The paper contributes to the discussion of the effects of educational attainment and skills on labour market outcomes, especially in a fast-growing economy. The data are derived through the authors' unique skills assessment of 591 workers at 19 foreign-invested garment-production companies in Ethiopia, which allows for the analysis of the impact…

The Chinese Government is clear that investment is needed to upskill the workforce, yet VET students, who will play a key role in the upskilling, continue to be positioned at the bottom of the educational hierarchy and suffer considerable societal prejudice. This paper presents new findings on Chinese VET students' perceptions of the job market…

Not much is known about higher technical education in England, but current education policy looks positively at it to improve labour productivity and social mobility. We provide updated estimates of individual earnings differentials associated with such education, compared to achieving degrees, for all secondary school leavers in 2003. We find an…

Despite a significant number of international graduates staying in the host countries on post-graduation visas, their experiences in gaining access to the host labour market are less documented. This article addresses this critical but under-researched topic. It discusses the ecological circumstances impacting international graduates'…

This report is a response to congressional requests for the Congressional Research Service (CRS) to identify, synthesize, and explain the core components of the workforce skills gap discourse and, to the extent possible, explore and clarify evidence on the existence of skills gaps. The report acknowledges that the skills gap label is often applied…

This dissertation consists of three quantitative studies analyzing educational policies and programs that help to improve college readiness, college success, as well as the transition from college to the labor market. The first chapter studies the impact of raising the bar for high school math on college readiness and success. The chapter examines…

The underlining purpose of all career and technical education (CTE) strives to prepare students for the world of work. Schools throughout the country offer CTE programs, yet manufacturing, healthcare, and STEM industries struggle to fill entry-level employment vacancies. This exploratory narrative qualitative study aimed to explore the stories of…

Alumni networks are part of the bill of goods that colleges and universities sell to students. But according to a Strada-Gallup Alumni Survey, only 9% of college graduates reported that their alumni network was helpful or very helpful in the job market. That startling statistic says a lot about how poorly most institutions actually perform when it…

We study whether the completion of an optional professional year placement during undergraduate studies enhances job quality, in terms of earnings, job security and career fit, for economics graduates from a UK university. Using linear and discrete choice models, we estimate the effect of doing a professional year placement on four graduate…

Interdisciplinary education has become increasingly prominent as a core instrument to prepare the next generation workforce. Yet, little is known about the impacts of long-term degree-oriented interdisciplinary education on post-graduation outcomes. This paper aims to investigate the influence of long-term degree-oriented interdisciplinary…

This paper compares the employment outcomes of liberal arts graduates from Dutch university colleges with those of their peers who pursued conventional, subject-specific bachelor's degrees. Using data from the Dutch National Alumni Survey, the analysis includes 14,933 respondents who completed a master's programme at a research university, with…

The purpose of this study is to analyse the relationship between the self-perceived employability of engineering students and graduates and their employment situation. Methodology: A total of 505 individuals participated in this study, including recent graduates and senior students from five engineering programs at a public higher education…

This paper evaluates the impact of an English and Business Computer Science program in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the world's second-largest French-speaking country after France. The program addresses the gap between academic training and market needs by combining English language proficiency with essential business and computer…

Problems with the supply of highly skilled science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workers have been reported by employers and governments for many decades, in the UK, the USA, and elsewhere. This paper presents some key findings from a project funded by the Nuffield Foundation that examined patterns of education and employment…

This article intends to show that while the strong VET-labour market link has a long tradition in the Netherlands and likely maintains strong in the future, the dynamics that substantiate this link, especially in terms of institutional arrangement have seen a radical shift in the last decades. To explore the shifts we make use of Rageth and Renold…