A study explored informal learning in relation to online communications and working class people's use of computers as a socially situated practice rooted in collective, communal relationships. It drew on analysis of online learning workshop participation in specially initiated sessions among Canadian labor activist/educators. Findings were based…

Life Online is an online program in Victoria, Australia designed for young adults with mild intellectual disabilities. The program appeals to both teachers and students through content that is relevant to the everyday lives of this client group; real life characters to whom students can relate; activities that are achievable but need teaching and…

A study determined differences among the levels and types of career indecision within and between two cross-cultural groups of undergraduate students from two counseling centers. The groups were 88 University of Pittsburgh students and 79 Universidad del Pacifico, Peru, students. The Indecision Scale of the Career Decision Scale (CDS) was used to…

Western enterprises confront an era of global competition in which industry leaders can no longer overlook negative effects originating from past Taylorist and autocratic organizational structures. Corporate leaders are exploring innovative methods to change their organizations from the Taylorist model to workplace environments that foster worker…

Drawing on data collected from students attending Australian rural- and urban-based universities, structural modeling was used to test the validity of a model of student persistence and satisfaction in agricultural courses. The model placed personal and environmental factors as predictors of student persistence and satisfaction and was comprised…

Although the National Targets for Education and Training in England and Wales include indicators for lifelong learning, and the progress towards the targets set for these indicators has been lauded by politicians and other observers, much of this apparent progress is actually accounted for by changes in these same indicators. However, once the…

An exploratory study was the first part of an extensive study of retention in vocational education and training (VET) modules in Australia. These four major categorical variables were used to explore patterns in the withdrawal rate: year, gender, state/territory, and area of study/discipline. Withdrawal rates declined significantly from 1995-97.…

One of the major structural changes facing European economies is the adjustment to an older and more slowly growing population. Aging and lower fertility rates will result in a smaller proportion of the population being in the working age, especially after the year 2010. Estimates are that by 2030 there could be only 2 employed persons for every…

A study was conducted to determine what factors account for the wide Canada-Sweden literacy gap, and what lessons can be learned from such a comparison that may help reduce the incidence of low literacy skills in Canada. The study found that the incidence of low literacy skills (failing to exceed level 2 in all three literacy domains--prose,…

In all societies, there is a new interest in the education of women, their role in society, and their place in the economy. Western societies have moved away from single-sex education in the past few decades, but recent research and experience has begun to highlight again the value of single-sex colleges and schools. Changes in working patterns…

Young people must prepare themselves for lifelong learning and frequent job changes. Optimists predict a new world of work with many creative, interesting, satisfying jobs; pessimists believe society will finally run out of work and foresee unemployment and social downgrading for a majority of people. There are indications at present of both…

Successful implementation of the technological and vocational education (TVE) system has been a major factor in Taiwan's rapid economic development. In the 1999-2000 academic year, 1,034,289 TVE students account for 57.7 percent of students in upper-secondary and post-secondary schools. The junior high school technical arts program gives students…

A survey was conducted of a randomly-selected sample of TAFE (Training and Further Education) graduates in Australia who completed vocational education and training (VET) qualifications during 1999 and of TAFE students who successfully completed some training ("module completers") and left the TAFE system. Analysis of the responses of…

An approach is needed that recognizes a "system" of pathways results from an interaction between Australian pathway designs and reforms of policymakers on the one hand, and the decisions by young people and their families on the other. (Pathways are combinations of education, training, and employment activities that can be taken to…

This paper sets out career-related stories of people and their struggle to make sense of a life through work. They show that career management is not primarily a matching process but, for most, the making of a life the best way one can. The nine stories from five continents have these focuses: a feeling for a career; a career is other people or…