While becoming increasingly important to the economic and social development of the United States, Mexican-Americans still face barriers that hinder their full partnership in U.S. society. This ERIC digest is a summary of the latest available demographic and socioeconomic trends on Mexican-Americans. It discusses the broad implications for…

Options for flexible work schedules such as job sharing, compressed work weeks, reduced hours, work at home, and flextime have provided employees with the means to realize a better balance between work and family and engage simultaneously in more than one endeavor (for example, school and work or two careers). The same options can also lead to…

The linear career path that once kept people working in the same job is not the standard career route for today's workers. Instead, many workers are now pursuing varied career paths that reflect sequential career changes. Although job mobility no longer carries the stigma once associated with job change, it can still be emotionally stressful. Job…

Many older workers in Canada today are perplexed and dismayed by the swift and dramatic changes occurring in the workplace. Plant closures, downsizings, restructuring, new technologies, international trade agreements, ecological concerns, and changing demographics have affected the Canadian workforce, particularly workers in their forties and…

This digest presents highlights from the Winter 1998 New Directions for Community Colleges volume titled "Determining the Economic Benefits of Attending Community College." The passage of the Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act (VATEA) in 1990 gave incentives to states to develop accountability measures. Attempts are…

A number of factors and trends contribute to an increase in older adults in the workforce including demographics, financial concerns, changing concepts of retirement, longer and healthier life spans, and demand for the knowledge and skills possessed by the current generation of older workers. Careers are now considered to be more fluid, nonlinear…

With its definitions of individuals' and employers' rights and obligations, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a mandate and a statement of our moral and ethical values as a culture. Persons with disabilities and employers must apply ADA's "triple standard" of reasonable accommodations for performing essential job functions…

Various economic, technology-related, and other factors have converged to serve as a catalyst for the emergence of workers who consider themselves free agents. Estimates of the number of free agent workers range from 12.9 to 25 million. Individual free agent workers may take widely varying approaches to their careers; however, all have taken…

Although 6 of the 20 fastest growing occupations are associated with high technology, only about 7 percent of all new jobs projected for the remainder of the century will be in high-tech areas. Bureau of Labor Statistics data indicate that far more job openings will occur in low- and entry-level occupations than in highly skilled or professional…

The most significant factors affecting the labor market during the 1980s were the United States' loss of competitiveness in the world marketplace, continued shifts in production from goods to services, changes in the skill requirements of many jobs, and demographic shifts in the population. During the next decade, incompatibility between the type…

Women and minorities are underrepresented in technology-related careers for many reasons, including lack of access, level of math and science achievement, and emotional and social attitudes about computer capabilities. Schools and teachers can use the following strategies to attract women and minorities to high-tech careers and prepare them for…