The interaction of agency and context in workplace learning is explored through a micro-analysis of the implementation of networked learning communities in schools in England. Interviews with local activists show evidence of co-participation between individuals' responses and their workplace roles and experience as they take up the opportunity to…

This chapter discusses applications of alumni research at the University of Kassel and key results from the CHEERS study: Careers After Higher Education--a European Research Study. (Contains 5 tables and 1 figure.)

This article is a shortened version of an inaugural professorial lecture given at the University of Greenwich on 19 January 2005 as an intervention in the debate at that time within that university and other English further and higher education institutions over the appropriate level of fees to charge in 2006. It anticipates the likely effects…

As in many parts of the majority world, primary education in rural Bolivia is constrained by a range of factors: poor teaching quality, lack of resources, limited infrastructure, inadequate teaching materials, and low wages for teachers. Furthermore, high rates of absenteeism, drop-out, repetition, and failure can be exacerbated by children's work…

The expansion of post?16 education in the United Kingdom makes young people more dependent, and for longer, on their parents. Generational change has been so great that parents with no history of postschool education are now expected to support children while they study. Some parents adhere to a working-class belief in self-sufficiency through…

This article discusses the importance of acquiring skills in college to prepare students for the work force. The author describes how college students lack the skills and character needed to succeed. They might take statistics in college and score A's on tests of abstract problem-solving, but they cannot set up a bar graph to display real-world…

Purpose: Action learning has long been a recognized mechanism for ensuring deep and effective learning. The purpose of this paper is to describe an MBA program where the approach to study is informed and driven by action learning. Design methodology/approach: The nature, ethos, and theoretical foundations of this degree are described. Action…

These studies report the development and psychometric evaluation of a version of the Expanded Skills Inventory designed for use with high school students. The resulting inventory contains 14 eight-item scales measuring self-efficacy with respect to dimensions of vocational behavior comparable in specificity to the Basic Interest dimensions of the…

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between students' learning approaches to study on part-time, distance-learning management courses, and transfer of their learning to the workplace. The relationship between these two variables has rarely been considered before, as they emanate from research areas that have remained…

The knowledge society and economy require a radical reconfiguration on the part of both universities and industry, the interests and domains of which now overlap more than ever. This article highlights an increasingly uncertain environment, a surge in demand for higher education, and the internationalisation of education and research as…

The UK vocational assessment landscape is changing and research has a key role in helping to identify trends and anticipate emerging issues and challenges. This review collates the messages from recently published research about specific issues that have been found to affect the measurement of vocational learning. It also highlights issues that…

This article features the Ford Partnership for Advanced Studies (Ford PAS) program that helps students gain knowledge about real-life business issues. Ford PAS is an educational program that combines college-prep academics with the critical 21st century skills students will need to succeed in college and in the workplace. The Ford PAS program uses…

Hoping to motivate more California students to finish high school and find future success, the James Irvine Foundation last week announced a new center aimed at expanding work-based learning programs that integrate high-level academics. Called ConnectEd: The California Center for College and Career, the new project will seek to provide solutions…

Students intent on a career as a legal professional prepare for this through university study. The research reported in this paper looks at the clear relationships described by law students between the focus of their university study and their perceptions of the nature of work as a legal professional. We suggest that the current approach to…

This article focuses on the relationship between credentials and the occupational structure, drawing on quantitative research data from a study of UK graduates with first-class honours degrees. Within a knowledge-driven economy, in the UK it is commonly assumed that university graduates with the highest credentials will receive the best employment…