This report examines factors that are associated with the labor force participation behavior of working-age men and women in the United States with a focus on the connection between labor force participation and human capital skills and educational attainment. The analysis reveals very different patterns of labor force attachment for American men…

Rural America has long been perceived as "left behind" by policies that leave it struggling while benefiting bustling urban cities and suburbs. That narrative holds some truth: rural America has a declining population, along with lower educational attainment and lower workforce participation than urban America. But while rural America…

Vietnam's economy and education system have had remarkable success in recent decades, yet there are concerns about the declining returns to higher education since 2008. We document this decline in returns to higher education and propose four hypotheses to explain it. Analysis of the VLSS/VHLSS and LFS data provides little evidence for three of…

A comprehensive picture of the overall vocational education and training (VET) market combined with an updated profile of the VET workforce is essential to informing policy development and workforce planning to ensure the sector has the capacity to meet the skill development needs of industry in a rapidly changing economy. This report presents…

Recent research describes a gap between the workforce skills employers need and the skills college graduates bring to the workforce. Making strides toward closing the workforce skills gap means that institutions, employers, and students must work together to cultivate a shared understanding of how strategic collaboration and communication are…

The U.S. manufacturing industry is experiencing a resurgence and faces a growing need for highly skilled workers. Recent reports project that demand for highly-skilled manufacturing workers will outpace supply in coming years, and this shortage may grow as the U.S. manufacturing industry grows and its labor needs shift. Furthermore, manufacturing…

The purpose of this quantitative study is to test the relationship between degree choice and post-graduate outcomes for students in the United States by describing the relationship between a selected major and post-graduate outcomes including employment sector, salary for women and men. As college costs rise, and enrollments fall for the first…

The Council on Postsecondary Education (Council) is charged with guiding the reform efforts envisioned by state policy leaders in the Kentucky Postsecondary Education Improvement Act of 1997 and is Kentucky's statewide postsecondary and adult education coordinating agency. To gain better insight into economic conditions and workforce trends,…

As we approach this Labor Day, the Pennsylvania economy is growing steadily. Working families are sharing in prosperity in a more sustained way than at any point since 1980--although many families still struggle to make ends meet and, in our polarized nation, a big partisan divide exists in perceptions of whether the economy is better than four…

Postsecondary programs in early childhood education (ECE) can provide a pathway for new educators to enter the child care and early education (CCEE) field or for the advancement and professional development of individuals already in the field. At a time when CCEE administrators report difficulties in finding qualified applicants, the recruitment…

This yearlong qualitative research project examined the perspectives, experiences, and expertise of academic leaders, program directors, and faculty in tying learning outcomes to workforce skills at a variety of public and private two-year and four-year institutions across the United States. This research centered on students' workforce skills…

This article models the migration flow of EEA students who graduated from masters and doctoral programmes in UK universities. The increased intra-European mobility of students and graduates is claimed to have crucial positive influence on building Europe's high-skill labour force, which in turn would strengthen its competency in the global…

The manufacturing workforce has been shaped by decades of industry transformation. Modern manufacturing requires workers with a diverse set of skills to perform functions such as research and development (R&D), product and production design, marketing and sales, and customer support. While workers with a high school diploma or less dominated…

Purpose: The pandemic COVID-19 brought in large challenges globally among the workforce. There were reports of how employee layoffs and pay-cuts were gradually becoming prominent across industries based on media reports. However, there were no attempts to develop a typology of challenges faced by the workforce. Design/methodology/approach: This…

Washington employment projections continue to show strong demand for workers with postsecondary education. Nearly 70 percent of all projected job openings require at least some education beyond high school, with two-thirds requiring midlevel education or higher. As businesses, industries, and workplaces become increasingly complex, employers need…