Participation in job-related training as part and parcel of lifelong learning is widely advocated. While many empirical research about job-related training of employees are about advanced western economies, little is known about advanced Asian economies. To fill this void in the literature, this study applies the human capital, institutional and…

Data show that educated workers earn higher wages and are unemployed less often. Some researchers believe that education improves a worker's productivity (or "human capital"), making them more desirable on the job market, while others believe that it improves a worker's network (or "social capital"), giving them more…

The concept of learning outcomes is at the heart of many research programmes and policy responses. International surveys (from the International Adult Literacy Survey, back in the mid-nineties, to the forthcoming Assessment of Higher Education Learning Outcomes two OECD surveys), National Qualifications Frameworks or the European Qualifications…

There are many aims that have been articulated with respect to national qualifications frameworks (NQFs). Among them are those concerned with transparency, which is to say, that it is assumed that once employers understand the competencies of employees, as defined by their education credentials, then the mismatch between what employers are looking…

This paper reports on a study of the transition from university to work by students/employees in the complex and rapidly changing socio-economic context of contemporary Shanghai. It aims at understanding how highly educated young people perceive the nature and mode of operation of the newly emerging labour market for knowledge-based jobs, and how…

We study returns to academic specialisation for Indian corporate sector workers by analysing cross-sectional data on male employees randomly selected from six large firms. Our analysis shows that going to college pays off, as it brings significant incremental returns over and above school education. However, the increase in returns is more…

We concentrate on the following research questions: (1) Do the structure of the educational system and its interaction with the labour market affect the training gap between low-skilled blue collar workers and high-skilled white collar workers? and (2) Do the ways that institutional systems shape opportunities for lifelong learning differ between…

Addressing connections between higher education and "industry" framed by UK government creative industries strategies, this article draws on research with games design students to explore their transition from being a student to being "industry-ready". The article introduces broader currents within higher education around personal development and…

Formal education not only educates individuals, it reconstitutes the very foundations of society through a pervasive culture of education with a legitimate capacity to reconstruct work and its central components such as ideas about human productive abilities, new organisations and management, widespread professionalism and expertise, and the…

This article is concerned with the production and employment of technically skilled labour at the intermediate level in South Africa. Three differing labour market pathways to intermediate skilling are identified. These are: the traditional apprenticeship route, the new "Learnerships" pathway (similar to the "modern apprenticeship" schemes adopted…

Current UK skills policy is centred on the need to drive up qualification obtainment and make the system more employer-led with Sector Skills Councils (SSCs) being given the role of articulating the "voice" of employers. Through a study of recruitment and selection processes in the fitness industry, this paper explores employers' attitudes to…

By applying Amartya Sen's capability approach, this article questions the functionalist idea that suggests that education can precipitate economic growth and development. It will be argued that the freedom-centred perspective advances the concept of human capital and that it allows a deeper understanding of the relationship between higher…

Investments made to improve the educational level of the population are beneficial for the society. Nevertheless, in order to reap a considerable part of these benefits, there must be a fit between the trained human capital and the needs of the labour world. If this does not happen, an entirely undesirable educational gap will occur. This gap can…

This article examines the way students, making the transition from higher education into the labour market, construct, understand and begin to manage their employability. It draws upon a qualitative study of 53 final-year undergraduates in a pre-1992 university in the UK. It firstly explores students' perceptions of the current labour market for…

This article focuses on the impact of ethnic background on employment and earnings among people with a vocational education in Norway. I differentiate between three different groups: majority, first-generation non-Westerners and second-generation non-Westerners. Panel data from several public register databases of the entire population of…