Post-World War II, the vocational parent system was established in Japan in 1951--based on the Child Welfare Law--to provide aftercare for older dependent children. The vocational parents lived with the children and provided the guidance necessary for them to live independently. The evolution of the vocational parent system is divided into three…

Online courses have become increasingly popular in education and professional development because of their user-friendliness, accessibility, and ability to provide specialized training beyond formal education for workforce preparation. We demonstrate the efficacy of using a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) to teach specialized engineering…

This study examined the relationship between career mentoring and work engagement from the mentor perspective, by estimating work meaningfulness as a mediator. The research model used quantitative survey data from 309 employees who mentored their junior colleagues in the on-the-job training programmes of Japanese companies. The results…

This article explores cross-country patterns in how conditions relating to family background, education, and the labor market are related to literacy and numeracy skills. It seeks to assess whether these patterns are in agreement with models of skills formation as identified in the political economy literature. The novelty of this article resides…

The paper empirically examines labor-management communication concerning in-house training programs and its relation to the actual on- and off-the-job training policy and wage structure. Using governmental datasets from Japan, we study how different labor-management communication institutions may affect the training interests of employers and…

Purpose: The Japanese healthcare system has designated registered sales clerks to sell over-the-counter (OTC) drugs. Because of this, the AEON HAPYCOM Comprehensive Training Organization implemented an education program to train registered clerks in 2014. The program is unique; it consists of both lectures and hands-on workshop components. We…

The notion of employability has become a focal point of higher education in many countries' strategies to prepare students for employment. Responses to this notion can differ largely from country to country and from university to university, based on their historical, political, and economic contexts. However, very little has been researched in…

It is believed that the significance of various factors like the availability of training in technical terms, research and development expenditure, and government scholarships play a major role in increasing the quality of education. This study has been carried out in order to analyze the detailed impact of various variables on the quality of…

This report explores the ways in which human resource (HR) managers use "TOEIC"® scores to inform hiring, promotion, and training decisions in an international workplace. Two data sources were used (a) previously collected test users' testimonials that described managers' use of TOEIC scores to inform HR decisions and (b) test-use…

Despite the effectiveness of on-the-job training (OJT), few systematic empirical studies have been conducted on how OJT trainers instruct trainees in firms. The primary goal of this study was to investigate the characteristics of the trainer's instructional skills for OJT using survey data collected from 715 employees covering 22 firms. Results…

Faced with a pressing demand for eldercare workers, Japan signed Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) to recruit workers from Southeast Asian countries. The EPA limits the employment period for migrant workers, unless they successfully pass the healthcare licensure examination in Japanese. Therefore, they receive on-the-job training and prepare…

Opportunities to improve skills and opportunities to teach or train others may be associated with job satisfaction, work engagement and organizational commitment. The analysis reported in this paper used a subsample of 823 employees within two Japanese and three American worksites. We tested not only the direct relationships of each type of…

This study was conducted to designing a model of vocational training programs for disables. For this purpose desk review was carried out and the vocational training models/programs of Israel, U.K., Vietnam, Japan and Thailand were analyzed to form a conceptual framework of the model. Keeping in view the local conditions/requirements a model of…

Purpose: This paper aims to examine the importance of new employee orientation (NEO) programs, the quality of typical NEOs, and how to improve NEOs. Design/methodology/approach: The paper provides a viewpoint of the importance of new employee orientation programs, the quality of typical NEOs, and how to improve NEOs. Findings: Although western…

Using unique data on employers' pre-hire preferences, this article examines the effect of sex typing on the gender gap in offered wages and training. Previous studies using post-hire data have not been able to focus directly on the effects of employer behavior, distinct from employee preferences. By analyzing gender-designated job requisitions for…