The research on the demand for skills in the U.S. economy is split over the issue of whether technological change has tended to increase or decrease job skill requirements. The question of whether job skill requirements have been rising is important to public policy debates concerning the skill gap, wage inequality, and the changing quality of…

Britain has attempted over the past decade to develop German-style youth apprenticeships through its Youth Training Scheme (YTS). YTS has the basic attributes considered essential to bridging school and work. The greatest achievement of YTS is that large numbers of employers were persuaded to provide work experience positions on short notice, and…

Although most people agree that not enough entry workers possess the skills required for success in the workplace, few individuals are able to articulate clearly why and where the skills gap occurs. Despite the popularity of blaming schools and curricula, little hard evidence exists to support the claim that U.S. secondary school performance is…

The old "nature versus nurture" argument has resurfaced in a new guise--the role of inherent ability or of education as the source of skill and the reason for achievement. Research shows that even one additional year of schooling raises a person's wages. Even when the relationship among education, productivity, and wages appears obvious, there is…

This book estimates and analyzes the changes currently under way in the U.S. workplace. The book's seven chapters are: (1) "The Pressures To Restructure Employment" (effects of labor law and public policy, increased competitiveness, new markets, financial restructuring, investor pressures, new management techniques, faces and effects of…