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 article examines the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on recent UK graduates' initial employment outcomes and how they experience the transition into a challenging labour market context. We draw on longitudinal survey and interview data, collected from recent graduates who had mainly graduated during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in…

What is the significance of regulations of job contracts and wages when it comes to young people's access to labour market? This is an issue that has attracted and continues to attract a great deal of interest in both research and politics. Proposals for deregulated employment protection and reduced entry-level pay recur regularly in public…

Concerns about a shortage of highly skilled workers in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) sector have been expressed frequently since the late 1940s. Although these claims have been challenged as being insufficiently grounded in evidence, they have formed the basis of policies directing considerable resources to STEM…

A recent UK Government commissioned study found concerning levels of unemployment among computing students from disadvantaged, black and minority ethnic backgrounds. The study highlighted that work experience was a factor in increased levels of graduate employment. As such, it is vital that students have equal access to such work experience. This…

Purpose: The paper explores the relationship between vocational education and training (VET), the labour market and social justice in the current conjuncture. Approach: The paper adopts an approach rooted in critical policy analysis. It consequently sets the discussion within the wider socio-economic and political context. Such an approach enables…

With women bearing a disproportionate share of economic hardship, their poor representation on training designed to tackle barriers to work is a critical concern. The author asks what can be done to improve women's access to this sort of learning. As the underrecruitment of women to ESF pre-employment programmes demonstrates, the author suggests…

This guide is primarily aimed at skills providers for unemployed adults, but will also be of interest to learning providers that wish to engage micro-businesses for the purpose of delivering other forms of provision such as apprenticeships and work-based learning through full cost recovery. The National Institute of Adult Continuing Education…

Universities UK organised a seminar in Brighton in April 2010, bringing together vice-chancellors, researchers and policymakers to take a close look at the implications of the global and national economic crisis for both the UK economy and higher education. It also examined the changing nature of student demand in a post-recession economy. This…

Young Polish migrants to the UK are often portrayed as being highly educated and mobile: willing nomads who are privileged to be able to take advantage of new opportunities for travel and work abroad offered by European Union membership. However, there are also less well-educated young people who adopt migration as a livelihood strategy in…

Trends in Australia and the United Kingdom indicate that full employment is unlikely to exist. Current policies tend to reinforce labor market inequalities. Adult educators should attempt to resolve longstanding issues related to the overall values and purposes of adult education and the strategies needed to empower those disadvantaged in or…

Describes emerging employment markets in the United Kingdom that require information skills, and examines the reasons why librarians and information workers have had little impact on these markets. The need for practical competencies, as well as formal qualifications, is cited as a major reason for this trend. (3 references) (CLB)

This report presents keynote papers and summaries of panel discussions from a conference dealing with such issues as future career patterns in the United Kingdom (UK), the impact of microelectronic technology on the workforce, and the role of education in preparing persons for careers in an information society. Verner Wheelock describes the growth…

A four-stage feminist research project investigating European Social Fund (ESF)-funded vocational training for unemployed women used the grounded theory approach. Stage 1 involved the formation of the research questions and design. Steps included the ontological, epistemological, and methodological positioning of the researcher. Stage 2 was the…

A study of four European countries (France, United Kingdom, Italy, and Spain) was conducted to gather data on the business start-up process and its impact on the generation of jobs, small business start-up support programs, training and counseling programs, and characteristics of successful business starters. (The original aim of the study was to…