Prior research has shown that students from lower socio-economic backgrounds are less likely to graduate. We examine if this can be explained by background-specific pathways into higher education. Many students in Germany enter higher education with a vocational qualification and prior vocational qualifications occur more often among students from…

This paper deals with the migration motives of German and Polish final semester students and university graduates in the partner cities of Bielefeld (GER) and Rzeszów (PL), who are on the threshold of their professional careers. The survey presented here was motivated by the question: are the current migration motives of highly-skilled graduates…

Improvements in workforce skills are essential for European countries to attain higher economic growth and to compete effectively on product markets. Literature indicates a positive relationship between levels of education and productivity growth. This report builds on and expands this body of research in two ways: (1) It investigates the…

In times of increasing skills shortage, regions and particularly non-core regions, need to attract highly-skilled workers. It is better for these regions to (re)attract highly-skilled workers that gained knowledge and contacts elsewhere and because they once lived in the region for study have already ties to the university region than trying to…

Initiatives to standardise the conditions for practising certain regulated activities are being taken at European level, particularly in light of the free movement of people and the recognition of qualifications in Member states. This paper looks at the introduction of european licences for aircraft maintenance engineers. It follows an in-depth…

Reports on the training and recruitment of shipbuilding workers in Norway, Sweden, and Germany. (DS)

Research messages 2006 is a collection of key messages from research projects published or completed by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) in 2006. It covers work undertaken by both NCVER and external researchers through the following programs: (1) National Vocational Education and Training Research Evaluation Program;…

This publication consists of 14 selected papers prepared for an international workshop on the problems and relationship between producing vocational competencies for skilled-worker level occupations and controlling and certifying these competencies. Part I outlines the production life and labor market contexts of vocational training and…

Based on information provided by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the respective countries, this study presents a synoptic review of the educational systems in the United States and nine European countries. Some of the trends common to the 10 countries are the emphasis toward integration of vocational…

Emulating the German approach to vocational education through youth apprenticeships, as has been suggested by the Clinton administration, may not work any better than the system we have and may be more expensive. Issues in restructuring education to improve the transition from school to work are discussed. (SLD)

In the 1960s, German industry experienced a greater need for labor. Recruitment agreements for "guestworkers" were concluded with a number of Mediterranean countries, with the opinion at the time being that temporary immigration would be in the interests of all involved: German firms would get cheap labor, the "guestworkers"…

The success of German firms' searches for qualified personnel to fill openings in skilled occupations was examined through a statistical analysis of data from the Institut fur Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung der Bundesanstalt fur Arbeit's (IAB) establishment panel for 2000. An employer search model was used to explain the current German debate…

Surveys by the Institut fur Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB) of German firms' job openings have been combined with job registry data from the Bundesanstalt fur Arbeit on an annual basis since 1989 in order to determine the scope and structure of the aggregate national supply of job openings. The surveys also indicated problems encountered…

This book contains 12 papers that were produced as a result of a seminar program on selected issues central to the debate over job training in Great Britain. The first paper, "Why We Need a Training Reform Act" (Richard Layard, Ken Mayhew, Geoffrey Owen), examines existing deficiencies in vocational education and training in Britain and…