Motivated by the large differences in labor market outcomes across college majors, we survey the literature on the demand for and return to high school and post-secondary education by field of study. We combine elements from several papers to provide a dynamic model of education and occupation choice that stresses the roles of specificity of human…

The concept of learning outcomes is at the heart of many research programmes and policy responses. International surveys (from the International Adult Literacy Survey, back in the mid-nineties, to the forthcoming Assessment of Higher Education Learning Outcomes two OECD surveys), National Qualifications Frameworks or the European Qualifications…

This paper presents the results of an examination of the value of business postgraduate courses undertaken by Chinese students at UK universities: such courses cost many thousands of pounds in tuition fees alone. It seemed worthwhile to attempt to assess the benefits that might accrue to such students, especially in terms of their subsequent…

Recent media reports of teacher shortages across the country are confirmed by the analysis of several national datasets reported in this brief. Shortages are particularly severe in special education, mathematics, science, and bilingual/English learner education, and in locations with lower wages and poorer working conditions. Shortages are…

This paper uses one national case to illustrate how diverse ideological agendas of central state agencies contest the discursive space within which major education policy reforms are developed. In Aotearoa New Zealand in 1988, "self-managed" schools were promoted ostensibly to allow parents more say in their children's education and…

This paper estimates the distribution of educational returns by gender for India. While previous studies focus on mean returns, the variance of educational returns has important implications for policy-making and micro-level decision making with respect to education. If the variance of educational returns is large, it can leave large sections of…

In this paper, we consider the difficulties that a group of internationally educated female teachers (female IETs) encountered in the process of seeking certification in the Canadian Maritimes. We read their experiences in the context of neoliberalism, in particular how they are positioned in the labour force and also the teaching profession. We…

The characteristics, experiences and long-term prospects of young people outside the labour market and education have attracted widespread international attention in recent decades, and the specific category of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) has been a policy concern for the UK Government since 1997. This paper…

"Degrees of Freedom" challenges California to include currently and formerly incarcerated students in the vision set by the state's 1964 Master Plan for Higher Education--a vision of college access for all, for the benefit of the entire state. A college education strengthens economies, changes lives and renews communities, and yet, for…

"Degrees of Freedom" finds that California has not been adequately providing effective college opportunities for criminal justice-involved students, despite the fact that such access will help California build safer and more economically viable communities. This report is part of a larger initiative--Renewing Communities--to expand…

In 1988, the William T. Grant Foundation issued "The Forgotten Half," the final report of the Foundation's Commission on Youth and America's Future. Focusing on inequality in American society, specifically among non-college-bound 16-24 year olds, the report explored the challenges facing young people and the institutions that serve them.…

In 1988, the William T. Grant Foundation issued "The Forgotten Half," the final report of the Foundation's Commission on Youth and America's Future. Focusing on inequality in American society, specifically among non-college-bound 16-24 year olds, the report explored the challenges facing young people and the institutions that serve them.…

This paper examines the key issues at stake for national economies in increasing the number of PhDs to meet expected needs for human capital in science, technology and innovation using illustrations mainly from the European Commission's "Careers of Doctorate Holders" surveys on PhD labour market outcomes; it has been shown that PhD…

Governors are increasingly aware that the emerging economy will provide few well-paying jobs for workers who have not earned a postsecondary degree or a relevant workforce certificate. Fifty years ago, nearly 80 percent of all jobs required only a high school diploma or less and most paid a good wage. Fast-forward to data from 2013 and that number…

In our knowledge-based world, the societies that prosper are the ones that generate knowledge--through research, through the interwoven relationship between the academe and funded research bodies and with industry. They are the new "centre". It is strange indeed to think of the countries of the Arab Gulf States as the…