This study provides an in-depth analysis of the Community-Based Job Training Grants awarded by the U.S. Department of Labor from 2005 to 2008. The primary research question is designed to identify the most important factors in meeting grant-training outcomes; however, numerous secondary questions were addressed to provide the reader with in-depth…

Within the City of Chicago, a wide variety of public and private programs are geared towards preparing adults and youth for the workforce. This report of workforce development programs provides an overview of federal, state, and city workforce development programs within the City of Chicago through a detailed inventory table of the programs…

Institutions--even entire sectors of the education system--too often operate independently of each other, maintaining discrete student-record systems. This makes it difficult to trace a student's progress through higher education and into the workforce--and that disconnection hampers efforts to improve the system. Only by systematically collecting…

Community colleges across the country are engaged in large-scale federal and state initiatives to train low-income individuals for the nascent field that's become known as "green jobs." Many green economy advocates believe that green jobs training can be part of career pathways that help move unemployed and disconnected individuals--who are often…

Many adult learners have employment goals, from preparing to enter the workforce to improving skills that can lead to a better job. Resources in the Workforce Competitiveness Collection--research-based products and materials, and research papers--can help readers expand and improve work-based basic skills classes offered to adults. This paper…

The early childhood education and care industry in Australia is undergoing a shift in philosophy. Changes in policy are driving the industry towards a combined early childhood education and care focus, away from one on child care only. This move has implications for the skilling of the child care workforce. This research overview describes the…

Purpose: The importance of purchasing and supply management (PSM) for business performance has received considerable attention in recent years. However, research on PSM training and education is inadequate. This paper aims to present initial findings from PSM practitioners about current PSM training and education needs in Hong Kong.…

Over recent years, approaches to education and training have become more informal, situated, outcome focused and experiential. Within this context, formal learning now plays a greatly diminished role, being supplanted by activity-based and technologically-based learning. This article, structured in the form of a polemic challenges readers to…

EU neighbouring countries (partner countries) have made considerable efforts to improve their vocational education and training (VET) systems, with different policies and strategies that take account of country-specific priorities in human capital development. This article addresses the donor community. It analyses the role of partner countries'…

With an increasingly technological and competitive world economy, more jobs require employees to have achieved the advanced skills and knowledge gained only through postsecondary education. The data regarding the supply and demand between the workforce and higher education present a challenge for community college technical programs. These are the…

During the past few years, the growth of an emergent "coaching industry" in many countries has resulted in some scholars calling for the development of a "coaching profession." Yet, contemporary HRD and OD professionals conceive of coaching as a necessary area of expertise. This paper reports the results of a qualitative study of different…

We discuss how economic theory has analyzed the effects of being GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual or Transgender). We find that economics has focused on finding earnings differentials between GLBT and heterosexuals. The issue is, however, whether the standard analytical techniques available in economics, can be applied to sexual minorities. A number…

This study explores the corporate university (CU) phenomenon based on human capital theory through a comprehensive review of literatures in economics and HRD (human resource development). Different from existing CU literature, the study found that, as HRD operational entities, CUs and traditional universities are rooted in different skills…

This article reviews evaluation studies published in the HRD (human resource development) field. The authors further discuss general evaluation theories in terms of value, use, and evaluator role. The comparison of this literature suggests that evaluation in HRD has been limited by narrow perspectives. The authors attribute this narrow notion of…

This article explores and appraises Gregory Bateson's theory of "levels of learning" and its implications for Human Resource Development, with reference to issues of organizational learning. In Part One, after briefly reviewing Bateson's biography, the origins and contents of the theory are described. In Part Two, three particular features of the…