Much of the focus in education has shifted toward science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The growing importance of those subjects is based primarily on the projection that some countries will fall short of homegrown young adults who can meet the demands of the future job market unless educators act judiciously. But in the quest…

The United States' lack of purposefulness in providing high-quality education to all young Americans, regardless of the circumstances of their birth, is literally wasting the future of many young people, including members of the fastest growing group. Poised by 2050 to constitute nearly one-third of the workforce, Latinos currently are the least…

Media is now central to how youth form their identities. Media also shapes the cultural background of much of young people's action and decision making and the institutional framework of social interaction. This article explores this mediated "lifeworld" of young people by examining rates of current media use and the infiltration of media into…

This paper discusses the relationship between education and crime from an economic perspective, developing a human capital-based model that sheds light on key ways in which early childhood programs and policies that encourage schooling may affect both juvenile and adult crime. The paper first discusses evidence on the effects of educational…

This report focuses on the development of reading proficiency during the transition from adolescence to early adulthood. The span of time between the ages of 15 and 24 is a critical period of development for young people. Once compulsory education is completed, individual decisions about post-secondary education, employment and other life choices…

This policy brief investigates factors affecting New England's supply of recent college graduates and how those factors have changed over time, and suggests steps that states might take to expand this source of skilled labor. (Contains 3 figures.) [This brief summarizes analysis in NEPPC research report 08-1: "The Future of the Skilled Labor…

In 2009, Excelencia in Education launched the Ensuring America's Future initiative to inform, organize, and engage leaders in a tactical plan to increase Latino college completion. This initiative included the release of a benchmarking guide for projections of degree attainment disaggregated by race/ethnicity that offered multiple metrics to track…

Fewer teenagers are participating in the labor force today than at any point since WWII. At just under 44 percent teen labor force participation is 15 percentage points below its peak in the late 1970s. The authors investigate the long-run decline in the work activity of young adults, and the acceleration of this trend during the last five years.…

According to the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), "manufacturing is the engine that drives American prosperity". When NAM and its research and education arm, The Manufacturing Institute, released the handbook, "The Facts About Modern Manufacturing," in October 2006, NAM President John Engler noted, that…

There has been renewed emphasis on the vocational in recent policy documents concerning provision for the 14-19 age group. More open acknowledgement of the vocational/academic divide within English education has appeared alongside the creation of increased vocational opportunities for young people. Research undertaken for the Transforming Learning…

Gaps in educational and employment outcomes persist (and in some cases are growing) among various groups of young adults in the United States. Particularly notable are the gaps that exist between minority young adults--especially black young adults--and their white counterparts. One oft-cited reason for this trend is the growing number of youth…

While no one can predict the future, today's economic and demographic realities suggest the opportunities and challenges that will face America in the years to come. The U.S. economy has already undergone dramatic changes in the latter part of the twentieth century. The extension of product and labor markets has expanded global competition, and…

Nigeria's National Open Apprenticeship Scheme (NOAS) is aimed at giving vocational skills to unemployed youth and helping them to be self-employed or get gainful employment. NOAS is targeted at Nigerian men and women aged 15-25. Minimum educational requirements vary by trade; course duration ranges from 2 months to 3 years. The number of trainees…

The early onset of disability (at birth through young adulthood) can affect a person's employment outcomes in myriad ways. In addition to the direct effect of disability on employment, early onset of disability likely affects the acquisition of education and job skills (human capital). This reduced "investment" in human capital in turn may reduce…