This research identifies the soft (employability) skills that key stakeholders view as essential for young people with intellectual disability (ID) to gain and maintain open employment. The study subsequently examined the work experience opportunities for young people with ID to develop these soft skills during their school years. Qualitative data…

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to investigate sustainable strategies for skills development that is specific to the youth of South Africa. International and South African data are statistically analysed and quantified to provide inputs for the systems dynamics (SD)-based predictive skills model. The skills model simulates the impact of…

In the current context of COVID-19 and the limited availability of physical workplace settings for work-integrated learning (WIL), this study explores the intervention of a WIL pedagogical strategy in order to support career development learning during the pandemic. The innovative Entrepreneurial Mindset (EM) reflective model introduced at a…

Students with significant disabilities typically experience poor postschool employment outcomes. However, when provided opportunities to work and engage within their communities, they can gain necessary work-specific and workplace social skills to improve outcomes. This article outlines a six-step model for community-based employment programs…

This three-article dissertation analyzes the question of how to best prepare students transitioning from secondary education to post-secondary life. The first article examines the theories of self-determination, the self-advocacy skills needed for its success, and how the two relate to students with learning disabilities. The second article…

Project work and work placements can help prepare tertiary food science students for the workplace. Programs in the curriculum should support the development of transferable skills such as communication, problem-solving, and planning. This paper describes a case study of a new capstone project for Masters of Food Science students based on a work…

The delivery of research-informed education is a fundamental principle held by universities and is a principle that work-integrated education (WIL) should not be exempt from. In the 1980s and 1990s, critical reviews of the WIL literature suggested WIL research required significant development. Since these reviews were conducted a significant,…

A college degree is not what it used to be in respect to securing future employment. Constantly changing technologies in a struggling economy make it necessary for organizations to carefully balance recruitment staffing, particularly with regards to new hires. Organizations want to know that each new hire can add value immediately. In order to add…

In research across professions, the development of professional skill traditionally was seen as a process of accumulation of knowledge and skills, promoted by practical experience. More recently, this view has been modified to incorporate skillful know-how that is progressively acquired by passing through developmental stages, such as novice,…

The study reports on a data-based work experience model for secondary students with autism. The objectives were to increase competency and independence, provide a variety of experiences to assess skills and preferences, and modify interfering behaviors. Five autistic students, aged 16-20, were sent to community work sites providing a variety of…

According to the school-to-work (STW) program philosophy, STW efforts should be comprehensive and begin as early as preschool. At the elementary school level, the developmental process of career education begins with career awareness designed to broaden student knowledge about careers and connect academic learning to the workplace. Developing…

Extended Campus is a partnership between education and the private sector that allows high school students an opportunity to acquire core employment skills applicable to a cluster of occupations. The program is also intended to stimulate and sustain a symbiotic partnership between education and the private sector. During their participation in…

An evaluation of the Experience Based Career Education (EBCE) Program of the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCEBCE) for summer, 1977, was conducted to provide preliminary information for the three-year program effort to use in program planning and decision making for the 1977-78 school year. DCEBCE was evaluated using the Context, Input,…

The Continental Project is a school-to-work transition program for students with disabilities. The 6-year old program, which is located at a country club and golf course, serves more than 20 students per year and has successfully transitioned 45 young adults with moderate to severe handicaps into the workforce. The program is a cooperative effort…

The empirical basis for expectations that employer involvement in high school programs contributes to early employment success in today's economy was explored by using data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study (NELS) survey for 1992, when students were sampled in their senior year, and data for 1994, when follow-up interviews with the…