As Mississippi prepares to support the statewide postsecondary attainment goal, understanding the returns to higher education is crucial to determining where to invest resources. Ithaka S+R has partnered with the Woodward Hines Education Foundation to provide Mississippi policymakers, advocates, and legislators with information they need to make…

That some form of education beyond high school will be essential to future economic prosperity--both individually and collectively--is widely accepted. It is not lost on students and families, who consistently cite the need to be prepared for the workforce as the most important factor in choosing to enroll. And it is not lost on policy makers, as…

This book examines access, lifelong learning and education for all, which have been policy preoccupations in all countries for more than half a century, but have been overlaid and pushed aside by the development of mass higher education. The authors examine what has been achieved, what lessons have been learnt and what still remains to be done,…

This report examines how digital credentials and learning and employment records (LERs) are shaping the ways people access education and career opportunities around the world. In this report, the authors share key findings from their research on digital credentials and LERs and present three detailed case studies of initiatives to govern and…

It is generally accepted that education is a powerful enabler of social mobility in the modern world. However, access to quality and specialized education is still highly unequal, creating pathways for some groups of people and barriers to others. This dissertation explores three approaches to understanding and addressing inequalities of…

This study focuses on the gender dimension of labour market transitions and its implications for policymaking in the areas of active labour market policies, career guidance, and skills development. The ETF initiated this research to map how activation and skills development policies are gaining importance in the neighbouring countries of the…

Students are juggling multiple, competing priorities such as work pressures, parenting, debt, and degree affordability, as they seek the best educational decisions for their economic mobility and life goals. Driving questions of quality has been the recent effort of states to set and increase postsecondary attainment rates. These rates typically…

We report the results of a survey applied to students and professionals in the area of physics in Brazil, pursuing to draw a portrait of the composition of this community in terms of the social markers of difference age, race, ethnicity, geographical origin, sex, gender, sexual orientation, and disabilities. The main goal was to quantify the…

In the last decades, developed economies have witnessed significant declines in wages for low-skill workers, increases in employment in high-skill occupations, rapid diffusion of new technology, and expanding offshoring opportunities. Labor markets in developed countries have reallocated labor from manual to cognitive jobs and from routine to…

Changing labour markets, increased calls for selection and excellence, and increased diversity and individualisation have repercussions on how educational systems can prepare youth for work, optimise knowledge production, achieve equality of opportunity, and socialise students into active civic engagement. This paper discusses four central tasks…

Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) is widely considered an important tool in strengthening the school-to-work transition, reducing poverty, and achieving economic growth. However, significant barriers prevent girls in Nepal from realizing such opportunities. This paper, drawing from field research and desk review, identifies…

The SDGs mark the clearest global acceptance yet that the previous approach to development was unsustainable. In VET, UNESCO has responded by developing a clear account of how a transformed VET must be part of a transformative approach to development. It argues that credible, comprehensive skills systems can be built that can support individuals,…

In this article, I aim to determine whether, in view of the trend of educational expansion in recent decades in Brazil, the role played by schooling in the labor market of Brazilian major metropolitan regions has changed, becoming positional rather than absolute. To this end, I analyze the influence of schooling on people's income and occupational…

Higher education could be one of California's most effective tools for combating economic and social inequities. College graduates experience large wage gains and their jobs offer more benefits than those of workers without bachelor's degrees. College graduates are also relatively insulated from recessions--including the current downturn--and…

Throughout Baltimore, men and women, from young adults to older workers, are seeking meaningful employment opportunities that offer family-sustaining wages and support personal well-being. Labor markets are tight, meaning that skilled workers are in great demand, and a unique prospect exists to open doors to quality jobs, particularly for those…