Employers increasingly reach job seekers through online job postings, particularly for jobs requiring a higher education qualification. Job postings available online provide a rich source of real-time and detailed data on the qualifications and skills sought by employers across industries, occupations and locations. Using a sample of over 9…

Educational credentials are clearly linked to economic success, but the reasons for this link are not clear. Common theoretical approaches provide explanations but lack direct employer perspectives on credentials' meaning and the context in which employers make sense of credentials. In this study, I used an alternative perspective based in Meyer's…

Thirty-two recent graduates from the joint food science program of Washington State Univ. (WSU) and The Univ. of Idaho (UI) and 12 of their employers participated in a survey study to assess food science program outcomes. The objective of this study was to assess the joint curriculum in its ability to prepare undergraduate students for critical…

In response to requests by the Washington Higher Education Coordinating Board for a systematic approach to student outcomes assessment, and in an effort to identify potential areas for improving the quality of community college education, the State Board for Community College Education conducted a vocational outcomes study in 1989. The study…

A survey of 10,739 employers (37 percent rate of return) was conducted in Washington state from July through September 1999 to determine training and skill needs of employers and the capacity of the state's training programs to meet those needs. In addition, research was conducted through data matching of unemployment insurance and training…