The Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V) places a strong emphasis on the alignment of Career Technical Education (CTE) programs of study with state, regional and local economies. Specifically, the legislation requires Perkins-funded programs to prepare students for "high-skill, high-wage, or…

This paper provides an account of the main approaches, debates and evidence in the literature on the role of workforce skills in the innovation process in developed economies. It draws on multiple sources including the innovation studies discipline, neoclassical Human Capital theory, institutionalist labour market studies and the work organisation…

Employability skills are central to gaining and keeping employment (e.g. whether paid or unpaid, as an employee or self employed) as well as career progression. The lack of such skills is regularly referred to as one reason for the United Kingdom's often cited long tail of underachievement. Employability skills are at the forefront of government…

Purpose: Though the notion of competence is common terminology in European VET policy at national and supra-national level, understandings vary widely, both across countries and within. The particular conceptions of competence adopted in the EQF are themselves problematic and the framework allows for a variety of interpretations. The purpose of…

Despite wide publicity and common usage, the concept of skills shortage has different meaning to different people depending on their perspective. Understanding the different concepts of skills shortages, their measurement and the causes of skill shortages is important if sound policies are to be developed in the areas of employment, education,…

A meeting of the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe was convened to examine the organization and scope of research in education for health manpower development (HMD). As a prerequisite for the formulation of recommendations, the participants considered the following points: the need for developmental research, the definition of…

France's employment policy has historically been governed by a strategy of interventions aimed at specific categories of individuals, including victims of industrial restructuring, entry workers, the long-term unemployed, and the disabled. Since the 1980s, France has had the following main lines of employment policy: (1) assistance to victims of…

This monograph is comprised of 12 essays related to the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA), each of which serves as a generic primer on a topic relevant to work force development staff and researchers nationwide. The essays are "Learning the Language of LMI (Labor Market Information): Basic Labor Market Information Terms and…

Skill supply chains apply a chain strategy to human resources to make the labor market more efficient. They link the multiple skill levels in a given labor market within a network of recruitment pathways for employers and advancement pathways for workers. Skill supply chains are based on employers' actual skill needs and on the principle that…

This report presents innovative vocational training (VT) initiatives to improve integration of low-skilled workers into lifelong learning and the labor market. Chapter 1 describes study structure and methodology. Chapter 2 addresses the theoretical basis for observing innovations. It analyzes the definition and significance of innovation in system…

Well-organized career information, guidance, and counseling services are important both to education systems, the labor market, and their interface. Career education is important within compulsory education because it lays the foundations for lifelong career development. In postcompulsory education, well-organized career information, guidance, and…

This document contains three papers from a symposium on self-directed learning and self-management. "Validating a More-Dimensional Conception of Self-Directed Learning" (Gerald A. Straka, Cornelia Schaefer) discusses the development and validation of a conception of self-directed learning as a dynamic interplay between behavior,…

This document argues that the new reality of work, which reintegrates learning and learning potential in a qualitative change of the work process itself, has made it necessary to theorize the subjective side of work and study and understand learning within a comprehensive context of the subjective experience. The following are among the specific…

Korea's labor market was analyzed to inform efforts to develop a scheme to improve the utilization of vocational qualifications. The study examined the different meanings of qualifications in South Korea's labor market and how utilization of qualifications is influenced by factors such as types of human resource management, vocational training…

The Center for Workforce Preparation (CWP), a nonprofit affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, initiated the Workforce Academies demonstration project to help businesses remain successful in a competitive, tight economy. More than 1,800 business members of the 6 chambers engaged with the Workforce Academies demonstration in 2001 were surveyed…