This document presents information about the apprenticeship training program of Alberta, Canada, in general and the steel detailer program in particular. The first part of the document discusses the following items: Alberta's apprenticeship and industry training system; the apprenticeship and industry training committee structure; local…

The educational, social, and familial influences that lead women to choose information technology (IT) careers were examined in an online survey. Of the 2,500 women who were employed in IT careers in 38 countries and who belonged to the IT professional organization, Systers, 275 responded to the online survey (11% response rate). The respondents…

This publication on reauthorization recommendations for the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) comprises three documents. The first is a short summary of reauthorization recommendations for Title I and II. Title I recommendations are to eliminate sequential eligibility; promote greater access to training; improve adjustment of performance…

This document examines selected issues related to collaboration between the welfare and work force development systems under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, Welfare-to-Work grant program, and Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA). The document begins with a brief overview of how recent policy developments have created…

Since the beginning of the 1990s, Slovenia has been catching up with other developed market economies. The economic situation has improved; the unemployment rate has declined. Slovenia's criticism of the 1980s educational reform carried out in Yugoslavia (which included Slovenia until 1991) and continued discussion have led to design of a new…

In England, vocational education and training (VET) does not exist as an institutionalized system as in Europe, where specialist institutions are tied to vocational qualifications, the labor market, and long-term objectives. Education has purposes other than to provide a skilled work force for the economy. However, the relationship between…

The learning organization has been promoted as providing a viable blueprint for an integrated approach to training and development. According to the literature on employer provision of lifelong learning opportunities in the United Kingdom (U.K.), relatively few U.K. work organizations have or are about to become learning organizations.…

This report, which is based primarily on figures released by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), reviews the indicators available for international comparisons of vocational education and training (VET) to clarify the following issues: the kinds of comparability problems that exit, their extent and severity, their…

By 2011, 53 percent of the total population in Great Britain will be aged over 45; however, in recent years the proportion of labor market participants over 50 has declined significantly. Older workers have access to fewer training and development opportunities at work but are less likely to take short-term sickness absence and more likely to be…

The first of the three papers in this symposium, "Performance- and Learning Support with On-line Help Systems: An Effectiveness Study" (Theo J. Bastiaens, Jan N. Streumer, Yvette Krul) is a study of a method to cut training expenditures for production, planning, engineering, and inventory employees by implementing an online help system for…

This document contains four symposium papers on work force development. "Effects of Two Different Learning Paths on School-to-Work Transition" (Esther Van Der Schoot) discusses a Dutch study documenting that the following items make a difference in the school-to-work transition: learning path, curriculum characteristics, individual…

This bibliography provides a thorough and representative sample of the different types of available Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR) publications and resources. These publications and resources are grouped under nine categories: (1) PLAR Policy (Canada, Europe, Africa, Australia, United States of America, New Zealand, Asia and the…

Australia's retailing sector is the largest single industry of employment, with more than 1.2 million workers. It is characterized by high levels of part-time and casual employment; a young work force, including many young people still in full-time education; and employment widely distributed geographically. Over the past 10 years, employment has…

This report examines the human resources development and training dimensions of the gradual, but inexorable, shift towards knowledge-, skill-, and service-based economies and societies, and the stupendous growth of the information and communications technology sectors. Its four chapters explore the following: (1) globalization, technological…

These skill standards, developed through a consortium of educational and industry partners in Illinois, serve as guides to workforce preparation program providers to define content for their programs and to employers to establish the skills and standards necessary for job acquisition and performance. The skill standards include the following…