of local workforce and economic development; and enroll nearly half of all students who go on…

Panama has achieved socio-economic improvements in recent decades thanks to strong economic growth and consequent poverty reduction. Its growth model is characterised by a dual economy in which a small number of activities, including those related to the Canal and Special Economic Zones, have exhibited high productivity growth but limited job…

"The Wiley Handbook of Vocational Education and Training" offers an in-depth guide to the theories, practices, and policies of vocational education and training (VET). With contributions from a panel of leading international scholars, the Handbook contains 27 authoritative essays from a wide range of disciplines. The contributors present…

Rapid growth of tertiary education is partly due to the expansion of post-secondary vocational education and training (PSV). A well developed post-secondary PSV system and links between universities and VET institutions improve skills and employment opportunities. What is post-secondary PSV and how does it relate to other components of the…

"Economy, Work and Education: Critical Connections" addresses effects of neoliberal capitalism in particular regard to work and education. The book elaborates key aspects and problems of generalized policy models of knowledge-based economies and learning societies in contexts of liberalized firm action, accelerated competitiveness and labor market…

In this collection of original essays, contributors critically examine the pedagogical, administrative, financial, economic, and cultural contexts of American Indian vocational education and workforce development, identifying trends and issues for future research in the fields of vocational education, workforce development, and American Indian…

The Philippines has experienced overall growth over these last twenty years, but the growth of the manufacturing sector has been sluggish and the country has lost innovation capacity. Re-gaining momentum will depend on many factors, but skills have a key role to play to support the growing service sector, help improve the competitiveness of the…

Early childhood programs, if designed correctly, pay big economic dividends down the road because they increase the skills of their participants. And since many of those participants will remain in the same state or local area as adults, the local economy benefits: more persons with better skills attract business, which provides more and better…

"Efficiency in Higher Education" is a sub-system within the total education system in a country. Higher Education contributes a major role in the national development, enriching the human potential. At the same time, climbing on the pinnacles of higher education and enjoying its benefit is not an easy task to achieve for a large number…

Recognising both the complexity of skills policies and the potential for peer learning, the OECD has developed a global Skills Strategy that helps countries to identify the strengths and weaknesses of their national skills systems, benchmark them internationally, and develop policies that can transform better skills into better jobs, economic…

This paper discusses recent histories of labor shortages in Singapore, Japan, and several western European countries. Emphasis is upon the economic effects of severe shortages of labor. Fearing that these shortages would seriously handicap further economic progress, many people in these countries have advocated large-scale immigration or increased…

Local, state, and national economies are facing unprecedented levels of international competition. The current fiscal crisis has hampered the ability of many governments in the developed world to directly facilitate economic growth. At the same time, many governments in the developing world are investing significant new resources into local…

The sequel to "Workforce 2000," this book lays out the general contours of the employment landscape depicting the many roads to "Workforce 2020" and offers the best ideas about what lies ahead and what workers should do to prepare for the journey. Chapter 1 examines the forces shaping the U.S. economy: rapid technological change; further global…

This volume of papers is based upon a lecture series given at Western Michigan University in the winter of 1973 by eminent economists concerning economic theory and policy as they relate to providing public education. Papers cover: the evaluation of manpower programs; the integration of higher education into the wage-board system; how much and…