We surveyed 506 Australian high school students on career development (exploration, planning, job-knowledge, decision-making, indecision), personal functioning (well-being, self-esteem, life satisfaction, school satisfaction) and control variables (parent education, school achievement), and tested differences among work-bound, college-bound and…

The research underlying this article seeks to improve our understanding of the processes of entry into working life of higher education graduates. In theoretical and conceptual terms, contributions from a variety of disciplines (particularly economics and sociology) and different theoretical currents and frameworks have been used to interlink…

A study examined the job performance of high school graduates in entry-level jobs versus the job performance of nongraduates in entry-level jobs. An 11-item survey was randomly distributed to 100 businesses located in the area served by the Greenville County School District, South Carolina. Employers completed a survey for each employee who met…

For decades it has been a commonly held belief that high school students planning to go to college need to take more rigorous coursework than those going directly into the workforce. Today, however, many employers are convinced that in an expanding global economy, entry-level workers need much the same knowledge and skills as college-going…

It was found that in California, where schools graduate primarily doctoral graduates as entry level practitioners, California graduates are more likely to work in community and hospital pharmacies, work in staff rather than clinical positions, and spend most work time in distributive functions, suggesting the PharmD programs overtrain these…

A study determined employer perceptions of single parents/displaced homemakers' skills after receiving training through special training centers across Kentucky. Centers were funded through the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act. Employer perceptions of single parents/displaced homemakers in comparison to other employees was also…

The early work experiences of graduates of Michigan State University's engineering program who did and did not participate in the university's cooperative education program were compared. A two-part survey that covered work experiences during college, skill development in undergraduate programs, career evaluation and outlook, demographic…

This report investigates the relationship between graduate satisfaction and graduate characteristics, courses, course outcomes, and provider. It uses results from the 1997 technical and further education (TAFE) Graduate Destination Survey (GDS) of 60,746 students who completed a course at a TAFE institute in 1996 and staff interviews. A glossary…

A study examined experiences of early leavers in the United States (US) and Australia in the first two years beyond high school. Data were from these comparable longitudinal surveys: US data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988; Australian data from the 1975 cohort of the Youth in Transition surveys. Findings indicated similar…

This book examines the transition from higher education to the labor market in 10 countries. Although the individual papers do not follow a rigid standard format, they all consider the following issues: (1) how the labor market for graduates is organized; (2) how vocational orientation is achieved in degree courses in individual countries; and (3)…

This document contains three papers from an international conference on "ways and means for more employment." The first paper, "Employment Policy Comparisons and Policy Advice" (Ulrich Walwei), covers the German labor market in the second half of the 1990s and requirements for longer-term employment success through coping with…

This paper explores educational stratification of unemployment in early labor market career; its institutional embeddedness in specific education and employment systems; and youth unemployment in France (F), the United Kingdom (UK), and West Germany (G), which greatly differ relative to major institutional characteristics of education systems and…

This project aimed to develop a more comprehensive conceptual framework of school-to-work transitions in different national contexts and apply this framework to the empirical analysis of transition processes across European countries. It drew on these two data sources: European Community Labor Force Survey and integrated databases on national…

Of the 400,000 graduates in the United Kingdom in 1998, more than 200,000 had first degrees and the others had undergraduate or postgraduate qualifications. More than one in three graduates had already undertaken paid work while still in school (primarily in the service sector). The demand for graduates among the traditional recruiters and reports…

This book contains 10 papers about developing a systematic approach to the school-to-work transition in Europe and the United States; the role of training and formal qualifications; and unemployment and social inequality. The following papers are included: "Understanding the School-to-Work Transition--An Introduction" (Thomas Lange);…