The narrative of the "skills gap," or the notion that the United States economy suffers because employers are not able to find job applicants with workplace-ready skills (e.g., American Society for Training and Development 2012), has become an influential rallying cry in higher education funding circles in recent years. It is with these…

The United States needs a vocational educational system that delivers, in an applied technological setting, the new basic skills that industry needs, as well as a general education system that provides creative instruction in applied math, physics, and science. To be effective, technological training should encompass, along with machine-specific…

This monograph proposes and describes a systems-based field of study for the training and development (T&D) profession: human performance technology. The first section describes what is meant by a field of study and professional practice and then provides a rationale for the proposal. Section 2 explores training and development in the context…

Employers have looked to postsecondary schools as a source of trained workers, including graduates of both vocational and general education programs. Fifty-four successful and effective community college programs focus on innovative strategies for meeting current and future work force developments and requirements. The partnership programs begin…

This document contains three issues of "Training Ideas," a bimonthly publication of instructional materials and articles dealing with human resource development. The premiere issue (1984) includes the following articles: "Information Retrieval: Finding That Lost Article" by Patrick Suessmuth; "Increasing Learning in Printed Materials through the…

This book is designed as a resource for educators who teach business content in a variety of instructional settings. It contains case studies representing all functional areas of business, including corporate training, for grades 7 through graduate education. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the case study method. The history of the case method,…

Papers on the theme of quality in human resource development include the following: "Missing Link to Quality: An Examination of the Use of Steven Covey's '7 Habits of Highly Effective People' in State Agencies" (Adair et al.); "Executive Women in Business in the United States" (Bierema); "Extent and Nature of Employee…

This document contains three papers on professional development. "An Inquiry into the Continuing Professional Education of Information Technology Workers" (David D. Branigan) reports on a study in which the model of the critically reflective teacher was used to examine the practice of continuing education for the information technology…

This document contains three papers on key skills and competencies and human resource development (HRD). "Career Related Competencies" (Marinka A.C.T. Kuijpers) reports findings from surveys completed by Dutch employees who identified these issues: self-reflection is more important than career control; age and gender influence attitude…

Recent changes in the nature of work in Australia's process manufacturing industry and their impact on operative-level workers and vocational education and training (VET) were examined. Structured interviews were conducted with training or human resource managers in 16 firms representing a cross-section of small, medium, and large enterprises…

Changing occupational profiles in the hotel industry in France, Italy, and Spain were examined in case studies that included interviews with hotel managers, human resource managers, and individuals employed in hotel occupations identified as new or entailing new skills. The study focused on the following topics: (1) changes in the hotel industry…