European policy-making in vocational education and training (VET) needs to be supported by sound evidence. In this report, Cedefop has selected a set of 36 indicators to quantify some key aspects of VET and lifelong learning. The selection was based on the indicators' policy relevance and their importance in achieving the Europe 2020 objectives.…

The Australian economy is in transition. Its future prosperity will depend on greater economic diversification and on innovation and entrepreneurship, hallmarks of Industry 4.0. This has implications for skills development for future workers and for those needing to move into new jobs or roles. It also has a direct impact on apprenticeships--an…

Machines are eating humans' jobs talents. And it is not just about jobs that are repetitive and low skill. Automation, robotics, algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI) in recent times have shown they can do equal or sometimes even better work than humans who are dermatologists, insurance claims adjusters, lawyers, seismic testers in oil…

A review of the literature on corporate universities finds that the peak for research and publishing on the topic occurred between 1998 and 2002 and fell away considerably after 2005. Given the apparent lack of research during the past decade, the purpose of this paper is to present an insight into what has been happening to corporate…

In a diverse portfolio of curricular and programmatic options in colleges and universities, global education has become highly prominent over the past 50 years. To take one of any number of indices in this regard, the Institute of International Education (2014) reported that a record number of global students, 886,052, studied at U.S. institutions…

Cedefop's report "Learning while working: success stories on workplace learning in Europe" presents an overview of key trends in adult learning in the workplace. It takes stock of previous research carried out by Cedefop between 2003 and 2010 on key topics for adult learning: governance and the learning regions; social partner roles in…

Between 1991 and 1995, the percentage of employed workers participating in skill improvement training (SIT) for their current job increased from 30 to 32%. Participation in SIT increased for full- and part-time workers alike. In 1995, participation for a current job was highest among females and individuals in the 35-54 age group. Participation…

In the context of today's changing work world, analysis of training needs also must change. This book, designed for people in both industry and education who are directly or indirectly involved in helping people to learn in the workplace, encourages people to look beyond the common checklist approach to training needs analysis, which assumes that…

The impact of developments in work organizations on the skilling process in the Netherlands was studied through a macro analysis of available statistical information about the development of education for work in the Netherlands and case studies of three Dutch firms. The macro analysis focused on the following: vocational education in the…

This paper advances the argument favoring criterion-referenced/modular-based instruction (CRMBI) as applied to training and educational efforts in business, industrial, and military settings. CRMBI is defined as an instructional delivery system (along with the concomitant curriculum design and instructional materials development implications) that…

A study examined the role of employer training in ameliorating skill shortages and enhancing productivity and competitiveness. The study established that formal training by specialized personnel accounts for only 5-10% of the time newly hired workers are engaged in training activities and that existing labor market research instruments fail to…

This issue focuses on the National Alliance of Business's work with employers to sort out how certificates can most effectively indicate workplace skills and requirements and confirm that certified individuals possess them. "Skills Certificates Signal Competencies in a Demand-Driven Economy" discusses the needs to which certificates respond; how…

During the next two decades, vocational education will face a major challenge to keep up to date with technology. National crises usually lead to new technologies. The United States today faces major problems in the areas of energy, productivity, and foreign trade. Solutions to these problems will generate new knowledge and technology that will…

Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and several alternative data sets containing proxies for industries' rates of technological change (including the Jorgenson productivity growth series, National Bureau of Economic Research productivity data, and the Census of Manufacturers series on investments in computers, the Research and…

This paper briefly examines three publications that lay out strategies for U.S. economic competitiveness in the future: the U.S. Department of Education's report "America 2000: An Education Strategy," in response to the President's message of April 1991; the report of the Secretary of Labor's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills…