Despite generations of evidence that a liberal education is one of the most powerful engines of progress, for individuals and for our society, there is growing dismissal and even distrust of what liberal arts colleges do. Recent survey data from the American Council on Education show that the public's perception of the value and quality of a…

A focus of Government policy has been the need to ensure that those at the lower end of the labour market invest in their human capital through re-engaging with learning, which has been assumed to enable progress into better-paid employment. This article explores the problems created by "bad jobs" and the evidence for the existence of a…

America is daily bombarded with reminders about how rough current economic times are, particularly in workforce development. Headlines scream, "Highest unemployment rate in 26 years" and "Jobs not likely to recover to pre-recession levels until 2012." In such an environment, it is easy to lose sight of serious underlying conditions affecting the…

Many young people in Russia find it difficult to move into employment, and given the importance of a more efficient labor force for Russia's economic future, more needs to be done by the Russian government to improve the situation. Under current conditions, the state's activity in regard to solving issues of protecting the interests of young…

This article argues that in today's knowledge societies, European universities are called upon to make students more employable, by cultivating their skills and by encouraging them to lifelong learning for enhancing their flexibility in the labour market. Employability is emphatically stressed and, to a certain extent, is associated with equity…

This article describes four factors that greatly affect the United States' labor market over the coming years. These are: (1) impending baby boomer retirements; (2) ongoing shifts in the country's demographic composition; (3) the greatly increased payoff on postsecondary education; and (4) the direct correlation between technological advances and…

This paper argues that to survive in today's intense marketplace, it is not enough to be good at a few things. Rather, one must excel across the board--at communicating, innovating, execution, speed, selling, negotiating, service, leadership, teamwork and more. Every individual who wants to be a part of the future must learn to become…

The subbaccalaureate labor market is almost entirely local. Employers emphasize motivation, common sense, and job-specific, interpersonal, and basic skills. Cooperative education enables students to acquire specific experience and practical skills. (SK)

An education that is centered on complex thinking and communicating helps graduates to gain good jobs in the U.S. Educators will have to focus on raising students' achievement in math, science, and reading because complex, technical skills are essential for the new century's jobs.

In the mid-1990s, situations in which the specialties that young people had acquired turned out not to be in demand became quite a widespread phenomenon, and the professional future of a large proportion of young people was characterized as uncertain. Surveys in that period showed that a majority of young people suffered from a deficiency of…

Two thematic articles are included: "Career Counselors as Vocational Experts: Determining Earning Capacity" (Maze) discusses the value of counselors as expert witnesses in forensic settings; "Vocational Examinations in Family Law and Wrongful Termination Cases in California" (Miller, Schwadron) suggests that vocational expert…

Postsecondary technical schools are failing to keep pace with expanding career opportunities in the technical job market. Improved counseling and testing methods could provide more trained technicians to fill the jobs. Technical school personnel must provide the potential student population with information about alternatives in technical fields.…

During structural adjustment, training/retraining for unemployed persons is often poorly conceived. One reason is the lack of reliable ways to predict future skill requirements. Retraining should be kept fairly general to enable a wide range of potential jobs. (SK)

U.S. Labor Secretary Reich argues that training for high-skill work is the key to high-paying jobs. The New Republic's contributing editor, John Judis, attributes wage decline to decline of unions and proposes a compromise between business and labor. (JOW)

Tackles Arnold Packer's assertion that U.S. workers' productivity has declined in recent years. The quality of education in developed nations is only loosely coupled to national economic health. Many educators and economists are increasingly skeptical of the notion that better schools mean a more prosperous nation. (MLH)