Utilizing the Survey of Adult Skills from the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) and the OECD database, this study investigates the role of gender inequality and public social spending in the gender gap in Not in Employment, Education, or Training (NEET) risk across various age cohorts. The research identifies a…

This research examines student teachers' thinking about teaching gifted students in an inclusive classroom context. Grounded in a narrative paradigm, we analyzed narratives from student teachers in Finland, Austria, Turkey, the Philippines, and Japan to identify solutions that they imagined in response to gifted students' needs in an inclusive…

While the benefits of early childhood education and care (ECEC) services to better learning are now widely acknowledged, a widespread and accessible provision for these services also helps support gender equality in the workforce. In particular, the availability, intensity, reliability and affordability of ECEC play an important role in engaging…

This article argues that strong interrelations between methodological and theoretical advances exist. Progress in, especially comparative, methods may have important impacts on theory evaluation. By using the example of the "Varieties of Capitalism" approach and an international comparison of higher education systems, it can be shown…

This study extends the comparative model of country groups to analyse the cross-national trends in the higher education expansion and opportunities. We use descriptive data on characteristics and outcomes of higher education systems in different countries groups, including the liberal market countries, the social democratic countries, the…

This article examines cross-country variations in adult skills inequality and asks why skills in Anglophone countries are so unequal. Drawing on the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's recent Survey of Adult Skills and other surveys, it investigates the differences across countries and country groups in inequality in both…

Papers from the proceedings of the 14th Annual Conference of the Bulgarian Comparative Education Society was submitted in two volumes. Volume 1 contains papers submitted at the conference held in Sofia, Bulgaria, June 14-17, 2016. Volume 2 contains papers submitted at the 4th International Partner Conference of the International Research Centre…

U.S. students have consistently lagged behind their peers in other nations on international science assessments--a performance increasingly at odds with the challenge of being able to live and compete in a global environment, powered by innovations in science, engineering and technology. A strong foundation in science is clearly critical if…

Research shows that professional learning can have a powerful effect on teacher skills and knowledge, and on how well students learn. To be effective, however, professional learning for teachers needs to be conducted in the ways that it is in many high achieving countries--continuously, collaboratively, and with a focus on teaching specific…

A student's choice of a field of study is a personal decision that combines individual tastes, inclinations, preferences, and prospects related to the working life with a number of financial and academic constraints. Therefore, the analysis of the effects of degree field on job satisfaction should also address the unobserved heterogeneity among…

Youth unemployment is hardly new, but in the 1980s it poses unprecedented problems because economic growth no longer seems to provide the necessary jobs. Youth labor markets are being stripped of entry-level jobs by new technologies, changes in the global division of labor, and the upgrading of occupational structures. This paper describes…

School systems aspire to provide equal opportunity for all, irrespective of socio-economic status (SES). Much of the criticism of recent school reforms that introduce accountability, autonomy, and choice emphasizes their potentially negative consequences for equity. This report provides new evidence on how national features of accountability,…

This document presents statistical data from the countries of France, Finland, the Netherlands, Japan, Italy, and Norway regarding the flows of graduates from higher education and their entry into the workforce. Among the statistical data presented are the trends and current situation in each country for such areas as college enrollments and…

Employing data from 12 industrial societies, investigates differences in the labor force behavior, occupational distribution, and attainment patterns of ever- and never-married women. Finds little support for the dual-career theory, which attributes womens' concentration in low-paying employment to gender differences in marital and childrearing…