There is widespread international concern that young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and some ethnic minorities are less likely to continue education or training after compulsory schooling, or are less likely to follow the highest-status and prestigious routes. Based on work done in the UK, this paper presents the results of a systematic…

The aim of the article is to identify those factors that drive the high participation in immediate post-16 and higher education of some minority ethnic groups in the UK. What could we learn from these examples to encourage higher aspirations more generally? The article reports a summary of a formal and systematic review of 1678 studies dated 1997…

The impact of national education policies on programme design practice in post-compulsory education tends to be marginalised in scholarly literature. This paper reviews and analyses the literature to explore how neo-liberalist discourses introduced in tertiary education and qualifications policies in New Zealand since 1989 continue to influence…

This study examines the different types, and effectiveness, of collaboration used by providers to widen participation in further education and training in England between 2001 and 2003. The first section, an introduction, sets a scene for the study and definitions are offered for the main terminology--collaboration and widening participation. The…

In the UK, as in several developed countries, concern has been expressed by interested commentators about the apparent decline of post-16 participation in the "hard" sciences (especially physics and chemistry). While formal full-time participation in 16-19 education and higher education has increased since the 1990s, both the relative and absolute…

This article explores the provision and effectiveness of student support in higher education through a review of literature and a case study of the support available to students in one English post-1992 university. Our investigation focuses on students' awareness and experience of both university-wide student support and guidance services and the…

The article argues the case for rethinking the way we look at the process of ageing in the work place and the images we use to describe the nature of life for people over 50. Rather than there being more old and frail people in the community, many more people are experiencing an extended middle age, and their numbers are increasing. There are in…

Cultural change in British further education colleges has been influenced by political pressures to reduce costs and widen participation. Resulting polarization of values between administrators and faculty is more complex than it appears, involving competing agendas of management, faculty, support staff, and students. (Contains 41 references.) (SK)

Comparison of management in further education colleges in Britain, Regionale Opleidingen Centra in the Netherlands, and lycees professionnels in France found they operate in different administrative and cultural contexts but are affected by similar pressures and issues, particularly in three areas: managers' role in education, management of…

The British government's widening participation agenda is influencing policy and culture in further education colleges. Evidence from five colleges suggests that the principle is established as a strategic imperative, although the impetus is more financial than moral/humanistic. Responsiveness tends to be project based: where resources are most…

A review of research on effectiveness and improvement in schools and colleges found the improvement literature comparable in methods and findings; effectiveness research differs. Each sector could usefully adapt approaches from the other. College research needs more synthesis and wider dissemination. (Contains 90 references.) (SK)

The British Labour Government's New Deal, a welfare-to-work initiative, has received widespread media attention. Content analysis of press releases illustrates how the government has tried to shape media messages and public perceptions of welfare reform in its presentation of this program. (SK)

A review of labor education in Britain examines the role of expert systems and an environment characterized by risk and reflexivity. Concludes that union education is hampered by the emphasis in lifelong learning rhetoric and policy on individuals and full-time, younger learners as well as by employer reluctance to participate. (Contains 45…

In the 1990s, the meaning of lifelong learning has shifted to focus on economic rather than social goals. Current policy issues in the development of a training/learning culture include competency-based training, demand-side responsibility for training, increased emphasis on learning in the workplace and the role of workplace trainers. (Contains…

Research on education-to-work transitions perpetuates a predictable, linear pathways model that is no longer appropriate. Alternative approaches include vocational focus, occupational focus, contextual focus, altered patterns, and mixed patterns. Using a different framework necessitates changes in data gathering and analysis. (SK)