Soft skill acquisition is a topic of career readiness for high school students. Soft skills are known as noncognitive skills, life skills, or people skills and are important to develop in high school students for career readiness. Organizational leaders understand technical and professional skills without developed soft skills do not achieve…

The United States is currently experiencing a decline of skilled talent in the workforce, with healthcare occupations suffering the most due to a loss in workforce talent and the onset of an aging population. This talent shortage is attributed to a "skills gap." The current case study used qualitative methodology to examine the expansion…

This study sought to evaluate skills acquisition for self-reliance among graduates of technical colleges in Cross River State, Nigeria. Relevant literatures to the variable of the study was critically examined. Descriptive research design was adopted for this study. A sample of 241 graduates was used for the study. The sampling technique adopted…

Given changes in the 21st century workplace and expectations of employers, the notion that a bachelor's degree is the sole pathway to sustainable employment and a middle-class life in the United States has become obsolete. Many (e.g., Fleming, 2016) have argued that employers are now seeking employees with technical skills, digital literacy, and…

One in every six adults in the United States is an immigrant. These immigrant adults contribute to the vitality of local communities and economies across the country, but many also face barriers to integration and economic mobility, including limited English proficiency, varied levels of formal education, and persistent employment in low-wage…

While young people are generally better educated today than ever before, recent graduates tend to lack practical skills -- especially digital skills. Certification programs offer one effective way to address this digital skills gap. They give learners a way to gain the skills they need to compete, and also to demonstrate credibly that they possess…

Purpose: The study aims to investigate whether participation to massive open online courses (MOOCs) may lead to labor market returns and through which mechanisms such relative advantage may take place. Indeed, despite high figures of registered users, empirical studies on occupational returns are limited and MOOCs may represent a viable,…

The development of the modern global economy and the national competition in trade and commerce has intensified. Thus, overseas study as a major form of human capital formation in the Asian region tends to be regarded as an economic measure for enhancing workforce quality and national competitiveness. Mainstream discourses on international…

When it comes to digital literacy, how do we know what kind of skills America's workers need for the workplace, how they can best acquire them, and what competencies or credentials can help them signal their preparedness to employers? Over the past four months, National Skills Coalition staff interviewed business, education, and workforce leaders…

A goal of undergraduate geoscience programs is to prepare students for the geoscience workforce. In order to understand the extent to which programs succeed at this goal, we identified desired workforce skills, compiled undergraduate geoscience program requirements, and mapped workforce skills onto faculty responses to the 2016 National Geoscience…

This evaluation report describes the findings from a multi-year evaluation of the Youth Service Professionals' Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities Professional Development Demonstration and Evaluation Project (YSP/KSA Demo). The National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth (NCWD)/Youth conducted the YSP/KSA Demo to demonstrate the…

The Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grant represented an unprecedented investment by the federal government in integrated postsecondary education and workforce training offered primarily by community and technical colleges. Between 2011 and 2018, 256 grants totaling nearly $2 billion were awarded through…

This paper asks the question: Is now the right time to consider a statewide policy initiative to support increased access for Massachusetts community college students to paid internships that can help them improve their employment and earnings trajectory? Is this something that employers, colleges, and state leaders would see as a welcome…

The role the Oklahoma state system of higher education plays in meeting the state's workforce development goals has never been more vital. Public colleges and universities educate the state's teachers, nurses, doctors, and engineers. Graduates drive innovation, build companies, enrich communities, and strengthen the state's workforce in an…

The Office of Workforce Development (OWD) in New Orleans, Louisiana, with a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, implemented Career Pathways, an innovative program designed to increase the local talent pool and help lower-skilled, unemployed, and underemployed individuals train for work in growing fields. RAND Corporation researchers evaluated…