The United States has never had a consistent, unified work force development system. Instead, because of citizens' preference for decentralized government, most efforts at work force development have been sporadic and localized. From the 1960s until the early 1990s, Congress enacted between 125 and 175 narrowly-focused categorical employment…

During the last years of this century, the work force will grow more slowly, becoming older, more female, and more disadvantaged. An increasing number of minority groups and immigrants will enter the work force. Despite public demands for reform, education lags behind in preparing youth for employment. The changing work force has many implications…

A study examined the barriers that Missouri women encounter when trying to gain access to better-paying jobs; trends in women's employment status in the state; and the services that women receive from the state's existing employment, training, and supportive services. A total of 2,104 women were contacted through a random statewide household…

The guide is organized to serve as a ready-reference tool for teachers with deaf students in their classes. Topics covered are arranged alphabetically and present effective classroom techniques, basic information about deafness, and typical behavior and problems of deaf students. These include: answering deaf students' questions in class;…

This handbook is a summary of research that was a follow-up to a comprehensive study of women and employment conducted in 1987. In that study, a statewide sample of working women in Missouri was asked about problems ("barriers") they had experienced in relation to work. The data were analyzed in terms of women reporting the most severe…

This report describes and summarizes the discussion at a national leadership meeting conducted by the National Alliance of Business. The meeting focused on the complex and challenging economic, social, and educational issues facing today's youth. Participants included business executives, foundation presidents, mayors, state legislators, county…

Inner City, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Polaroid Corporation, located in the Roxbury section of Boston. Without the use of public funding, Polaroid created this job training program 17 years ago to provide Boston's unemployed residents with entry into meaningful employment. Training occurs within the framework of an actual…

Research confirms anecdotal impressions of the following causes of high turnover among both home health and nursing home aides: low wages; inadequate benefits; excessive workloads; poor training, supervision, and working conditions; and job-related stress. Public policy initiatives can dramatically alleviate or exacerbate the crisis among…

Education is the main resource for obtaining employment for young people entering the labor market. European countries differ widely in the institutional structure of their education and training systems and labor markets in that different resources are provided to school-leavers entering into working life in different countries and these new…

This report was written for the Technology Policy Task Force of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives. The report examines the nature and history of technological change, its impact on large and small firms and their workers, and its policy implications. The paper stresses that individuals, schools, firms,…

Ethnographic methods have been proposed as one alternative to research based heavily on statistics and experimental design. Ethnography essentially means "a way of systematically learning reality from the point of view of the participant." Four features distinguish ethnographic research from other research methods: (1) the research is considered…

This book reports the results of the third national survey commissioned by the National Career Development Association and the National Occupational Information Coordinating Committee conducted by The Gallup Organization on the career preparation of adults age 18 and older. Interviews were conducted with 471 males and 575 females of whom 348 males…

The problems facing young people in Australia's current labor market and the effectiveness of Australia's educational system in preparing young people for the labor market were examined. Particular attention was paid to the following issues: the reshaping of work in the modern labor market; skill development in the modern labor market; the impact…

Wisconsin's welfare reform program, which is called Wisconsin Works or W-2, emphasizes work over education. Wisconsin's welfare reform policy caused the numbers of Wisconsin welfare recipients attending college to shrink by thousands in the mid-1990s. In contrast, increasing numbers of states are coming to realize how much flexibility they really…

This report describes the efforts conducted by the Administration on Aging in response to the congressional mandate to develop and implement a national policy for the field of aging in accordance with the requirements set forth in the Older Americans Act Amendments of 1978 (PL 95-478). The current status of education, training, and employment of…