Examines the condition of human resources in the rural South, particularly educational attainment, outmigration, illiteracy, and quality of rural schools. Discusses strategies for the development of human resources in the 1990s involving local, state, and federal governments and the role of rural sociologists. Contains 40 references. (Author/SV)

Current Population Survey data indicate that in 1991, only 40% of rural workers had received training on current jobs. Less educated, minority, and Southern rural workers were particularly unlikely to receive training. The nonmetropolitan training rate rose modestly, 1983-91, but less rapidly than the metropolitan rate, suggesting that fewer rural…

Expanding work opportunities, changing family structure, double digit inflation, and relaxed attitudes toward the appropriateness of women's work outside the home have contributed to increased labor force participation of women in recent years. Recent studies indicate that despite traditional attitudes ascribed to rural areas, trends in increasing…

Past rural policies are reviewed, noting the effects of globalization and information technology. Rural business profits can be maximized by direct cost or value-added competition, but cost competition limits the development of productive capacity and leads to unequal income distribution. In contrast, value-added competition could create steep…

This report assesses conditions in the South since the original 1986 report "Shadows in the Sunbelt." Findings indicate that economic change is moving even more rapidly than in 1986. However, although several metropolitan areas have burgeoned and some rural communities have made a successful economic transition, many Southern places…

The five articles in this report explore issues of rural and urban development, formal and nonformal education, and local and national needs in Africa. "Partnership for Productivity" (PFP) and "Brigades in Botswana: Their National Impact" focus on the development of managerial and nonagricultural vocational skills in rural…