When inspectors visit construction sites to assess the quality of work, they do so against the building code, which typically is written out in detail and used to guide work and teach apprentices. When attending physicians supervise interns as they take patients' histories or check their blood pressure, they compare the interns' work with…

As the U.S. economy slowly rebounds, the nation's community colleges are focused on putting Americans back to work. Across the country, training programs in emerging career fields, including nuclear, wind, and clean coal production, vie for the attention of job seekers in search of a more secure financial future. But these shiny new careers aren't…

All good stories should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. The related pair of articles that earned the author a place in this Special Section, "Masculine Instrumentality and Feminine Expressiveness: Their Relationships with Sex Role Attitudes and Behaviors" (Spence & Helmreich, 1980) and "Instrumental and Expressive…

Chinese college graduates have faced increasing labor market competition since the expansion of tertiary education. Given rigid market demand, graduates with realistic earnings expectations may experience a more efficient job search. Using the 2008 MYCOS College Graduate Employment Survey, this study finds that a 1000 yuan reduction in a…

This paper examines the wage returns to qualifications and academic disciplines in the Greek labour market. Exploring wage responsiveness across various degree subjects in Greece is interesting, as it is characterised by high levels of graduate unemployment, which vary considerably with the field of study, and relatively low levels of wage…

This article reports the findings of data drawn from doctoral research on the extent to which recent changes in vocational training have addressed a perceived skills gap between the needs of private sector employers and potential workers in Saudi Arabia. While the Saudi government has made efforts to enhance the quality of vocational education,…

Human capital theory holds that a higher education will be pursued to the extent that its pecuniary rewards outstrip its costs. This notion is founded on the neoclassical economic assumption that expected earnings conditional on educational investment are accurately anticipated by those considering such investments. However, the evidence in…

This article examines the overall strength, the qualitative pattern, and the evolution over time of gender segregation in higher education across eight European countries. Although previous studies have focused primarily on the divide between humanistic and scientific fields, this work indicates that this divide accounts for no more than half of…

This research brief presents the results of the authors' investigation into the changing expectations of employers on the competencies that they expect new college graduates to possess upon entry into their companies. The authors did not limit their focus to engineering and technical majors but cast their net to include all academic majors and…

Operating a financial investment company in an unstable economy is not easy. But the right training at Vanguard ensures satisfied customers. The company made an investment of its own in learning and development that paid off big in 2009. The learning offerings, both innovative and efficient, keep its workers updated on strategies that bring…

During the past 20 years, career and technical education (CTE) has gone through significant changes. CTE has evolved in response to the changes technology has had on the job market. Preparing students for high-tech, high-skill job opportunities is the new focus. The facilities that house these programs, however, have not kept pace with these…

Knowledge at work and knowledge in the university are recognised as being broadly, differently structured, differently acquired and used for different purposes. The idea of difference creates boundaries which delineate the two knowledge domains, in general, as distinct communities of practice. The question raised here is how the boundary can…

As children become teenagers and move into early adulthood, there are many transitions they face. For young people with disabilities, this is no different except that there are invariably additional complex challenges that must be overcome. Evidence-based research is the foundation for best transition practices, but too many studies seem abstract,…

This study, based on a survey of graduate students seeking employment, examines the categories and levels of preparedness of new professors/instructors as they enter academe. Preparedness was examined in several ways--specifically knowledge about higher education requirements and their preparation for teaching, advising, and service in the field…

For-profit, or proprietary, colleges are the fastest growing postsecondary schools in the nation, enrolling a disproportionately high share of disadvantaged and minority students and those ill-prepared for college. Because these schools--many of them big national chains--derive most of their revenue from taxpayer-funded student financial aid, they…