Context: For many businesses, one of the key indicators in their management is the adaptation of Information Technology in their operations. In Kenya, there has been a phenomenal growth in access to mobile phones, by June 2023, over 66 million mobile phones were connected to various telecommunication operators of which 58.3% were smart phones…

Occupational prestige, the hierarchical perception of occupations, is a neglected issue in studies on vocational education and training, although the attractiveness of apprenticeship programs is strongly affected by their prestige. Based on a qualitative study, this article examines the identity strategies of apprentices whose training programs…

Economists, policymakers and other experts spend a great deal of time talking about the "future of work," but in many ways, the future is already here. Profound changes are already affecting our workforce and economy, including globalization, automation, and artificial intelligence. We need to adapt to these changes by adequately…

The purpose of this research on working young adults who are without formal education is to explore how they experience work, their career adaptability and if they view their work as decent. Participants were 154 young working adults, aged 18-29, and unqualified. It was found that participants worked mainly in low-skilled jobs, but many aspired to…

In this article we present the experiences of members of the Norwegian working class in the educational system and show that the findings contradict established theories in the sociology of education in a way that calls for a re-examination of the function of societal hierarchies in such studies. Secondly, we report how working-class individuals…

This paper uses evidence from an Australian research project into under-recognized skills in occupations, gathered through industry-level interviews and company case studies, to examine VET curricula. The project, funded by the Australian Research Council, focused on skill in jobs traditionally regarded in Australia as unskilled. As part of the…

A key feature of the Swedish upper secondary school reform of 2011 (GY11) is the new direction it sets out for the organization of vocational education (VET) and the role it plays in youths' transitions from school to work. This study analyses the GY11 reform in terms of its impact on the organization of knowledge in VET and its implications for…

This paper examines trends in school-to-work transitions of young men and women with lower and higher secondary education in West Germany between 1984 and 2005. This period was marked by an increase in young women's educational attainment and a continuous growth of the service sector. We assume that both developments have benefited women more than…

A worker is said to be overeducated if he/she has acquired more education than is required to perform his/her job. In the absence of data measuring the number of years of schooling required to perform particular jobs, we propose a new approach to testing for overeducation. Overeducation is confirmed if we observe that education levels rose in jobs…

Increasing numbers of recent college graduates are ending up in relatively low-skilled jobs that, historically, have gone to those with lower levels of educational attainment. This study examines this phenomenon in some detail, concluding: (1) About 48 percent of employed U.S. college graduates are in jobs that the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)…

In this paper we draw upon our findings from a project in the South West region of England. The research involved a collaboration between a group of university researchers and Connexions service personal advisers and mainly comprised interviews with young people, who were in "jobs without training" (JWT). A key aim of the research was to…

The current policy intention, that all young people remain in some form of accredited education or training to the age of 18 by 2015, poses significant challenges. The jobs without training (JWT) group includes young people who are in full-time work and not in receipt of training leading to National Vocational Qualification level 2 (or above);…

The New Opportunities Initiative (NOI) is a Portuguese flagship programme to recognise and accredit prior learning (RPL, APL) and to endow low-skilled adults with upper secondary qualifications, which is defined as the minimum entry threshold to the exercise of a full citizenship in a knowledge-rich society. NOI's major achievement has been its…

The local neighbourhood has an enduring significance for British urban, working-class youth in relation to their transitions, cultures and leisure practices. This paper examines these interrelated issues by drawing upon ethnographic research undertaken in "Manor", a deprived, multi-ethnic East London neighbourhood. It explores the…

A study of unskilled workers (n=60) investigated interests and work satisfaction in those who tend to leave school early and fall into jobs. Results were inconclusive because a number of complex issues contribute to the satisfaction or dissatisfaction of these workers. (JOW)