Delivering training in regional, rural and remote (RRR) Australia is not easy. Australia is a large, diverse country, and ensuring that training is suited to individual locations, which are unique in their landscapes, economies, industries and cultures, is challenging. There is an ongoing policy interest in making sure that the vocational…

The United States economy currently suffers a significant skills gap in its workforce, one that approaches crisis proportions. This skills gap (Christo-Baker et al., 2017; King et al., 2017; Laboissiere & Mourshed, 2017) will have profound effects on future U.S. economic growth and, by extension, on global economic growth. Researchers have…

In May and June 2017, the National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth (NCWD/Youth) conducted a national survey on Frontline Professional Development Needs among Youth Service Providers. NCWD/Youth received 74 survey responses from youth service professionals in 20 states. Sixty-one percent of survey respondents identified as the…

Performance based assessment is currently receiving renewed attention as an alternative to conventional testing. We argue that performance based assessment, supported by a microcredentialing system, is particularly well suited to corporate environments that stress strategic development of their workforce capacities. There are important…

Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) related fields comprise the top 30 occupations expected to grow the fastest by 2026. This increase in job opportunities, coupled with the evolution of technology, is creating higher demands for diversity in the labor market. Currently all students require innovative training and support from a…

The Higher Education Act (HEA) can promote connections to work by supporting linkages to career pathways that help youth and adults with barriers to employment obtain postsecondary credentials that lead to family-sustaining jobs with the potential for career advancement. HEA also has the potential to support partnerships between higher education,…

The Affordable Care Act aims to increase affordable coverage, reduce overall costs, and improve health outcomes. To achieve these aims, new knowledge and skills must be built within the existing workforce. The purpose of this article is to examine the behavioral and organizational changes brought about by an educational program that aimed to…

This occasional paper provides an overview of the development of Australia's national training system and is a key knowledge document of a wider research project "Consistency with flexibility in the Australian national training system." This research project investigates the various approaches undertaken by each of the jurisdictions to…

This paper examines employment-related training programmes offered by state funded agencies and multinational corporations in Toronto (Canada) and Kolkata (India). In recent years both cities have witnessed a rise in the service sector industries aligned with global regimes of flexible work and the consequent reinvention of a worker subject that…

Advanced manufacturing is growing and thriving in the United States. Companies are in great need of reliable employees who can communicate well, effectively make decisions, and are interested in long-term careers with opportunity for advancement. Employers have identified a need for a more robust talent pipeline to narrow America's skills gap--a…

This article examines Extension professionals building community capacity in 10 counties across five Appalachian states in response to the talent crisis in the United States information technology (IT) workforce. The goal has been to transfer IT knowledge and create a supportive environment to foster interest in IT careers among underserved girls…

Keyboarding skill is an important target for adult education programs due to the ubiquity of computers in modern work environments. A previous study showed that novice typists learned key locations quickly but that fluency took a relatively long time to develop. In the present study, novice typists achieved fluent performance in nearly half the…

Companies received more than 5 billion British Pounds last year from the Exchequer in tax relief for work-related training. That is equivalent to the turnover of more than 250 further education colleges. And it vastly overshadows the 50 million British Pounds Growth and Innovation Fund set up to support employers' initiatives to improve skills and…

"The Measures of Success" (MoS) project set out to develop, implement, and present the results of an evaluation model that could assess longer-term outcomes of workplace education programs for increasing literacy and Essential Skills. The model was tested at 18 work sites in Manitoba and Nova Scotia and included training programs that…

The Vision for Space Exploration (VSE) announced by President George W. Bush in 2004 sets NASA and the nation on a bold path to return to the Moon and one day put a human on Mars. The long-term endeavor represented by the VSE is, however, subject to the constraints imposed by annual funding. Given that the VSE may take tens of years to implement,…