Low high school graduation rates and sharply declining employment rates among disadvantaged youth have led to increasing numbers of youth who are disconnected from both school and work. What programs and policies might prevent these disconnections and improve educational and employment outcomes, particularly among young men? We review the evidence…

The implementation of business starting education in higher vocational colleges is of important and realistic meanings for cultivating advanced technology application-type talents and for releasing the employment obtaining pressure of higher vocational students. Based on the analysis on the employment situation of higher vocational graduates, this…

In recent years, the level of participation and attainment by Indigenous Australians in education and training has improved, yet substantial gaps still exist between Indigenous Australians and non-Indigenous Australians. Education has to be a key focus if the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous employment rates is to be closed. This report…

The idea of pathways indicates many possible journeys to some destination or outcome. Hence, even if everyone agreed that Indigenous school leavers should be moving towards "productive" employment, it is not easy to talk about "what works" as there are different paths that may suit different people. Indeed given the diverse…

This report is Iowa's response to the four questions that the United States Department of Education, Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE), requires of all states and territories receiving federal funding through the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), Title II, Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA). The overall goal of…

Going directly from high school to college is not possible for everyone. Many who go to college will not do so straight out of high school, and many more need to work to pay for college. Good jobs for people without college degrees certainly still exist, although they are on a steady decline as computers and related technology take over routine…

In 2008 as part of a national push to increase Australia's skill levels, the Council of Australian Governments agreed on targets that would see, by 2020, a doubling of diploma and advanced diploma completions and a halving of the proportion of 20 to 64-year-old Australians without at least a certificate III. Such targets assume there is a…

This study used records from a state-operated comprehensive rehabilitation center to investigate possible predictive factors related to completing comprehensive rehabilitation center programs and successful vocational rehabilitation (VR) case closure. An analysis of demographic data of randomly selected comprehensive rehabilitation center…

This technical paper contains information about the variables in the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) Year 1998 cohort data set. It groups each variable into data elements which identifies common variables within and across waves. Information is provided about each data element including its purpose, values, base populations and…

This paper was presented to a meeting of the Wellington Exchange, an international group of higher education officials, in December 2008. One of the topics of the meeting was around the issue of possible skills shortages emerging as a result of demographic trends, with the ageing of the population of developed countries. The paper argues that this…

Working in some capacity is almost considered de rigueur for tertiary students. The reasons for working and the impact this has on both an individual's ability to complete their studies and on their post-study labour market outcomes are only recently receiving attention. Using the 1995 and 1998 cohorts of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian…

This technical paper contains information about the variables in the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) Year 95 cohort data set. It groups each variable into data elements that identify common variables within and across waves. Information is provided about each data element including its purpose, values, base populations and relevant…

"Research Messages 2008" is a collection of summaries of research projects published by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research in 2008, including conference papers and occasional papers. It also has an overview of the research highlights for the year. The summaries are clustered under five broad themes used by NCVER to…

Not being able to hire people with the required skills is an obvious impediment to the productivity and prosperity of any organisation and, ultimately, to a country's economy. An equally important concern for employers is how to keep skilled employees and how to use their skills fully. This report examines the ways in which Australian employers…

This annual publication provides a summary of training activity in apprenticeships and traineeships in Australia, from the period 1998 to 2008, including information on training rates, attrition rates, completion rates, training within the trades and duration of training. The figures in this publication are derived from the National Apprentice and…