Purpose: This paper aims to describe how the human resources development (HRD) policy has shifted from the national level to the sectoral levels; the paper also explains the changes that have been made in skills formation in the economy by presenting the emergence of Industry Skills Councils (ISC). Design/methodology/approach: This paper presents…

In recent decades, the employment model in higher education has markedly changed. Tenure-track faculty now represent just about 30 percent of the instructional faculty across all non-profit institutions. Meanwhile, most faculty members who provide instruction at colleges and universities today are non-tenure-track faculty, the majority of them…

This article calls attention to the difficulty of institutionalising vocational education and training (VET) in the service sector in Norway, despite the growing importance of this sector for national economic performance. Drawing on interviews with apprentices, employers, stakeholders, representatives of trade unions and employer organisations,…

This article investigates the ways in which students are constructed in contemporary English higher education policy. First, it contends that, contrary to assumptions made in the academic literature, students are not conceptualised as 'empowered consumers'; instead their vulnerability is emphasised by both government and unions. Second, it…

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the challenges facing Irish organisations in the training and development of non-Irish workers. It analyses the importance of fluency in the host country's language and the approach taken by organisations in relation to language training. In-depth semi-structured interviews provide significant insights for the…

This paper uses data from interviews with representatives of national and state organisations that have a policy interest in student-working in Australia. The interviewees included representatives from employer bodies and trade unions as well as government organisations. The data are used to discuss these stakeholders' perceptions of the main…

The head gangman in the Swedish building trade is a worker elected organiser in a gang comprising between about 4 and 16 workers and an "on-site" and trained representative of the trades union. In 2002 the employer association for the building industry in Sweden (BI) and the Swedish Building and Allied Trades Union (SBATU) signed a joint…

The already limited vocational prospects of low-income African Americans in New Orleans were further devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill added to the devastation, highlighting the continued vulnerability of New Orleanians seeking employment. As a result, opportunities persist for vocational practitioners…

Sectoral levelling funds are an arrangement aimed at alleviating a well-known theoretical problem of underinvestment in worker training because of free-rider behaviour of firms. In the Netherlands, collective agreements require firms to participate in such funds in a number of sectors. Using a comprehensive dataset of Dutch firms, we attempt to…

Data from a 1986 survey of employers and a 1982-83 survey of union organizers found that firms' responses to union organizing drives were consistent with the motive of profit maximization and that management opposition has been an important determinant of the decline of unionism. (JOW)

Experimental studies were conducted in two unions to examine the effects of perceptual variables--reactance and intentionality attributions--on the intent to seek redress from management action. Based on participants' responses to a series of vignettes, both studies demonstrated that greater threat and dispositional attributions provoked stronger…

Changes in the trade union education system in the United Kingdom include a hardening of the attitudes of employers and the state, a reemergence of political education, and increased demand for paid educational leave. (SK)

This study of the rapidly growing temporary help industry draws on Commerce Department data and the results of the authors' national mail survey of employers. The authors also conducted interviews in the San Francisco area with employers of temporary help and with representatives of temporary help agencies and labor unions. (Author/CT)

Data from employers of 324 pregnant women show that firm size and unionization are powerful determinants of formal benefits. However, informal family concessions, dependent on supervisor cooperation, are less likely to occur. Self-employment was not especially conducive to schedule flexibility, leave, or child care access. (SK)

A study examined the factors influencing the participation in the labor market of 150 women with young children, including their aims, training needs, and constraints. Their self-perceived employment needs were related to the policies and practices of employers and trade unions. (JOW)