The purpose of this quantitative study was to identify the workforce skills perceived to be critical in the Chattanooga region, and to explore how colleges and businesses can partner to effectively develop those skills. Data from a June 2011 survey of workforce stakeholders in the Chattanooga region were analyzed. The 78 survey respondents…

Workforce development represents a central priority in a comprehensive effort to create wealth, industry thickening, and broad-based prosperity. From the onset of the Great Recession in 2007, the Sacramento Region experienced anemic economic growth and remained behind the nation in job creation. Contextualized in the aftermath of the economic…

Six evaluations of vocational training (VT) in a territorial context (TC) that were conducted in Italy, France, Portugal, Germany, Great Britain, and Spain were compared for the purposes of constructing a coherent synthesis of the issues developed in them, establishing strategic vectors for the construction of a reference framework for the…

The generic skills needed for the new economy were identified through a review of research studies. First, the development of sets of key competencies/key skills in Great Britain, the United States, and Australia were examined. The U.S. model, which involves a broader, more flexible, and more holistic set of generic skills, was contrasted with the…

In May 1991, a survey was conducted of businesses and industries in the Mid-Mon Valley in Pennsylvania to develop a profile of the companies, determine their competitiveness and expansion since completion of a 1987 Business Outreach Survey, determine their use of technology, identify training needs for the Mid-Mon Valley, and examine how companies…

This paper describes and analyzes general issues and examples of good practice in work-based learning relative to higher education in the United States, and applies them to comparable situations in the United Kingdom. Higher education has re-evaluated work-based learning to respond to changing socioeconomic conditions, such as the needs to…

This report presents findings of a study of the theoretical and practical methods of access to continuing vocational training. It summarizes six reports that compare the following: the construction sector in Spain, France, Italy, and Luxembourg; the banking, insurance, commerce, and administration sectors in Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, and…

These three papers are from a symposium on human resource development (HRD) professional development. "Mentoring as a Tool for Faculty Development: Predicting Positive Outcomes for Mentors" (Ellen J. Mullen, John Van Ast, Harry Grant) describes a study of the relationship between mentoring outcomes and mentoring activities and mentor and mentee…

This summary of proceedings includes papers from and about a workshop on technical education in Nigeria and the lessons Nigeria may gain by examining the vocational and technical education systems of Germany, the United States, Great Britain, and Japan. The following papers are included: "Foreword" (Iyorchia Ayu); "Introduction: A…

During the past decade of adult education, the concepts of career education and lifetime learning have increased in importance. Federal involvement in adult education has increased without a conscious sense of direction, and will undoubtedly continue to increase, leading to greater political pressures on administrators. On the other hand, the…

This book presents empirical evaluations of the effects of different types of training programs in East Germany. Chapter 1 presents an overview of labor, the study objectives and results, and discussion of causality and the identification problem in evaluation studies. Chapter 2 examines point estimates of the effects of two types of continuous…

On an overall basis, the United States is still the cheapest free world country in which to produce goods. If the United States is to retain this distinction, however, steps must be taken to reverse the trend toward yearly declines in the rate of gain in U.S. productivity. One way in which vocational education can help increase the productivity of…

Theories influencing the development of trends in career and technical education (CTE) in Europe, the United States, and the Republic of China (Taiwan)were examined. The analysis established that, when determining the goals of CTE and areas of focus of efforts to improve CTE curricula and delivery, European countries focus on theories related to…

The Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the University Teknologi MARA, Malaysia, developed an undergraduate-level engineering curriculum that balances national interests with those of employers and academics. The curriculum was based on materials posted at the Internet sites of universities in the United States, United Kingdom, and Malaysia…

This document contains three symposium papers on advances in distance learning. "The Adoption of Computer Technology and Telecommunications: A Case Study" (Larry M. Dooley, Teri Metcalf, Ann Martinez) reports on a study of the possible applications of two theoretical models (Rogers' Diffusion of Innovations model and the Concerns-Based…