Delivering training in regional, rural and remote (RRR) Australia is not easy. Australia is a large, diverse country, and ensuring that training is suited to individual locations, which are unique in their landscapes, economies, industries and cultures, is challenging. There is an ongoing policy interest in making sure that the vocational…

Built for More, The Role of OST in Preparing Youth for the Future of Work will highlight OST research and illustrative practices and bring forward multi-disciplinary perspectives about future trends, innovations, and the impact of OST on the future workforce. The focus is on OST programs as well as related activities that contribute to…

This landscape report explores the impact of earning micro-credentials on the social mobility of rural learners. Through four in-depth case studies, we show how earning micro-credentials may lead to credential attainment, workforce entry, promotions, and/or economic improvements (e.g., salary increase, prioritizing learners impacted by poverty),…

Businesses throughout the United States are facing a tight labor market and a growing need for skilled workers. At the same time, millions of U.S. adults have foundational skills gaps in areas such as literacy or numeracy. This issue is especially acute among Americans with disabilities, who are twice as likely as their non-disabled peers to have…

The Mid-South Region of Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi as a long history of pervasive poverty and educational underachievement. According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2008), the poverty level of residents in the Mid-South Region is higher than the national average. Consequently, many of the region's best and brightest students of all…

New corporate practices and strategies, technological advances and rising job skill requirements are making postsecondary training a virtual necessity for a high-paying job. This is driving a wedge between the earnings of education "haves" and "have nots." Corporate restructuring is eliminating hundreds of thousands of jobs,…

This article, based on a research project covering rural employment and youth programs, examines success and failure of various federal public job programs, concluding that the programs generally have not provided rural workers with needed employable skills. (MF)

Driven by restructuring, marketplace competition, and technological change, rural electric co-ops are implementing early retirement and severance packages, instituting staffing changes to reflect changing functions and needed skills, hiring business managers to develop business strategies and marketing plans, providing consumer-choice advocates,…

Despite growth in the service sector, manufacturing remains a vital part of the rural South's economic base and is related to lower poverty rates. However, manufacturing is changing, adopting new technologies and management practices, and seeking more highly skilled labor. Poor rural schools, an unskilled workforce, and absence of community…

The structure and admission policy of secondary and postsecondary education in Egypt constitutes a culture of great prestige in general school and university education, as opposed to vocational school and technical education. Youth mainly from rural and underdeveloped urban areas enroll in technical education. Because of poverty, many girls and…

This report examines the potential pool of workers in nine rural New York and Pennsylvania counties, the characteristics of this labor pool, and barriers that make it difficult for these individuals to enter the workplace. The counties studied make up the southern tier of New York State (Broome, Chemung, Schuyler, Steuben, Tioga, and Tompkins…

This 52-week Tuskegee Institute project, undertaken in 1964 to train a sample of culturally deprived male heads of households in Alabama, included vocational skills (brickmasonry, carpentry, farm machinery, and meat processing), academic skills (mathematics, English, and remedial reading), group, individual, and family counseling, medical care,…

Describes research undertaken to improve measures of rural job skills, identify human capital initiatives supportive of rural development, and assess rural access to education and job training. Major themes include complexity of weaknesses and strengths in rural skills development systems, advantages of rural schools, and mutual reinforcement of…

Labor quality is a chief concern of both rural and urban manufacturing employers. New skills required by advanced technology explain part of the problem, but dissatisfaction with work attitude is common to high- and low-tech employers. Lack of a high school diploma is linked to problems with worker skills and attitude. Employers are increasing…

Wages rise with new technology and work organization practices, but so does the need for higher skill levels, particularly in computer use, interpersonal competence, and problem solving. Low-wage workers, who are concentrated in rural areas, are less likely to receive training. Encouraging training and skills enhancement among more vulnerable…