This volume contains four studies covering various approaches and having different scopes for studying the problem of access to jobs and the role of education and training as criteria for recruitment. The first study, on the metropolitan area of Panama, covers all sectors of activity. It is based on a questionnaire administered to 80 companies to survey employers' personnel policy. The second study, on the two cities of Jakarta and Padang in Indonesia, covers four sectors of activity (hotels, construction, trade, and textiles). It is similar in other respects to the first study and deals with the same questions. Focusing mainly on the public sector in Kenya, the third study is an exploitation of existing statistical files (specially on the teaching profession and some specific occupations in the civil service). It discusses the issues of the rationale behind the changes in education and career patterns. The fourth study, on the Department of the Bouches du Rhone in the south of France, consists of a survey of six firms and some training institutions to demonstrate the complexity of interactions between the education system and the world of work. (YLB)