As economic, technological, and social changes transform rural areas, female youth face particular challenges in making educational/career decisions. Relationships within the community enhance and constrain future paths. Building on an earlier research study (Shepard, 2004), the co-construction of a community-based workshop with research…

In 2001-02, a project team at Griffith University undertook Stage 4 of the Griffith Graduate Project. Stage 4 used a survey and focus group discussions to gather graduates' and employers' perceptions of the role of the university, work placements and postgraduation employment in the development of generic skills and abilities. This article will…

This chapter deals with a fundamental change in young people's transitions to work. Flexible labor markets have led to a diversification of transition patterns, but policy measures are unresponsive to the needs and aspirations of young people. New risks and challenges emerge that are addressed differently in the different European societies.…

Evaluations of the effectiveness of government programs may serve both to improve program implementation and to convey to policymakers information on the effectiveness of these programs. However, the evidence generated from programs and their providers--perhaps especially when these programs are decentralized and implemented and run locally--may…

This descriptive study determined the perceived knowledge level, utilization, and implementation of national and state school-to-work initiatives by preservice teacher educators in Ohio. Investigation focused on 359 preservice teacher educators from 13 state-supported universities. Ohio's teacher educators were most knowledgeable of and tended to…

This study compares the school-to-work transitions of recent male and female postsecondary graduates of various levels of schooling. Gender comparisons in earnings are also made between graduates of applied and technical fields with those of liberal arts fields. The results of this study suggest that the earnings of university graduates of all…

This article argues that college students can be motivated to be active participants in their own education if made aware of the direct correlation between college learning and corporate work settings. Students can be shown that through the natural course of college learning, they are acquiring valuable core skills or transferable competencies…

This paper examines the contribution of work-based learning (WBL) to the education of construction students. The research draws on the experiences of part-time students and students on sandwich courses in a School of the Built Environment. The sandwich courses include a year in industry as the penultimate year of a four-year programme. This WBL…

The authors were the principals in the evaluation of the Prince's Trust's Young People's Business Start-up Programme, 1994?1999, as it operated nationally in the UK and in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. In this paper they report the methodologies used in the evaluation and the key findings. They then use their reflections on both…

In this article, the author compares the functions of a graduate adult education program and a greenhouse. A graduate adult education program is a place where, like in a greenhouse, exciting new hybrids can be developed--working with people outside the school of education, in different disciplines and beyond the university's walls, sharing what…

The reading and math skills needed for success in the workplace are comparable to those needed for success in the first year of college, a study released this year shows. Conducted by ACT Inc., the study provides some of the first empirical evidence for those contending that the skills needed for work and postsecondary education are converging…

Although studies have shown a significant wage gain associated with the possession of a college degree, few have considered at what age the degree was received to estimate this college wage premium. Given the recent increase in the enrollment of older students, this study examines how the size of the premium is affected by college timing while…

As the economic and social capital of higher education continue to rise, so too does interest in how the public views colleges and universities and the policies affecting them. A number of organizations have recently put a finger on the public pulse, asking about access, prices, priorities, and a host of other issues. One series of polls in…

The French secondary hierarchical educational system resting upon strong structuring dualisms, has been modified by the creation of the vocational baccalaureat. This aims at offering students who failed in general education a path for continuing their studies or catching up through tracks that are socially more prestigious. Some 20 years after its…

In his third book, "Ready or Not, Here Life Comes" (Simon & Shuster, 2005), pediatrician and brain researcher Dr. Mel Levine talks about the rising number of "start-up adults"--students who emerge from high school or college to find themselves woefully unprepared for the realities of a career. This article presents an interview with Dr. Levine…