Based on interviews with sixty- one working- class men in rural Pennsylvania, this article explores the ways in which rural, working- class men do--and do not--seek to improve their labor- market positions by getting additional education or training, moving, or taking gender- atypical jobs. The evidence presented shows that men are making many…

The American dream promised that if you worked hard, you could move up, with well-paying working-class jobs providing a gateway to an ever-growing middle class. Today, however, we have increasing inequality, not economic convergence. Technological advances are putting quality jobs out of reach for workers who lack the proper skills and training.…

Since the 1980s, capital mobility and state restructuring have increased precarity in older industrial regions, such as eastern Connecticut (CT). These changes reconfigured labor markets, changing the work available, including the types, conditions, and skills required. Greater responsibility devolved onto poor and working-class people to navigate…

This paper draws on research into the experiences of young people classified as NEET (not in education, employment or training) on an employability programme in the north of England, and uses Basil Bernstein's work on pedagogic discourses to explore how the creative arts can be used to re-engage them in work-related learning. Whilst creating…

The transmission of knowledge and skills within the working-class household greatly troubled social commentators and social policy experts during the first half of the nineteenth century. To prove theories which related criminality to failures in working-class up-bringing, experts and officials embarked upon an ambitious collection of data on…

This paper extends the work of Gamble, who followed Marx in seeing a reconstitution of the reserve army of labour as a key function of capitalist crisis, but it suggests a wider class reformation that includes what can be called the middle-working/working-middle class. Education and training to all levels are deeply implicated in this class…

Examines the influences of class, race, and gender on working-class males' participation in education. Considers the effect of the female-dominated profession of literacy teaching and the challenges of recruitment and retention. (SK)

A framework within which to discuss recurrent education is outlined. Its roles and functions are considered, and the conceptual differences between recurrent and continuing education are highlighted. Political, social, and economic dimensions are surveyed. (Availability: Falmer Press, Falmer House, Barcombe, Nr Lewes, East Sussex BN8 5DL, UK.) (SK)

In this article, the author discusses the issues concerning the academic-vocational education divide. The author observes how there remains an inequality in the courses that students take. Vocational courses still tend to be the domain of working-class students and students of color, and some of the courses exhibit the same limiting…

As society becomes more accepting of unfamiliar cultures, Marxism must be reexamined for its relationship to current management styles and its potential worth in training and the work environment. The educational method of Marxism emphasizes discussion over lecture. Marxism proposes that general education is the key to having a classless society.…

What is the task of educators at a time when mainstream American culture is increasingly characterized by a declining interest in and misgiving about national politics? How one answers this question will have a grave impact not only on higher education but on the future of democratic public life. There are no simple solutions says author Henry…

This paper explores social class, gender, Great Britain's Youth Training Scheme, and social reproduction in the context of entry into "caring" careers. Data are drawn from one of a group of ethnographic studies. The focus is on participant observation with a group of 16- to 18-year-old girls training for jobs in the field of…

The benefits of sectoral workforce development programs to the working poor were examined in a 3-year longitudinal study of participants in six sectoral employment training programs across the United States. The programs, which were all designed to serve low-income clients, provided training in a diverse set of industries, including the following:…

This book examines the political and economic consequences of the United States' growing reliance on the market and the effects that this growing reliance is having on U.S. workers and their families. The following are among the topics discussed in the book's 10 chapters: (1) consequences of the turn to the market (disinvestment, imbalance between…