This paper examines the labor market effects of state health insurance mandates that increase the cost of employing a demographically identifiable group. State mandates requiring that health insurance plans cover infertility treatment raise the relative cost of insuring older women of child-bearing age. Empirically, wages in this group are…

In Belarus, youth policy is acknowledged as an important part of state policy on social, economic and cultural development, and the country has a well-developed legal framework covering all spheres of young people's lives. However, the fact that the youth unemployment rate is higher than the unemployment rate for the adult working-age population…

Industry bodies, research and educational organisations have lobbied intensely for increased funding for training in the STEM disciplines. It is time to reassess this advocacy. Undergraduate commencements in STEM fields have increased strongly since 2009, yet the current employment prospects for these graduates are poor. Advocates have not made a…

The work reported in this paper is part of a large European study commissioned by the Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) which explores interactions between the labour market and vocational education and training as well as up-dates the content Initial Vocational Education and Training (IVET) provision in 15 European…

Educational reform implies questions of social production and of state regulation that are the key words in educational reform, education and educational policies. These reforms are always on the political agenda of countries and involve international organisms, since education is a vehicle of development for social progress. A point of departure…

Little is known about private student loan discrimination, in contrast to the relatively developed research on discrimination in other credit markets such as mortgages and credit cards. The private student lending market can play a key role in responding to changes in the policy or economic environment, and many students and their families turn to…

The standing of vocational education is salient for how it is perceived by those who sponsor, participate in and work within it and how its provisions are supported and administered. Yet, this standing continues to be intractably low, compared with other education sectors, more so in some countries than others. The consequences for this low…

It is common for organizations such as the International Labour Organization and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development to acknowledge that the links between education and work are far from smooth, creating a "crisis" for youth. This includes increasing rates of unemployment, under-employment and precarious work. In…

Several European countries were unable to match student numbers with labour market demand during the nineteenth century. The causes of this mismatch may be found in the organisation of higher education and the funding of students. Drawing on a variety of sources, this paper compares financial support available to Reformed and Catholic theology…

The notion of localism and decentralization in national policy has come increasingly to the fore in recent years. The national succession planning strategy for headteachers in England introduced by the National College for School Leadership promoted "local solutions for a national challenge". This article deals with some aspects of the…

The rise of global university rankings has garnered much attention in recent years. Various ranking systems exist, but all are conceptually similar in that universities are evaluated and ranked on the basis of comparable indicators, with a focus on research performance. Although these rankings are widely criticised as over-simplistic and…

The economic urgency around higher education is undeniable: the price of tuition has soared; student loan debt now exceeds $1 trillion and is greater than credit card debt; the dollars available from government sources for colleges are expected to shrink in the years to come; and the costs for traditional institutions to stay competitive continue…

The concept of "STEM" (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) has influenced many education and workforce strategies and policies with the intention of improving innovation, productivity and international competitiveness. Generally, the focus has been on how the school and university sectors can help equip the workforce with…

Turkey regulates the special education of students with disabilities and, particularly, those who have intellectual disabilities (ID) based on international and national legal texts. However, the gap between law and practice cannot be denied. The existence of obstacles to special education for students with disabilities or ID continues in Turkey.…

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of some of the dominant empirical and conceptual themes in the area of graduate employment and employability over the past decade. The paper considers the wider context of higher education (HE) and labour market change, and the policy thinking towards graduate employability. It draws upon various…