"The Shifting Global World of Youth and Education" explores how increasing migration and population changes are having an unprecedented impact on global education. Given that the number of children of migrant background is growing internationally, there is a need for increasing awareness of the educational attainment and cultural…

EU policy makers are facing increased urgency to integrate and energise the professional labour market, especially in the context of the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, the push towards the green and digital transitions and the defence of the Single Market following Brexit. This latest policy briefing on the recognition of professionals looks at…

This Introduction provides an overview of the distinctive contribution of the late David Raffe to educational research in the UK and internationally over a 40-year period. His wide-ranging research on post-compulsory education and training systems was enriched by the development of conceptual distinctions that have become part of the lingua franca…

This report identifies effective strategies to tackle skills imbalances, based on five country-specific policy notes for France, Italy, Spain, South Africa and the United Kingdom. It provides a comparative assessment of practices and policies in the following areas: the collection and use of information on skill needs to foster a better alignment…

The International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP)-UNESCO Dakar and the Francophonie Institute for Education and Training (IFEF) wanted to study how the competency-based training (CBT) was adapted, what contextualisation and adaptation of programmes according to the CBT has taken place, and what positive practices have made the CBT…

Young European graduates are crossing borders to work abroad more often than in the past. This trend is particularly evident in Southern Europe, where recent economic downturn has significantly diminished professional opportunities and career prospects. This study will investigate Spain, a country where unemployment has increased dramatically…

Despite the existence of early childhood education (ECE) settings since the mid 19th century and a substantial increase in the availability and accessibility of services over the last four decades, ECE in Malta still struggles to find its voice. Its introduction and development has been marked by erratic progress. The colonial heritage, the Roman…

The rapidly changing economy is raising the stakes on states to address the skilled workforce needs of employers and to expand economic opportunity to more people and places. To guide the policy actions of states, Jobs for the Future (JFF) designed a comprehensive policy agenda for increasing attainment of postsecondary credentials valued in the…

This article analyses online job advertisements to identify skills that are demanded in selected low- and medium-skilled occupations. We explore data from the publicly administered cross-European EURES job search portal and quantify the different cognitive and non-cognitive skills requested by employers in small European economies. While we find…

Human capital production is central to economic wellbeing from a national perspective: it improves productivity, spurs technological innovation, and promotes sustainable economic growth over time. Equally important, investments in human capital are central to economic wellbeing at the individual level. College graduates tend to earn more money,…

This handbook, first published in 2014, aims at helping policy makers and social partners understand some of the ways in which learning in the workplace can be encouraged and how its quality can be improved. It is also intended to help them understand some of the ways that such learning can be organised in a structured manner so that it benefits…

Social demand for higher education has more than doubled in the past 20 years. However, only one-third of all countries' higher education systems are enrolling more than 50% of the traditional age cohort. Despite major advancements in achieving higher levels of access and participation, inequalities and inequities in higher education persist and…

"If Not Now, When? The Urgent Need for an All-One-System Approach to Youth Policy" makes the case that the United States' disjointed approach to youth policy has failed young people. In the current fragmented system, pre-K-12, postsecondary education, and the workforce operate in silos that allow many young people to fall through the…

This short description contributes to better understanding of vocational education and training (VET) in Portugal, by providing insight into its distinctive features and highlighting system developments and current challenges. VET in Portugal offers a wide range of programmes, flexible in type and duration. Promoting equal opportunities and…

The student voice is currently absent from the employability agenda for higher education in the UK. A government-led neo-liberal model of employability, claiming what employers want when employing graduates, has been uncritically adopted by many universities in the UK to inform higher education strategy and policy. Many undergraduates and…