Some say that there are too many people going to university, and others have spent many years lamenting that they cannot find the graduates they need. What is the actual state of the graduate labour market? How many graduates actually are there? How is a graduate job defined, and how many people are there in them? And what does the future hold for…

While debate continues about how to define and measure employability, most accounts revolve around a deceptively simple idea--whether or not a person obtains a job depends on their acquiring certain skills and attributes in college that are desired by employers in the labor market. The narrative advanced by this perspective raises two critical…

As students continue to review the sustainability of higher education institutions, there is a growing need to understand the economic returns of degrees as a function of a sustainable institution. This paper reviews a range of international research to summarize the economic drivers of higher education attainment. Although the cost inputs to…

Previous research indicates that beginning teachers are not fully prepared for what awaits them in the workforce. This study highlights the value of partnerships among higher education providers, schools and employers and links the experiences of beginning teachers to initial teacher education (ITE). Real-life experiences from the field provide…

The level of educational attainment in the United States is a central focus of public policy. The Obama administration, some states, large national foundations, and other organizations have set near-term goals to increase the number of Americans with college degrees. Achieving these goals is likely to involve a combination of increasing…

Career and technical education (CTE) carries a long-held image misconception--an outdated observation harbored by students, parents and the general public that CTE lacks academic rigor and only leads students to low-skill jobs. Despite these misconceptions, CTE is often a perfect option for many students to discover their passions, and to develop…

The present paper raises questions about the use of the concept of reputation in sociological studies of the relationship between higher education and the labour market. Sociologists of education have yet to subject the concept of reputation to sustained critique and evaluation. This situation is unsatisfactory because a number of critical…

Universities transform lives. Going to university leads to new ways of seeing the world, to new horizons and networks, and to significantly enhanced job opportunities, but not everyone benefits in the same way. Fewer students from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds go to university, and when they do they tend not to do as well as…

The paper argues that: (1) the demise of "occupational" and "internal" and the spread of "external" labour markets in growth areas of UK economy such as the creative and cultural sector, coupled with the massification of higher education which has created a new type of post-degree "vocational need", means…

Using data provided by the Council of International Schools and a literature review to contextualize the subject, this article examines the topic of international school finance. It is suggested that postgraduate programmes are not doing enough to supply financial training for teachers turned administrators, and that a lack of understanding of…

Educators and business people must recognize that there is no shortage of skilled labor but a shortage of jobs requiring skilled labor. Corporate America appears to be hiding decades of mismanagement behind presumed faults of the education system. The salaries of skilled laborers have actually declined 3 percent since 1987, and about 20 percent of…

Summarizes the main claims of Herrnstein and Murray's "The Bell Curve," discusses the scientific arguments regarding these claims, and presents educational implications of the current state of scientific knowledge. If we fail to recognize the diverse abilities of students lacking high intelligence quotients, we will waste our nation's…

Michael Kirst's article "Strengths and Weaknesses of American Education" in the April 1993 "Kappan" applauds U.S. efforts to become globally competitive. However, assembling cars in Mexico or exporting jobs to Korea blurs the distinction between national/corporate "teams." The issue is not talent but cheap talent.…

At regular intervals during the past 20 years, George Psacharapoulos has presented aggregate rates of return (RORs) to investments in education for each major geographical region. He claims high aggregate social RORs for primary education throughout the world. Reexamination of the data shows that none of Psacharapoulos's ROR patterns exist in…

Getting schools to leap onto the Information Highway is the latest in a series of corporate forays marked by ignorance, self-interest, and marketing madness. Educational implementation of computer-based technology is highly experimental, despite the billions spent annually. The competitive jockeying for position to build and fill the…