Workplace learning is identified by UK and Scottish governments as an important means of achieving social mobility, and therefore producing a more equal society. However, there appears to be a patchwork of provision and funding arrangements, making it difficult for employers and employees to identify suitable routes. Analysis of large scale survey…

Based on data from eleven thousand faculty members, this study shows that general education courses place greater emphasis on developing intellectual skills, personal and social responsibility, deep approaches to learning, and diverse interactions. In contrast, other courses emphasize practical skills and are linked with greater levels of…

This article examines community-college students' goals within the dominant framing of higher education, in which education serves primarily as preparation for the new economy. Specifically, it explores students' motives for acquiring college credentials and how they apply the principles of utility and efficiency to their pursuit of those…

The Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE) in the U.S. Department of Education (ED) sponsors four graduate fellowship programs: the Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad (DDRA) fellowship program, the Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowship program, the Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) fellowship …

Americans are deeply concerned about their present and future prospects in a time of economic uncertainty. Policymakers have a make-or-break opening--and an obligation--to chart a new path for public education that will secure the nation's economic competitiveness. This guide summarizes the challenges and opportunities that, if left unaddressed,…

This study examines non-completion of Year 12 at school for a nationally representative sample of young people who were 15 years old and still attending school in 2003. The study explores relationships between non-completion and selected socio-demographic and school-related factors, and changes in rates of school non-completion from the early…

This newsletter includes vignettes about schools that are effectively integrating academic and career/technical (CT) studies to help more students find meaning in their learning and to motivate students to make great effort to achieve. This is part of a series of newsletters describing best practices for implementing the "High Schools That Work"…

In this White Paper, the Business Roundtable recommends access to AMERICA 21, a 21st-century approach to lifelong learning for workers, as well as assistance for job dislocation. AMERICA 21 would channel funding from the myriad of existing initiatives into a modernized, streamlined system that leverages and builds on today's best private and…

Every day, 6,000 American high school students drop out of school--bored, frustrated, or so far behind that they've given up. That is the visible crisis in American education, one that has drawn extensive attention from governors, legislators, educators, pundits, and the press. Affecting even greater numbers of students, however, is the invisible…

Oregon educators, policymakers, and business people are working together to increase the number and quality of Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs in secondary and postsecondary institutions. CTE is an integral component of Oregon's education and workforce development system and prepares students for careers in areas ranging from the…

At a time when "personal development planning" is being rolled out across the UK higher education sector, this paper explores young adults' inclinations to plan for the future in relation to work, relationships and other aspects of life. Although Giddens has emphasised the prevalence of strategic life planning (or the "colonisation…

Problem based learning is a successful teaching and learning strategy used to engage students in deep rather than surface learning and where the learning is student focused rather than teacher focused (Biggs, 1999; 2003). The strategy is also successful in aligning university courses with the real-life professional work which students are expected…

The concept of job-hunting is an important factor affecting university students' employment. This empirical study shows that while hunting for a job, graduates witness negative correlation between their expectation of the nature of work and the demand for occupational types and the accessibility to a post and monthly income; positive correlation…

There is now unprecedented emphasis on teacher quality in the USA and in many nations around the world with extremely high expectations for teacher performance. Based on the assumption that education and the economy are inextricably linked, it is now assumed that teachers can--and should--teach all students to world-class standards, serve as the…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to overview the Backpack-to-Briefcase project which established a set of prototype career development learning strategies for Australian university career services, with the aim of contributing to their services for supporting students and graduates to make a smoother transition into graduate employment and…