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…

This paper reports on recent research into enterprise skill profiles and workplace training practices in the Bangladesh manufacturing industry. The article presents survey and interview data for 37 enterprises across eight manufacturing sectors collected during a study for the International Labour Organisation. The research analysed enterprise and…

Successive governments, agencies and employer organisations have stressed the need for school leavers to be better prepared for working life, in particular, to achieve what are frequently termed employability skills; schools are expected to contribute to this policy agenda. Some academic commentators, however, criticise the concept of…

Recent research has established that small firms tend to develop and acquire the skills they need in different ways to those employed by larger organisations. More specifically, due to certain characteristics inherent to their small size, small firms generally display greater informality in their learning processes. As such, it is now broadly…

Entry to Employment (E2E) is a work-based learning programme aimed at 16-19 year-olds in England deemed not yet ready for employment, an apprenticeship or further education and training. Taking into account educational, social and personal circumstances which are often severely disadvantaged, it aspires to provide these young people with training…

Against the backdrop of training provision in the apartheid era and a description of the promulgation of a new skills development regime post-1994, this article considers the status and distribution of enterprise training in contemporary South Africa. It is found that reasonable progress is being made with training in large and medium-sized firms…

This article examines the claim that the Irish educational system was one cause of Ireland's rapid economic growth in the 1990s. For decades Irish economic policy has assumed that economic growth depended on foreign direct investment (FDI). During the 1990s, Irish exports largely comprised high-technology manufacturing products; foreign-owned…

Documents the growth in aesthetic service occupations and issues regarding employability: interpersonal skills, training, and social exclusion of those deemed unsuitable for "style" labor. Examines a Scottish training program that raises concerns about social control but may improve the employability of long-term unemployed persons. (Contains 40…

Analysis of data on 3,182 Swedish students compared those in workplace training arranged by their school with those trained in jobs acquired on their own (market governed). Girls had more of both types, especially school arranged. Those with market-governed training were three times more likely to avoid unemployment and had more positive attitudes…

Examination of the government role in labor force development in Singapore, Taiwan, and South Korean identified strategies and structures enabling the "East Asian Miracle" of economic development, including strong states with high autonomy regarding capital and labor, super-ministries linking institutions, and strong central control of education…

Uses the example of Germany to examine how a center for vocational education and training is created, the effects on national policies, and the basis for determining center-periphery relationships. Concludes that, because vocational education is embedded in sociocultural contexts, transnational transfer of vocational education systems may be…

In the post-Communist Eastern Europe, the scope and nature of vocational education are determined by labor demand, academic/general education is considered suitable for all ability levels, and responsibility for and financing of education has been privatized. Advantages of the new model--well-educated youth labor force and customized vocational…

Five case studies compared output-related funding (ORF) in Britain's Training for Work program with input-based funding used by the European Social Fund. The nature of incentives in ORF led to creaming and encouraged curtailed training for immediate employment. These perverse incentives make cost-effectiveness data misleading. (SK)

Korean economic development has been supported by early investment in public vocational education and training and a labor-force planning approach. Recent policy reforms emphasize quality and lifelong learning. Late-century economic changes signal a need to reassess the centralized employment-projections approach. (SK)

Based on research in South Wales, a sociological theory of participation in education and training is developed, identifying types of orientations: functional avoidance, instrumental credentialism, and vocational transformation. The inclusion of sociological insights in human-capital development policy is recommended. (SK)