A study of 1,031 full-time workers in Iowa found that those with more education, especially four-year degrees or graduate education, spent significantly more time on work-related learning, were more predisposed toward it, were more aware of employers' training policies and benefits, and more likely to use them than were adults with high school…

In the post-Communist Eastern Europe, the scope and nature of vocational education are determined by labor demand, academic/general education is considered suitable for all ability levels, and responsibility for and financing of education has been privatized. Advantages of the new model--well-educated youth labor force and customized vocational…

This article presents the results of a qualitative study that examined the views and experiences of 12 large city employers of modern apprenticeships (MAs). Given the governments target that by 2004 at least 28 per cent of young people should enter an apprenticeship before the age of 22, it is imperative that large employers are fully involved in…

This article is a combined result of a three years research project on low-skilled learners' experiences as participants of various kinds of adult training and education in Denmark, and the findings of a three years research consortium on workplace learning, summing up and generalizing our various findings as to how low-skilled adults function in…

Andragogy is the art and science of adult education that focuses on real-life application and problem-solving capacity (Knowles, Holton, & Swanson, 1998). This approach emphasizes that training effectiveness is enhanced through trainees' actual performance of the task. Workers learn better when they perceive that learning will help them perform…

Meta-analytic techniques are employed to find if the impacts of government funded training programs on earnings grew or deteriorated with time. Further, studies are recommended to understand the cost-effectiveness of training programs.

Developing competence in the workforce for a changing economy is a challenge to a nations education system. This study examines what education and training systems have been made available to the workforce. For this study, in 1998, 31,736 employees were surveyed from 401 firms in 12 counties across China: four in two eastern provinces, four in two…

The prospects of world economic development are determined by the character of countries' transition to the new stage of development of productive forces: from industrial production, which was dominated by large-scale mechanized machine-driven production, to postindustrial production, which will be dominated by nonmaterial production--the sphere…

This article presents an interview with Emily Stover DeRocco, Assistant Secretary of the Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor. In this interview, the assistant secretary answers probing questions about the Community College Initiative, the workforce system, and the training funds directed through the workforce system.

This article features Ohio's Miami Valley Career Technology Center. The author discusses how MVCTC is connecting secondary education with apprenticeship and postsecondary training. MVCTC needed support from its partners in both non-union and union companies to get the school to apprenticeship program under way. The Associated Builders and…

Arkansas Northeastern College, formerly Mississippi County Community College, has been in the business of providing training in the Northeast Arkansas region for over 15 years. Prior to 1996, adjunct trainers or faculty provided the training. In 1996, Mississippi County Community College's (MCCC) training director, Robin Myers (now president of…

This article argues that discourse analysis can be utilized in conjunction with other forms of analysis to develop a more critical teaching and research agenda for Human Resource Development (HRD); in particular this article suggests that the introduction of a discourse analysis perspective can support and facilitate the development of critically…

A random effects ordered response model of training is estimated to analyze the existence of training tracks and time varying coefficients in training frequency. Two waves of a Dutch panel survey of workers are used covering the period 1992-1996. The amount of training received by workers increased during the period 1994-1996 compared to…

Situated learning theory provides a rich conceptual framework for analysing the processes by which apprentices become (full) participants in a community of practice. This article uses case study evidence from the UK's Modern Apprenticeship programme to show how this framework can be developed by identifying features of expansive and restrictive…

Internationally, governments are keen to identify and enact policies to encourage increased contributions from enterprises for the skill development of their employees. However, the goals for these policies often remain unclear and the means of securing these purposes are vexed. Drawing on a review of international literature and interviews with…