We estimate labor market returns to terminal associate's degrees and certificates, with a particular focus on how returns for different credential types evolve over a longer period of time (eleven years post entry) than most of the prior literature. We also explore how returns vary depending on labor market conditions and on which labor market…

This dissertation presents three separate essays. The first two essays explore the gender wage gap and its dynamics in urban China from 1995 to 2018. The first chapter decomposes the gender wage gap based on the observed wage for workers with a precise measure of the hourly wages. The first chapter examines the observed average gender wage gap in…

This paper presents an analysis of changes in occupational status and hourly earnings after workers experience a spell of nonemployment, during a period of stable but slow economic growth and a recessionary period. In addition, an effort is made to identify factors associated with changes in occupational status and hourly earnings, including a…

This third installment of "Hard Times" updates the previous analyses of college majors, unemployment, and earnings over the Great Recession. While there is wide variation by college majors, hard times have become better times for most college graduates, but the recovery is far from complete. Hard times are becoming better times for most…

The unemployment rate dropped to 7.8 percent in September, falling below 8 percent for the first time since January 2009. Furthermore, the share of working-age Americans who are employed increased to 58.7 percent, the highest level since May 2010. Employers added 114,000 jobs last month, and an average of more than 145,000 over the past three…

To increase the rate at which adult basic skills students advance to and succeed in college-level occupational programs, the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) developed the Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training, or I-BEST. In the I-BEST model, a basic skills instructor and an occupational instructor team…

Across OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries, governments are having to work with shrinking public budgets while designing policies to make education more effective and responsive to growing demand. The 2011 edition of "Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators" enables countries to see themselves in the light of…

A literature review was conducted to determine the impact of secondary vocational education on females. Literature on the following topics was reviewed: women in the labor market (wages and occupations, the role of women's wages in family income, and the future labor market); the vocational education system (issues and problems in vocational…

According to reliable statistical information from a wide variety of sources, the hospitality industry in the United Kingdom is a significant growth industry that employed more than 2 million people (7% of the country's work force) in 1994. Of those individuals, 685,000 were employed in catering services sectors (with hospitals, retirement/nursing…

This document, which contains information relevant to individuals planning their careers, employers, human resource planners, and training institutions, examines the skill needs of the South African labor market in 1998-2003. The preface presents a brief overview of the factors that have contributed to the high levels of unemployment and patterns…

Trends that will influence Kentucky's future were examined along with policy options for responding to those trends. According to the analysis, the effects of the new economy on Kentucky has been mixed. Although many Kentuckians have benefited from the new economy, the state's least educated and poorest residents are falling further behind the…

The current situation regarding training Massachusetts' workers for the new economy was reviewed. Special attention was paid to the following topics: Massachusetts and the skill-centered economy; opportunities for workforce system reform; skills demanded in the new economy; ways other states are building workers' skills; and the fragile setting…