Soft skill acquisition is a topic of career readiness for high school students. Soft skills are known as noncognitive skills, life skills, or people skills and are important to develop in high school students for career readiness. Organizational leaders understand technical and professional skills without developed soft skills do not achieve…

Despite the growing diversity of careers in Primary Industries, young peoples' pursuit of agricultural careers is often hampered by outdated perceptions of the sector and its opportunities. As Primary Industries adapt to the threat of natural disasters by turning to scientific and technological solutions, a diverse, highly skilled workforce will…

The development of the modern global economy and the national competition in trade and commerce has intensified. Thus, overseas study as a major form of human capital formation in the Asian region tends to be regarded as an economic measure for enhancing workforce quality and national competitiveness. Mainstream discourses on international…

This study explored the impact of a seven-college consortium called "Credentials to Careers" (C2C), which was created to foster innovative programs to retrain unemployed and displaced workers for STEM, advanced manufacturing and health-care-related careers, on students' self-efficacy. Using the Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale, we…

This evaluation report describes the findings from a multi-year evaluation of the Youth Service Professionals' Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities Professional Development Demonstration and Evaluation Project (YSP/KSA Demo). The National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth (NCWD)/Youth conducted the YSP/KSA Demo to demonstrate the…

The Linking Learning to Careers (LLC) program offered high school students with disabilities an individualized and targeted approach to strategically plan for their futures. The Vermont Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) designed LLC to build on its usual services for high school students to emphasize unpaid and paid work-based learning…

Universities, health services and health students have a vested interest in the development of work-ready graduates to improve employment prospects, standards of practice and healthcare outcomes. Work integrated learning supports the transition of theoretical knowledge into professional practice, thus preparing students for their work following…

This single-case study utilized the data from a successful career and technical education (CTE) program at a public high school in southwest Texas. The CTE program selected addresses the needs of an at-risk student population in a public school district in southwest Texas whose student population was primarily Mexican American. The opportunity to…

Purpose: Educational programmes that are concerned with the learning and teaching of enterprise education, such as enterprise focused degrees and/or modules, could be argued to be of particular interest to human resource development (HRD) research since they commonly have an overt focus on influencing and shaping the career choices of students.…

The American Association of Community Colleges' (AACC) Plus 50 Initiative (2008-2011), funded by The Atlantic Philanthropies, was created to build the capacity of community colleges nationwide to develop programming that engages the plus 50 learner. The Initiative supported a pilot group of 13 two-year institutions to develop or expand college…

Service-learning is a relatively new pedagogy which uses service activities to support traditional teaching methods, giving students a better understanding and ability to remember and carry out functions/skills taught in class. Although its use in an HRD course has rarely been reported in the literature, the teaching methods appear to be ideal for…

This symposium is comprised of four papers on university human resource development (HRD) programs. "Passions for Excellence: HRD Graduate Programs at United States Universities" (K. Peter Kuchinke) presents an analysis of case studies that reveals convergent and divergent themes related to the genesis of programs and subsequent…

From 1991-93, 2,147 dislocated workers from timber-impacted counties of Washington state received Timber Retraining Benefits (TRB), with 81% using the aid to attend a state community or technical college. To determine the impact of the TRB program on the dislocated workers and their timber communities, the Washington State Board for Community and…

The Prince George's County (Maryland) Public Schools and Prince George's Private Industry Council worked together to provide workplace literacy classes at worksites for employees of 10 different employers. Over 300 employees participated in classes in English as a second language or basic skills. Businesses in need of literacy and basic skills…

Assesses the current demand for and range of vocational education programs in the United States, describing participation, program availability, teaching methods, effectiveness, student and employer attitudes toward vocational education, the importance of federal funding, and needs for improvement and changes in program content and support. (PGD)