Graduate employment and unemployment or underemployment are becoming increasingly important issues confronting not only global higher education research but also social and political debates in contemporary societies. In addition to the rapid social and economic changes resulting from the exponential technologies, the outbreak of the COVID-19…

Germany is widely known for its vocational education and training (VET) system and its dual apprenticeship system in particular. What is often overlooked, however, is the vertical stratification within the German VET system. This is the focus of this study. Our analysis shows that the VET system, like the German school system, is highly…

The Czech Republic is one of the post-communist countries where the transformation from late industrial to knowledge economies and knowledge societies was complicated by the simultaneous transformations from communist centrally planned economies to democratic regimes and market economies. Furthermore, the transformation of higher education itself…

This paper argues that we have a theory--namely, opportunity structure theory--which can account for how school-to-work transitions were accomplished "then" and "now", and also why "now" is different from "then". Opportunity structures are formed primarily by the inter-relationships between family backgrounds, education, labour market processes…

Faced with an aging population, economic restructuring, and cyclical economic change, Singapore's government adopted flow-through policy of bringing in foreign capital, technology, and workers. The challenges of balancing the delicate sociopolitical compact between foreign talent and local skills are increasingly complex. (Contains 32 references.)…

Interviews with 139 secondary teachers, 60 students, and 32 employers showed that employers provided work experience for public relations and recruitment purposes. Teachers felt students developed skills and experience of the world of work. Students gained skills and information and were able to sample jobs. Distinctions between structural and…

This article argues that China's education system is facing unprecedented pressures to provide appropriately skilled individuals to meet the demands of the rapidly growing economy. In China this is a uniquely complex situation owing to the coexistence of a diminishing command and control economy and a growing market economy. Within this context we…

Such concepts as employment and unemployment have different meanings in former Communist countries. A typology of postcommunist school-to-work transition using Western concepts of private sector, public sector, self-employment, and unemployment can accurately describe the situation in the transition to a market economy. (SK)

De-industrialisation and the development of the "service economy" have had a profound impact on the nature of work and employment in contemporary Britain. Theories of post- and reflexive modernity argue that individuals are able to reflexively reconstruct their identities in line with new social and workplace requirements. Yet,…

In the post-Communist Eastern Europe, the scope and nature of vocational education are determined by labor demand, academic/general education is considered suitable for all ability levels, and responsibility for and financing of education has been privatized. Advantages of the new model--well-educated youth labor force and customized vocational…