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Many Japanese women temporarily leave their jobs during the childrearing phase. In this paper, the author summarizes the present situation and causes of this interruption of work by Japanese women in the childrearing phase, mainly by re-aggregating the results of the National Survey of Households with Children conducted by the Japan Institute for Labour Policy and Training in 2012. This analysis revealed that 62 per cent of all women in the childrearing phase, and of these, 56 per cent of those with a university degree or higher educational background, are classified in 'interruption type' career courses. The regular employee ratio of women in 'interruption type' employment is 36 percentage points lower than those in '(job) continuation type' employment, and their average annual incomes are also only about half. Around 60 per cent of women in the childrearing phase think it ideal to continue working after childbirth, exposing a wide gap between ideals and realities when it comes to balancing work with childcare. Possible factors behind the expansion of job interruption in the childrearing phase to women from higher educational backgrounds include the fact that the gender-specific role expectations placed on women (responsibility for housework and childcare) remain as high as ever, and that job interruption is influenced by male-centered Japanese-style employment practices.

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This chapter considers the changing relevance of the concept of ‘beruf’, which denotes a person’s occupational identity, status and capacity and which is at the centre of the German vocational education and training (VET) system. While the dual system has been credited for the generally high skills level and productivity in Germany, whether it is able to respond adequately to structural changes in the economy and the organisation of work, as well as to demographic developments and whether the qualifications produced are meeting emerging demands has been a topic of debate for some time. Tensions arising out of these changes have put the ‘beruf’ concept under pressure, pulling VET in the direction of academic education (knowledge) on the one hand, and towards more training for employability (skills) on the other. This chapter addresses the following questions: What is the significance of initial VET in the entire system? What is the meaning of ‘beruf’ as the organising principle of German VET? What are the specific features of an ‘ausbildungsberuf’, the main qualification type of the German qualification system? How are the qualifications of the dual system used in the labour market? What are the main challenges for the ‘beruf’ as the governing principle of VET from the labour market and educational point of view and how does the system react to these? What might be the impact of the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) on national developments? Show less

This paper analyzes the returns to schooling among Chinese rural migrants using data from the 2002 and 2007 China Household Income Project. [The author’s] nonparametric estimates show substantial dispersion and heterogeneity in the schooling rates of return among migrant workers. While the returns to schooling for the overall sample have increased over time, this result is mainly driven by the substantial increase in female migrants’ schooling coefficients. The schooling rates of return are also found to increase with migrant workers’ education levels. [The] birth cohort analysis shows that the patterns of the evolution of schooling returns during 2002-2007 are still present even after considering the effects of changes in migrants’ age structure and in unobserved ability distribution during 2002-2007.

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This report explores the relationships between poor health and transitions between different types of employment. Poor health is associated with low levels of participation in paid employment and therefore increased risk of poverty. The work experiences of people with poor health have been the subject of limited quantitative research, despite the fact that negative labour market experiences may well be a strong predictor of poverty. This report: identifies that self-reported poor health is associated with a reduced propensity to be employed; finds those reporting problems with alcohol or drugs are the least likely to be in employment; pinpoints that employed people reporting poor physical or mental health are more likely to move from permanent to temporary work; ascertains that people reporting poor mental health have a significantly increased likelihood of moving from full-time to part-time work; and recognises that qualifications can play a role in mitigating the negative impact of poor health on labour market transitions, but cannot overcome them altogether.

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The TAFE National Centre for Research and Development conducted a comparative analysis of post-trade courses relevant to the oil industry in September 1985. This second project extends the work done in 1985 to include welders and it reviews some of the earlier rankings. It also proposes ways of dealing with the equivalence of other (overseas) qualifications at post-trade level. The objectives of the review were to: assess all welding courses and incorporate the results of the assessment into the Oil Companies' Schedule of Post-Trade Courses; to review several courses to re-determine their rankings within the Schedule; and recommend an approach to determining the equivalence of other qualifications, including those from overseas. Recommendations are set out under the following headings: fabrication and welding; industrial electronics; fluid power; mechanical; course options and combined evaluations; vertical ranking scale; future considerations and overseas qualifications. Show less

This guide provides trainers and assessors with a set of materials which focus on processes that will assist employees working at the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) level 3 to gain the necessary skills and confidence to enable them to participate in training aligned to higher level qualifications. These qualifications balance technical aspects of construction work with supervisory and management responsibility. The guide is comprised of three learning modules and two supporting resources. Show less

Matriculation results have previously been used as reasonable predictors of first-year students’ academic performance at university. Although there have been some improvements in access to education for many South Africans, the quality of the National Senior Certificate (NSC) introduced in 2008 remains uncertain. The purpose of the study reported on was to determine whether matriculation subjects’ scores can be predictors of students’ academic success in the first year of the Bachelor of Optometry (BOptom) programme. The files of 84 first-year optometry students who wrote the NSC examination from 2009-2011 were reviewed and their matriculation scores were recorded. These scores were compared to their results in modules in their first-year BOptom programme. There was a weak correlation between students’ matriculation and first-year optometry results. Overall, the matriculation scores showed a weak correlation between the first semester average and overall first-year marks. Thus, the study found that NSC scores cannot be used as sole predictors of students’ academic success in the first year of the BOptom programme.

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This new course aims to provide graduates with a background knowledge and understanding of the nature of the accounting and finance industries and a basic level of skills in accounting and finance. It will also provide graduates with advanced standing in advanced diploma courses conducted by the Canberra Institute of Technology. Show less

For the past 20 years, researchers worldwide have shared a consensus that tracking leads to failure in school. But educational systems continue to use this practice for many reasons. One argument used to support the practice is that students who enter the vocational track early in their careers tend to enter the labour market more quickly. Data show, however, that when these people are in their 40s, they become the most vulnerable to poverty, especially during periods of economic recession. In addition to moving towards more comprehensive educational systems as the best long-term way to improve the chances of all future adults, our research demonstrates that schools can play a key role in preventing and reversing the risk of unemployment and poverty of low educated youth. The INCLUD-ED project has analysed effective actions in eight European countries (Slovenia, United Kingdom, Italy, Austria, Romania, Belgium, Finland, and Spain) that respond to the educational needs of those who have experienced tracking. These effective alternatives are vocational programmes that include an academic-type of curriculum and allow students to move to higher education, as well as adult education programmes in schools which meet families' training needs, improving their opportunities in the labour market.

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OECD’s Education Committee, together with its Employment, Labour and Social Affairs Committee, endorsed a new activity on policies for information, guidance and counselling services in 2000. The main aim of the activity is to understand how the organisation, management and delivery of these services can help to promote key policy activities such as lifelong learning for all and active labour market policies. Fourteen OECD countries were involved in this activity: Australia; Austria; Canada; the Czech Republic; Denmark; Finland; Germany; Ireland; Korea; Luxembourg; the Netherlands; Norway; Spain; and the United Kingdom. Information about these countries was gathered using a national questionnaire, country visits, commissioned papers and meetings of national experts and policy makers.

This paper, jointly commissioned by the OECD and the European Commission, aims to provide an international comparative analysis of the skills, training and qualifications of guidance workers so that the challenges facing these aspects of guidance provision at the beginning of the 21st century can be identified. The paper highlights that in most countries, there is no mutual recognition of guidance qualifications between the education and labour market sectors, nor any facility for progression from non-expert to expert guidance worker status. There is also considerable variation in the role of government determining/influencing the content and methodology of training and little use is currently being made of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and distance education to deliver training to guidance workers. Areas of training where more attention is needed include use of ICTs in the delivery of career information and guidance, working with, and through, non-professions, and increasing globalisation and internationalisation of education and employment.

Documents from the OECD review of career guidance policies are indexed from TD/TNC 73.122 to TD/TNC 73.151. Show less