Skill mismatch, the discrepancy between the skill levels held by employees and those demanded by employers, has long been of interest to analysts of the labor market. Such mismatches are worth exploring to better understand the processes of recruitment and career development and the role of education in the labor market. This study aims to analyze…

This paper is the first in a series of policy reports dealing with the impact of human capital investments on the U.S. labor market. It is part of a larger series of papers from the ETS Center for Research on Human Capital and Education that uses data from the "Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies" (PIAAC) to…

It is generally accepted that human capital is an important factor in economic growth, but its impact on growth depends on the demand for education and skills on the labor market. Demand for human capital is largely determined by the institutional environment that governs the basic conditions for economic activity. The author expresses ten doubts…

A review of the relevant literature, which is the first of two parts of this study, found that the existing literature is sparse and presents a fragmented picture of the information environment of the blue collar adult. The second part was a pilot survey, undertaken to probe this information environment, and consisted of intensive living room…

This four-part booklet presents the techniques of Work Study and their application to cargo operations in ports. The four parts contain discussions of the following: I. Productivity and Our Standard of Living; II. The Application of Work Study; III. Brief Explanation of Some Work Study Techniques (Method Study and Work Measurement); and IV.…

Responses to a questionnaire survey of workers in a machine tool and parts company showed that internal labor market practices generally made a greater contribution to blue collar earnings than skill or knowledge acquired by workers before joining the firm. (Author/DS)

Data from in-depth interviews with more than one hundred women over a three-year period suggest that the experience of women in skilled and semiskilled jobs contradicts the conventional wisdom about the values and motives of these women and challenge many sociological findings regarding the alienating character of much blue collar work. The women…

The book examines the effect of class barriers on blue collar workers by mirroring occupational/ethnic backgrounds of the white manual-laboring population in the Boston area through urban anthropological observations as well as 150 in-depth interviews conducted in 1969-70. It mainly reflects the experience of middle-aged, third generation American…

The book presents important and innovative aspects of using the work setting as a vehicle for finding workers in psychological/social trouble (an estimated quarter of any work force at any time) and helping them stay on the job. It describes a four-year demonstration project in which a pioneering team of researchers combined the resources of trade…

William Julius Wilson's "The Truly Disadvantaged" blames the rise in the Black urban underclass on the rapid, systemic, and structural changes in the economy in the 1970s, which left Black unemployment at a spectacularly high rate. His insights should be acknowledged and his recommendations heeded. (BJV)

A study explored the results of programs designed to move women into traditionally male jobs (both managerial and blue collar) in ten public utility companies. The focus of the study was on the experiences of 164 women in such jobs and on the attitudes of their supervisors, male peers, and subordinates toward the companies' attempts to overcome…