Learning and skills contribute to economic growth both directly, by improving the skills base available to employers, and indirectly, by underpinning the five foundations of productivity identified by the government: ideas, people, infrastructure, business environment, and places. This is the case for all levels of learning from basic skills to…

The United States has posted more than 100 consecutive months of net job gains since the economic recovery began in 2010, making this the longest expansion in seven decades. Yet, for many, wage growth has lagged, leaving many families economically insecure. Meanwhile, job and economic growth continue to accrue in select corners of the nation,…

This study assessed and evaluated the competitiveness of national human resource development (NHRD) systems in emerging countries with potential for growth. The literature on emerging countries and NHRD systems was reviewed. The study developed a model mechanism with forty-one indices and nine sub-components for the NHRD system assessment in…

Drawing on the work of educational anti-consumerists such as David F. Noble (2002) as well as design theory (Cross, 2006; Dorst, 2011; Farrell & Hooker, 2013) and adaptive leadership (Heifetz, Grashow, & Linsky, 2009), these authors frame the complex interactions involving teaching and learning along a spectrum bracketed by training on one…

The System-wide Collaborative Action for Livelihoods and Environment, or SCALE process, has become one of the Academy for Educational Development's (AED's) and the United States Agency for International Development's (USAID's) most utilized and replicated models, with applications in education, health, natural resources management, tourism,…

Goldin and Katz's "The Race between Education and Technology" is a monumental achievement that supplies a unified framework for interpreting how the demand and supply of human capital have shaped the distribution of earnings in the U.S. labor market over the 20th century. This essay reviews the theoretical and conceptual underpinnings of this work…

Historically, Chinese educational philosophy has been dominated by Confucianism and, since 1949, by Marxism. However, rapid industrialization, ideological demands, and loyalty to traditions have now led to a situation where various Western philosophies have been adopted into vocational education in hopes of moving the country forward without…

The first installment in the "To Learn and Earn" project, published in March 2009, concluded that Arizona has "unfinished business" in human capital--the knowledge and skills that are so important to stimulating innovation, creating wealth, and promoting economic growth. It identified the next step in finding solutions as…

According to the National Center for Education Statistics (Aud et al., 2013), only 10.6% of students who started at a two-year institution in the 2003-2004 year successfully completed a baccalaureate degree from a four-year institution within six years. Two- and four-year institutions are looking for new strategies to improve transfer student…

As the nation, bogged in recession, focuses on job creation and economic growth for relief, attention has turned to education as the key to building a workforce to fill current and future job needs. However, to the surprise of some, much of the discussion involves community colleges, rather than traditional four-year, degree-granting universities…

Human Capital development through education is a long time investment made by the state to enhance the well being of her citizenry. By investing in education, well educated individuals bring to bear their talents, knowledge, skills and experiences as they function in the various sectors of the economy. Human Capital development is therefore a…

Contemporary test-based reforms are often grounded in the claim that test performance is the key to international economic competitiveness. However, this oft-repeated assertion lacks empirical support. According to the World Economic Forum, the United States' recent loss of economic competitiveness standing is due to macroeconomic instability…

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…

Innovations in science and engineering have driven economic growth in the United States over the last five decades. More recently, technology has risen to become a defining driver of productivity in business and industry. In that context, college graduates in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines provide critical…

Human capital is a broad and multifaceted concept encompassing many different types of investment in people. However, the key aspect of human capital has to do with the knowledge and skills embodied in people. Human capital has always been an extremely important determinant of individual and social progress. In the present scenario, it is the…