Purpose: The present study aims to investigate the reasons for the gap between academic education and the required skills of the labor market in Iran. Design/methodology/approach: For this purpose, the authors adopted a thematic analysis method. The participants in the study were connoisseurs from universities and research institutes in Iran, who…

The overall aim of this two-year study is to understand effective practice and lessons learned from approaches to curriculum design and employer engagement by University Technical Colleges (UTCs). Researchers used a case-study methodology supplemented with management information and a survey of UTC students' views. Key findings include: (1)…

Purpose: The need for "job-ready" graduates has catalysed the development of non-technical skills in higher education institutions worldwide. Continued criticism of business school outcomes has provoked this examination of non-technical skill deficiencies in Australian business graduates. The purpose of this paper is to compare findings…

Hoping to motivate more California students to finish high school and find future success, the James Irvine Foundation last week announced a new center aimed at expanding work-based learning programs that integrate high-level academics. Called ConnectEd: The California Center for College and Career, the new project will seek to provide solutions…

Although there are many gaps between schools and the workplace, encouraging changes include erosion of the walls separating academic and vocational programs; better information about necessary skills, knowledge, and habits of mind; and emerging systemic plans to address the school-to-work transition issue. Helping all students learn work-related…

Uses a fable to make the point that professors in the academy must fashion the terms of the discourse about accountability and assessment so as to demonstrate that education is not entirely measurable by an increase in the tax base. Suggests that educators should work to shape surveys and other material to reflect the broader goals of an…

Government policy and student pressures are focused on future employability and appear intent on forcing higher education to be more transparently relevant to the workplace. This trend is threat to a broader view of education and the development of inquiring, innovative, critical thinkers, who are supposed to be in demand by employers. (SK)

This report discusses the problem of inadequate assistance for work-bound youth. The employment outlook for the typical work-bound high school graduate is gloomy due to a shrinking labor force and poorly prepared workers. Employer complaints of poorly trained youth, weaknesses of secondary vocational education programs, the increasing need for…

This bulletin argues that by integrating academic and vocational instruction into a unified curriculum, schools can ensure that students are better prepared to meet the challenges of careers and a changing society. Vocational education provides three broad areas of skills: entry level job skills, employability skills, and employment skills. But…

As welfare programs have grown more costly, it has become obvious that they merely treat the symptom, poverty, instead of the problem, unemployment. Jobs increasingly require higher levels of skills and better educated workers. Since the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 has ended the federal guarantee of…

Using data from three longitudinal surveys of American high school students, shows that vocational courses helped noncollege-bound students start their work life more successfully. Short- and medium-term payoffs to vocational courses rose substantially between 1972 and 1980 and remained high in 1992. Job-specific skills are valuable. (26…

This task list of workplace skills for collision repair and refinish technicians resulted from grant from the U.S. Department of Education to the National Automotive Technician Education Foundation (NATEF) of the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence. The skills list is integrated with academic skills. This document lists the…

Assessing the impact of participation in school-to-work systems on student performance allows practitioners to determine whether their system is providing young people with the skills required for academic and lifelong success. School-to-work assessment systems focus on three key areas: academic, broad workplace, and specific occupational skills.…

This primer is intended as a guide for the development and improvement of summer youth programs. The primer focuses on three common forms of summer academic enrichment strategies that combine work and learning: work-based learning strategies, classroom-based enrichment strategies, and summer jobs strategies. It includes information on the…

The Career Immersion program, which has been conducted since 1989-90 at Silver Spring Elementary School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, introduces the world of work to students at an early age. The program's primary activities involve hands-on, school-based learning in which all students participate. Students between the ages of 3 and 13 participate in 2…