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A study explored the savings and/or costs associated with employers' decisions to use school measures--grades, teacher recommendations, school reputation--to screen job applicants. Using the results of the National Center on the Educational Quality of the Workforce's National Employer Survey, the analysis focused on two questions: (1) whether employers who have an effective connection with schools have lower recruiting costs because they are more successful in choosing new workers who "fit" the firm, and (2) whether these employers are more likely to invest in the training of these first-time workers during their first year of employment. An exploratory preliminary analysis yielded three principal answers. First, establishments that used school measures to screen job applicants had work forces with a smaller proportion of employees with less than 1 year of tenure. Second, within the manufacturing sector, establishments that used school measures to screen job applicants provided more training to new workers. Third, the results of the analysis suggested the existence of an education and training nexus. The same set of establishments did the following: used school measures to screen job applicants, invested in the initial training of new employees, provided tuition benefits, reported increased skill requirements for their jobs, and was more likely to have nonmanagers and nonsupervisors using computers. (Appendixes include variable definitions and survey questions and standard multivariate regression and logistic analyses results.) (YLB)

The National Center on the Educational Quality of the Workforce's National Employer Survey represents a unique source of information on how employers recruit workers, organize work, invest in physical capital, and use education and training in the workplace. The U.S. Bureau of the Census administered it as a telephone survey to a nationally representative sample of private establishments with more than 20 employees in both the manufacturing and nonmanufacturing sectors. Of the 3,358 establishments contacted, completed surveys were received from 1,621 manufacturing firms and 1,324 nonmanufacturing firms. Findings indicate that most employers provide some type of formal training program. Employers who have adopted some characteristics of "high performance work systems" and have made large investments in physical capital or have hired workers with higher average educational level are more likely to train workers within their establishment. Most employers are more likely to provide specific training, such as orientation for new workers, health and safety, and new methods or procedures training, rather than numeracy, literacy, and basic education. The type of training program offered varies considerably by employer size and industry. The determinants of the proportion of workers trained look similar to those of the probability of offering formal training. The impact of training investments by employers differs according to their nature, timing, and location. (Contains 16 references.) (YLB)

Some of the few U.S. studies on the link between training and productivity have used a subjective measure of productivity or a measure of the productivity of the most recently hired worker relative to a fully trained worker, rather than output, labor productivity, total factor productivity, or value-added measures. Administered by the U.S. Bureau of the Census as a telephone survey to a nationally representative sample of private establishments with more than 20 employees in both the manufacturing and nonmanufacturing sectors, the National Center on the Educational Quality of the Workforce's National Employer Survey represents a unique source of information on how employers recruit workers, organize work, invest in physical capital, and use education and training in the workplace. What makes this survey different from most other training surveys is its ability to examine the impact that all these factors have on the output of establishments and the wages of workers. A total of 1,621 of the 2,441 eligible manufacturing establishments returned completed surveys. Findings of the manufacturing part of the survey indicate that most employers provide some type of formal training program. Employers who have adopted some characteristics of "high performance work systems" and have made large investments in physical capital or have hired workers with higher average educational level are more likely to train workers within their establishment. The determinants of the proportion of workers trained look similar to those of the probability of offering formal training. The type and source of training are important determinants of the impact of training on productivity. (Contains 25 references.) (YLB)

A new model of public school district performance concerns the "employment relations" (ER) system within a school district--the policies, practices, and actions that govern relations between a district and its teachers. The model posits that the performance of public school districts is propelled by the quality of ER. Productive ER, indicated by low levels of administrator-teacher conflict and positive work attitudes held by teachers, has been posited to facilitate high levels of school district performance. Archival data on 180 public school districts in Pennsylvania, combined with survey data from 10,308 teachers from these districts, were used to test the model. Results show that productive ER in school districts is positively associated with the test pass rate and negatively associated with the dropout rate. These findings result after controlling for student socioeconomic status, per-student instructional expenditures, and the adequacy of school facilities. The study has managerial implications for school administrators because it focuses attention on the degree to which administrators effectively manage ER within schools. In conjunction with reform programs focusing on curricula and school funding, training administrators to manage ER could be a relatively inexpensive component of an overall scheme for improving public education. (Contains 59 references.) (YLB)

The relationship between skill demands, changing work organization, and performance was examined in a study of workers across 15 "benchmark" jobs in each of 8 public utilities. Skills issues were assessed by plant managers, workers, and their supervisors. Randomly selected managers/supervisors reported a series of performance measures for each employee. The response rate was 100% for supervisors and 85% for employees. A total of 91 supervisors responded, and there were 553 usable matched responses between supervisors and employees. Employees and supervisors alike considered basic academic or Foundation Skills (skills associated with more traditional, school-based education) more important than workplace competencies (more vocational/work-based skills). Foundation skills were deemed more important for improving performance than were workplace competencies, and deficits in foundation skills were associated with poorer overall job performance. The perceived need to improve foundation skills was associated with more positive attitudes and behaviors. It was further concluded that higher levels of the task-oriented aspects of jobs do seem to raise skill needs whereas the basic concepts associated with high-performance work systems do not. Interpersonal skills were the skills most stretched by both types of work organizations. (The survey instruments and tallied responses are appended. Contains 49 references.) (MN)

The relationship between school characteristics and labor market outcomes was examined through a literature review and an econometric analysis of the effects of various characteristics of the schooling experience on students' labor market performance after high school. Data from the National Center on Education Statistics' longitudinal survey of students (High School and Beyond 1980), were subjected to a number of regressions using two different models. It was discovered that schools make a difference in the labor market performance of those graduates who enter the labor market directly after high school. Some particular characteristics were identified as affecting earnings; however, the aggregation of the school characteristics assembled did not decisively explain differences in the job market performance. Attending a school where up-to-date local job listings were available and information on finding a job was provided, higher family income, higher school test scores, and participation in academic education were all linked with higher postschool earnings, whereas per-pupil expenditure, class size, teacher salaries, and teacher experience were not. (Appended are the following: summary of relevant studies; sources/definitions of variables; means and standard deviations for variables used in the regressions; and the two models.) (MN)

The National Center on the Educational Quality of the Workforce (EQW) completed its first analysis of data from the EQW National Employer Survey of 4,625 establishments that was conducted in conjunction with the Census Bureau to document the practices and expectations of employers in their search for a skilled work force and that elicited 3,347 responses (72% response rate). Among the main findings of the analysis were the following: (1) restructuring of the economy has not led to a deskilling of work; (2) the use of high-performance work systems among employers still remains the exception rather than the rule; (3) virtually all establishments (97%) make some investment in formal or informal (on-the-job) training; (4) on average, establishments consider just over 80% of their workers to be fully proficient in their current jobs; (5) there is little evidence that establishments are making significant investments in remedial training or basic education; (6) although employers consider years of schools and skills certificates when making hiring decisions, they pay little attention to measurements of school performance. (Appended are tables detailing the response rates of different groups of employers and the distribution of survey sample by industry and establishment size.) (MN)

A national survey was conducted to identify employers' practices and expectations in their search for a skilled and proficient work force. Of over 4,000 employers contacted, 3,347 participated. Establishments reported that just over 80 percent of workers were fully proficient in their current jobs. Neither the restructuring of the U.S. economy nor the rapid introduction of new technologies had led to a "deskilling" of work. Use of high-performance work systems remained the exception. Almost all establishments provided formal or informal training. The most common program taught the safe use of equipment and tools. Both the improvement of teamwork efforts and customer service ranked second. Training to use computers and other new equipment ranked a close third. Fifty percent of employers used equipment suppliers or buyers to provide training. Slightly more used private consultants (36 percent) and private industry councils or other industry associations (34 percent) than they did technical or vocational institutions (33 percent) and community or junior colleges (30 percent). Attitudes, communication skills, job experience, and industry credentials ranked higher than schooling measures in hiring decisions. Policymakers should do the following: help form partnerships between school and work, make educational performance measures and credentials more meaningful to employers, and help employers reevaluate the use of educational outlets as suppliers of training. (YLB)

This report reviews the personnel psychology literature related to training effectiveness and summarizes it into a three-dimensional matrix. Following an introduction, section II discusses how three components of training studies--training content, training method, and transfer of training--can be considered within a three-dimensional framework. Before discussing the three dimensions of the matrix, sections III and IV address two general areas of concern--worker performance and adaptability. They conclude that few studies make the connection between training effectiveness and performance and worker adaptability is not a well-documented construct. Section V describes the empirical studies that can be categorized by content area. It considers findings of studies that reviewed training in motor and technical skills, including computer skills training, and adaptability skills development, including interpersonal skill development, cross-cultural training, complex skill acquisition, and problem-solving skills. Section VI summarizes findings of research to determine whether a specific method of training is superior. It covers lecture, integrative learning, behavior modeling, and computer-assisted instruction. Section VII reviews research on the transfer of training and concludes that although several variables have been identified that contribute to the transfer of training, the relationship between them and successful transfer is still unclear. Appendixes include 5 endnotes and 69 references. (YLB)

The military is the largest educational and training institution in the United States and perhaps the world. Tangible benefits tied to military service include competitive pay, health care, paid vacation, and other perquisites. Compared to the civilian sector, the military has relatively more technicians, operators, mechanics, repairers, and transporters. A comparison of entry-level military jobs and civilian jobs shows that the former are rated as more complex. In addition, women and minorities have made considerable progress and enjoy more or less full-fledged member status, which includes equal rank, pay, and benefits. One of the most important benefits associated with the military is the opportunity to get an education. Furthermore, military educational benefits and effects do not end with time in service. Less tangible benefits are also associated with military service. Aside from solidifying and expanding basic academic and vocational skills, affiliation with the military imparts work attitudes and behaviors that are important factors in job performance and valued by employers in all sectors. As the military downsizes, employers will find at least in the short run a supply of able and valuable people to hire. Perhaps the biggest implication of downsizing for the work force is that the extensive opportunities provided by the armed forces will be open to fewer people. (Appendixes include 3 endnotes and 30 references.) (YLB)

Training issues can be examined from at least two perspectives: the structural level (macro-level) and the micro-level. Structural issues in the delivery of training include the following: absent or uneven corporate commitment, inadequate expenditures by businesses, degrees awarded by schools that do not guarantee skill mastery, poaching of trained workers, accounting rules that require training be treated as an expense and not an investment, inadequate government funding for retraining displaced workers, need for closer employer-school ties, and need for help from organized labor. Issues in the design, delivery, and evaluation of training efforts include an emphasis on the techniques and methods of training rather than the content and little emphasis on assessment of training outcomes. Training is critical to the implementation of four competitive strategies that firms use to compete for business in the marketplace and to gain competitive advantage--speed strategy, innovation strategy, quality-enhancement strategy, and cost-reduction strategy. Certain ground rules can enhance the likelihood that organizations and individuals will benefit from training. Before training, needs analysis should be done at multiple levels. During training, the objective is to select a training technique that accurately matches demonstrated training needs and to deliver training in a manner that maximizes learning, retention, and transfer. After training, long-term effects must be evaluated. (Contains 35 endnotes.) (YLB)

Although returns to military service may have been positive prior to Vietnam, since Vietnam the average veteran has neither benefited nor suffered economically from military service. Educational attainment is the primary reason veterans have earned more than nonveterans. Because the population as a whole has become more educated, military service does not seem to carry much of an economic advantage for the average veteran. This generalization must be tempered for three groups of veterans. The military functions as a highly effective jobs and scholarship program for minorities. Evidence consistently shows veterans with less than a high school degree do better than dropouts who do not enlist. Veterans trained in technical specialties comprise a third group that benefits from military service because their skills transfer readily to the civilian economy. Military reductions may exacerbate shortages of trained technicians and craftspersons. Policy makers should consider placing the burden of reductions in force on nontechnical occupational specialties. Since the military functions effectively as a jobs and scholarship program for minorities and the poor, another policy issue is how to ensure educational benefits to those who would be unable to acquire further education with military service. In addition, policies ought to be fashioned to create alternative forms of employment. (Appendixes include 4 endnotes and 32 references.) (YLB)

Technology and international competition have transformed business practices and employment patterns. The migration of high-paying jobs from manufacturing to services, the growing importance of small firms in the U.S. economy, and the development of new technical occupations characterized by often sophisticated technologies and the absence of clearly defined career paths and status have increased the importance of the college degree in today's job market. However, college degrees cannot in themselves ensure successful lifelong careers. The biggest challenge facing higher education today is finding ways of meeting the demand for college degrees that confer genuine job skills. Whether higher education will cope with the turbulence created by labor market changes is an open question. The pessimistic scenario holds that failure to respond adequately to labor market changes will eventually weaken higher education's credential monopoly. The optimistic scenario reaffirms the importance of college degrees in an increasingly competitive labor market. Optimists argue that colleges and universities will become more adaptive and more outletlike in their approaches to questions of delivery and overhead. (MN)

The methodology of five national surveys designed to estimate the scale and scope of training was analyzed to identify the reasons underlying the variability and unreliability of estimates of education and training. The five surveys were as follows: May Triennial Adult Education Supplement to the Current Population Survey, National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, Survey of Income and Program Participation, National Longitudinal Survey of High School Class of 1972, and High School and Beyond. The analysis focused on the following: fundamental purpose of each survey, population sampled, goodness of fit, and survey structure/design. The analysis established that the five surveys do not measure fully what they purport to measure. It was concluded, however, that when taken collectively, they provided an invaluable insight into the nature of work-related education and training in the United States. The following are recommendations for improving the surveys' reliability and capacity for measuring the scale and scope of education and training: (1) "bundle" questions focusing on incidence of work-related education and training with questions dealing explicitly with work and the skills needed for it; (2) include matched samples of employment establishments and employees; and (3) develop more explicit questions focusing on training credentials and certificates. (Contains 16 figures/tables and 19 references.) (MN)

Employer attitudes toward youth, the youth labor market, and prospects for a national system of youth apprenticeships were studied through a survey of firms that had participated in local youth apprenticeship or cooperative education programs in seven U.S. cities and focus group discussions with small and large employers in eight U.S. communities. The studies established that the period between completing school and obtaining a good job is getting longer, the link between formal schooling and work is becoming more tenuous, and employers (especially small firms) are generally wary of any policy initiative designed to encourage the hiring and training of new workers. Employers were reluctant to initiate youth apprenticeship programs given the present labor surplus/job shortage. They generally felt that youths lack discipline, good work attitudes, and communication skills and that schools do not prepare youth for employment. Screening was employers' dominant concern regarding participation in a youth apprenticeship program. Focusing national attention on the absence of good jobs for young people and emphasizing flexibility in any policies developed were concluded to be the keys to improving the school-to-work transition. (MN)

Two studies tested the feasibility of a national school-to-work transition venture. One study involved focus groups of employers in eight cities to identify incentives encouraging employers to take part in youth work-based learning programs. The second involved a telephone survey of employers in seven cities who had participated in local apprenticeship or cooperative education programs regarding reasons for participation and satisfaction with the quality of students. Focus group results indicated large firms' chief concern was to recycle their current work force; they showed little interest in school-to-work transition programs. Small business owners were hiring displaced workers. Employers were critical of youth and high schools and had turned to college students and graduates for new employees. When asked about their willingness to participate in a work-based learning program, employers said screening was the pivotal concern. Employers in the second study praised the quality and contributions of young workers. The following suggestions were made to encourage employers to participate in school-to-work transition programs: defining the problem--fewer good jobs; focusing national attention by investing in work; being more flexible; making the youth labor market itself more supportive of young people's ambitions; having schools focus on work readiness; extending the concept of national service to include a strong work component; and conducting a national school-to-work transition program with effective employer organizations. (YLB)

In the United States, job training programs tend to be categorized as either privately sponsored career advancement for valued employees or publicly funded employment remediation for disadvantaged workers. Findings of two federally mandated surveys that regularly asked nearly identical samples whether they had received job or job-related training show the extent to which the dichotomy between private and public training has distorted information and communication about job skills and training opportunities. One survey concludes that two of three workers have received training; the other reports three of four workers have not. The Current Population Survey implies that training is a positive vehicle for career enhancement; the Survey of Income and Program Participation's questions immediately follow the mention of federal income-maintenance programs. On the central question of who gets trained, private and public training programs are diametrically opposed. The workers most likely to receive employer-sponsored training are mature, well-educated, proven professional and managerial employees. Too many private-sector programs are weak on technical training, a priority that public programs are more likely to pursue. Closing the gap between private and public training requires a continuum of job-connected training options available not only to unskilled and highly skilled workers, but also to the broad middle segment of the nation's labor force. In practical terms, credentials may be the key to training reform. (YLB)

Data assembled from the sequence of Current Population Survey (CPS) tenure supplements for 1973, 1978, 1981, 1983, 1987, and 1991 were analyzed along with demographic characteristics and other variables available from the general CPS to identify changes in job retention rates in the United States throughout the 1980s. The analysis was based on Hall's method of estimating the distribution of eventual job tenure and Ureta's refinement of that procedure, which makes it possible to estimate historical 1-year job retention rates. Consideration was given to the possible effect of business cycles on retention rates. Overall, job retention rates remained fairly stable throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. Disaggregation of the data by current tenure, age, race, sex, education, and occupation did, however, reveal some changes in 4-year retention rates by demographic group that correspond loosely to changes in the wage structure. Retention rates have, for example, declined for high school dropouts and high school graduates relative to college graduates and for blacks relative to whites. Except for the aggregate results for blacks, most of those changes were small and statistically insignificant, however. (Contains 10 tables/figures and 21 references.) (MN)

The school-to-work transition of high school and community college vocational program completers in 1990-1992 was examined by analyzing administrative records and employment and earnings data of vocational program completers from state education agencies in Colorado, Florida, Missouri, and Washington. A consistently high percentage of vocational program completers at both the high school and postsecondary levels continued an uninterrupted affiliation with the same employer during the bridge period encompassing their last months in school and first few months after leaving school; however, substantial movement between/among employers during the first years after the former students left school was observed. Former students who continued with the same employer through the bridge period were consistently found to have higher earnings than their classmates while they were still in school, shortly after leaving school, and at the end of the postschool reference period. It was concluded that knowledge about a former student's occupational assignment within a place of employment is not needed to predict that employee's earnings; rather, awareness of the person's industry affiliation is an acceptable substitute for that purpose. (Forty tables/figures and 86 endnotes are included. Appended are additional information on the wage-record components examined and calculation of a full-time earnings threshold amount.) (MN)

In a continuation of research on the technical labor force that was initiated in 1990 at a large northeastern university, professionalism among technical workers was examined from an emic perspective. (Emics are conceptual strategies that explain phenomena in terms meaningful to the people being studied, whereas etics explain phenomena in terms meaningful to the observers.) The research centered on a series of coordinated ethnographic studies of technical occupations. Each study involved 6-12 months of field work in the form of a participant observation and unstructured interviews on a variety of subjects tailored to the occupation under investigation. The field notes from each study were then systematically searched for explicit emically based references to professionalism. The analysis focused on three aspects of professionalism: expertise, attitude, and presentation. In general, the technicians' talk of professionalism did not reflect a concern for power or status but rather an insistence that their expertise and contribution to the work process be respected within the professional division of labor. It was concluded that substantial discrepancies do in fact exist between etic and emic interpretations of professional rhetoric and that etically based conceptions of "profession" present only a partial and, at least in the case of professional rhetoric, inaccurate understanding of the social phenomenon of rhetoric. (Contains 52 references.) (MN)

The relationship between training and the growth in wage inequality was examined through an analysis of data from the January 1983 and January 1991 supplements to the Current Population Survey. The analysis focused on whether the distribution of training has changed in ways that may explain changes in the wage structure during the period studied and whether the changes in training, combined with the effects of training on wages, are sufficiently large to have induced the changes in wage structure observed during the 1980s. The shifts in the incidence in the various types of training offered during the 1980s were found to favor more educated, more experienced workers. When the observed shifts were considered in conjunction with the fact that training is associated with higher wages, it was concluded that training may have contributed to the growth of wage inequality during the 1980s. Further analysis established, however, that training did not play any substantial role in the increase in wage inequality observed during the 1980s. It was hypothesized that either the shifts in training distribution were too small or the returns on training were too low for training to have been a major factor in increased wage inequality. (Contains 18 references.) (MN)

Britain has attempted over the past decade to develop German-style youth apprenticeships through its Youth Training Scheme (YTS). YTS has the basic attributes considered essential to bridging school and work. The greatest achievement of YTS is that large numbers of employers were persuaded to provide work experience positions on short notice, and YTS was able to become a massive program very quickly. Employers have been willing to participate because the flexible and decentralized nature of the program imposes only a minor administrative burden and YTS provides help in screening new hires for entry-level jobs. The main benefit from YTS is that it helps school leavers secure permanent jobs. Unfortunately, the goal of securing jobs has conflicted with the goal of providing skills, with as many as 80 percent dropping out to take full-time employment with the employer providing the work experience. Although one goal was to help employers move toward more efficient and flexible operating systems based on higher-skill, broader jobs, YTS may actually have created incentives that retarded efforts to reform work since it provides employers with a steady stream of virtually costless new trainees. Lessons for the United States include the need for employer incentives to provide high skills and to introduce new, more flexible and efficient systems of organizing work by raising the skill levels in the work force. Appendixes include 22 footnotes. Contains 76 references. (YLB)

The old "nature versus nurture" argument has resurfaced in a new guise--the role of inherent ability or of education as the source of skill and the reason for achievement. Research shows that even one additional year of schooling raises a person's wages. Even when the relationship among education, productivity, and wages appears obvious, there is evidence for two arguments. The screening argument holds that investments in education reveal the job-relevant abilities and skills that students already possess--stopping some while allowing others to pass through the mesh. The human capital model argues that skills are acquired through investment in education, which adds to the overall volume of ability. Driving this debate is the notion of the returns provided both to the individual and society by educational attainment. However, structural changes in the economy, changes in policy, and shifts in demographics illustrate how societal trends contribute to the fluctuations in returns to education. Recommendations to find the most effective location for educational attainment include the following: developing better means of determining job-relevant abilities, encouraging business-school networks, increasing retention and educational attainment, and making educational loans and financial aid more accessible to students for whom investment in educational attainment shows real promise. (YLB)

The interrelationship between people management practices and product market/competition was examined in a series of case comparisons of pairs of firms/organizations of the following types: professional sports teams, military services, retailing firms, information service firms, business schools, financial services, shipping services, and food and beverage companies. The case comparisons suggested a clear division between companies that develop employee competencies within the firm and those that assemble employee competencies ready-made from the outside market. Those firms that developed talent from within tended to rely more on group and organizational efforts to achieve competencies, whereas those firms that hired talent from without relied more on individual efforts. A clear division was also found between organizations that compete by moving quickly and adjusting to new opportunities and firms that have developed a superior approach to a long-standing market. Organizations of the first type did not develop employee talent from within because it did not pay for them to do so. The case comparisons were concluded to support the argument that there may be no such thing as "best practice" for all employers and that, like product differentiation, distinctive human resource practices help firms compete. (MN)

A study examined the role of employer training in ameliorating skill shortages and enhancing productivity and competitiveness. The study established that formal training by specialized personnel accounts for only 5-10% of the time newly hired workers are engaged in training activities and that existing labor market research instruments fail to measure much of the informal training and on-the-job training (OJT) received by new employees. U.S. employers were found to devote less time and fewer resources to training entry-level blue-collar, clerical, and service employees than do employers in Germany and Japan. The lower U.S. training rate was attributed to the following: higher employee turnover and higher cost of capital in the United States, lower trainability of U.S. youth, lower rates of technological progress, and lack of information about the quality of the general human capital obtained from OJT. Clear evidence that most U.S. employers and workers underinvest in OJT was found. The study further confirmed that, although high-quality occupational training offered by schools ameliorates the problem of underprovision of skill training, school-based training cannot replace some kinds of employer training and is generally less effective than employer-provided training in providing the same skills. (Contains 126 references.) (MN)

Between 1950 and 1988, the number of professional and technical workers increased by 282% while the labor force as a whole only increased by 94%. Most persons employed as technicians work on or with reputedly complex technologies. Most work at the empirical interface between a larger production process and the materials on which the process depends. At such interfaces, the technician's task involves the complementary processes of transformation and caretaking. In some occupations, technicians buffer other occupations from contact with the empirical phenomena over which the latter are reputed to have mastery. In other occupations, technicians function as brokers bridging the organization they serve and the larger technical community associated with the technology they oversee. In either case, technicians require both formal and contextual knowledge. In view of technicians' roles and knowledge requirements, effective educational programs for training technicians must impart contextual knowledge of a technical domain, practicing technicians must be involved in designing technician training programs, and conceptions of technical education must be broadened to include translation competency. Policymakers must direct resources to developing tools for timely exchange of information and development of communities of practice. (Contains 35 references.) (MN)

Twelve technicians and research support specialists employed in two laboratories of a university biotechnology center were observed and interviewed for 1 year to compile data on their job duties, knowledge, and status. Although the university differentiated technician and research support specialist positions across nine pay grades that were supposedly calibrated to educational credentials and job responsibilities, there was little distinction between the work of laboratory technicians and research support specialists. Both groups viewed their work as waging a running battle with trouble and uncertainty by using various strategies to avert and resolve various mistakes, malfunctions, and enigmas. The technicians and research support specialists stood between the scientists who nominally ran the laboratories and the empirical phenomena that the labs investigated. The technicians used and elaborated a contextual understanding of materials, instruments, and techniques grounded in hands-on experience that most scientists lacked. Although the technicians' and scientists' jobs were interdependent, the technicians' contextual knowledge was not awarded the same status as the scientists' formal knowledge. The technicians and research support specialists attempted to cope with the status accorded them by the university either by embracing an almost blue-collar identity or, conversely, by seeking employment in laboratories where they would be treated as professionals. (MN)

Seventeen studies that linked school characteristics and labor market performance were analyzed. Each met five criteria: labor market characteristics of students after they left high school were used as output measures, quality measures of schools were identified as inputs, reasonably sophisticated statistical procedures were used, "hard" measures of labor market outcomes were used, and labor market measures after graduation were reported. Findings indicated the following: the quantity and type of vocational coursework had the most positive effect, socioeconomic status variables affected student cognitive achievement results, job experience during high school improved earnings and work stability, students' other characteristics were not significant in explaining job performance, and school location did not appear to play a role in job performance. Recommendations for increasing job performance of students who would go directly into the labor market after graduation were to focus on improvements in vocational education programs, foster job participation, and reward better teachers and schools. A longitudinal study was recommended to track the links between school characteristics and performance of students who go directly into the job market. (Two tables in the report summarize the 17 studies. Appendixes include a 23-item bibliography, a complete listing of empirical findings of school-related inputs and labor market outputs summarized in Table 1, and a detailed summary of the 17 studies and 5 others of interest summarized in Table 2.) (YLB)

For many youths, the early years in the labor market are characterized not by an absence of jobs but rather by a "churning" process that often delays the benefits of high school educational experiences for several years. Youth apprenticeship programs should be designed to serve as a strategy/vehicle of school reform, function as a labor market program, and create institutional structures that link employers and schools. Among the principles that should be followed in designing youth apprenticeship programs are the following: permit students to change their minds about choices; link work and schooling in a substantive way; encourage schooling beyond high school; avoid tracking, gender discrimination, adult displacement, and highly specific training; and provide high quality work placements rather than just work experience. Special attention must be paid to obtaining placements, developing certification criteria and procedures, and obtaining an adequate research and development base. A youth employment policy should do the following: reflect existing demands for youth labor, facilitate the school-to-work transition, be school based, and provide adequate services to out-of-school and disadvantaged youth. (Contains 16 references.) (MN)

Employers and policymakers have traditionally sought to manage skill shortages in technical and other occupations through initiatives predicted in one of two broad definitions of skill: skill-as-input and skill-as-artifact. A weakness of both these perspectives is that focusing on the inputs and outcomes of a labor process obscures or ignores the process itself. These two perspectives could be complemented by considerations of skill-in-practice. Recent attempts to address the growing demand for medical technicians and technologists illustrate how a practice-oriented approach to skill might shed light on the nature of skill shortages and lead to more effective policy. In response to skill shortages in medical technology, Congress has proposed two bills: the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) calling for increased technical education, and the Rural Clinical Laboratory Personnel Shortage Act, which would relax some of the stringencies of CLIA. Medical technicians and technologists endorse the bill designed to downgrade skill requirements; physicians favor the bill aimed at enhancing skill requirements. The technicians' endorsement may reflect their conviction that the bill is more congruent with the work they actually perform. An ethnographic study investigated technicians' definitions of skill-in-practice and the implications for resolving skill shortages in technical occupations. At the hospital observed, the technicians' notions of skill were based not on education or job design but on specific work practices: ability to troubleshoot machines, demonstration of improvisational techniques, and social pooling of knowledge and experience to interpret ambiguous results. (Contains 52 references.) (YLB)

A study examined three human resource arrangements that varied from the standard form of the employment relationship. One arrangement included risk-involved teams (RITs) in which greater reliance was placed on risk sharing and employee involvement. The second represented the "contracting-in" of retired employees (CIR) to act as independent consultants. The third arrangement represented altering the dimension of time spent in the workplace, or altered-time arrangements (ATAs). Explanations for the use of the three arrangements were hypothesized, and usable data were collected from 496 organizations throughout the United States. Parallel regression models were estimated to examine the pattern of coefficients across the three dependent variables: RITs, ATAs, and CIR. Findings indicated that manufacturing was behind services and other sectors in the use of ATAs but led the way in use of RITs. Regionally, the West led in use of ATAs and RITs. When the largest percentage of a firm's work force consisted of new entrants, it made more use of ATAs. Organization size was positively associated with RITs, ATAs, and CIR. When organizations had more female employees, they made more use of ATAs. When organizations had a greater number of older workers, they relied more frequently on CIR. RITs were used significantly less in organizations with a greater percentage of minorities in the work force. RITs appeared to be part of the implementation of a firm's business strategy. (Contains 60 references.) (YLB)

Youth apprenticeships have the potential to address simultaneously two national dilemmas: how to prepare U.S. business and its workers for a high skills future and how to upgrade the academic skills of all students. The highly successful German model may require some modification to work well in the United States. The biggest change may have to take place in the attitudes of many people who are suspicious of a system that induces students to make career choices at a young age and requires a large amount of government oversight. Apprenticeships will not succeed unless business considers them a sound investment. The first step is creation of incentives for businesses to become partners with schools, hire young people, provide appropriate training, and assume a portion of the cost. For apprenticeships to succeed, schools will have to change their methods, schedules, and assumptions. Teachers must become more knowledgeable about employment and learn to work as partners with the business community; teaching methods must reinforce what apprenticing students learn on the job; the schedule must become more flexible; and schools must provide information regarding benefits to students and their families. The Federal Government can rewrite federal regulations to spell out how youth apprenticeship fits into existing laws, provide subsidies, and pass a national youth service law. Obstacles to change include tracking, union concerns, and lack of student aid. (YLB)

Predictions of occupational growth to the year 2000 show how important the "new crafts" are becoming. Workers who possess the new crafts perform jobs that often involve sophisticated technical knowledge but are not done by people with bachelor's degrees. The growth of technical jobs in the middle of organizations threatens the familiar division between managers who hold a store of technical knowledge and workers who carry out their orders. The new technical workers need a different blend of formal education up to an associate's degree level and continuing training at work afterward. Research shows that the new crafts are growing from both above and below. Many tasks done in the past by managers and elite professionals are being handed to technical workers; low-skilled workers who had little autonomy or responsibility in their routine jobs are now analyzing and responding to data. Factors driving the growth of technical jobs are the trend toward larger and more bureaucratic corporations, expansion of science, and technological change. Changes in the workplace present enterprises with huge challenges--to change ideas about the way jobs are organized and managed. Schools face the task of preparing students for jobs that do not fit the old categories of managerial or entry-level work. Workers will have to readjust their attitudes toward education. (YLB)

Responsibility for the declining quality of the work force is evenly distributed among managers, schools, students, and the government. What is required is a new publicly sponsored partnership linking the nation's enterprises, schools, and workers. Primary responsibility for improving the quality of the work force lies with the enterprise. The firm needs to develop a flexible portfolio of worker skills, capable of quick adjustments in production aims and methods. Enterprises should be responsible for determining skill requirements and communicating those needs to educational suppliers. The nation faces a dual challenge: to prepare future workers by improving the nation's schools and to reequip the current labor force through work-related education and training. Schools need to focus more on product, less on process and to teach core competencies: mathematics, communication skills, and citizenship. The success of retraining efforts depends on the emergence of local markets that link corporate customers with educational suppliers. Too many workers lack the information and confidence to build effective skill portfolios. Individuals must be comparison shoppers for educational purchases, invest in broad-based skills for long-term payoff, and build a productive partnership with the employing firm. Public agencies must improve public schools, facilitate local market linkages, and evaluate federal funding of proprietary education. (YLB)

The research on the demand for skills in the U.S. economy is split over the issue of whether technological change has tended to increase or decrease job skill requirements. The question of whether job skill requirements have been rising is important to public policy debates concerning the skill gap, wage inequality, and the changing quality of jobs. Some researchers have attempted to use indirect measures of skill requirements, whereas others have used direct measures and have concentrated primarily on case studies. Neither approach is free of problems, however. A far better data source is job analysis. The job analysis measure developed by Hay Associates is similar to the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) measure and includes a series of variables that capture the autonomy and complexity of jobs with respect to areas such as know-how, problem solving, and accountability. The Hay technique of job analyses was used to study the changing skill requirements for production and clerical jobs. The results suggested support for highly significant skill increases in production jobs. The results for clerical jobs, on the other hand, varied significantly by function. Half the clerical jobs examined experienced significant increases in skill needs, whereas the other half experienced significant decreases. Appendices contain data on the Hay technique, a list of production job titles, and graphical analyses of eight jobs. (Contains 83 references.) (MN)

The fact that college grades are poor predictors of future job performance is a cause for concern. A more important issue is assessment, for course grades cannot measure many of the work-relevant skills that a college education provides. Selection tests are one effort to identify and establish those characteristics of applicants that predict future job success. If classroom grades could be broken down to reveal performance in such areas as verbal ability or memory, they would be indicative of subsequent job performance because they would essentially duplicate ability tests; ability tests, however, are typically three to four times better at predicting job performance. Another way to obtain information on a job candidate is through what is called "bio-data"; detailed information on extracurricular activities may reveal knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) acquired by a student outside traditional classroom settings. Many colleges experiences provide what is the equivalent of work sample tests. Another way to get at the question of what predicts job success is to look directly at the requirements of jobs. Job analysis refers to systematic efforts to collect information about the work requirements associated with particular jobs. Job analyses either focus descriptions on the job and tasks performed or are written from the perspective of the worker and describe the KSAs required. The basic sets of KSAs could be developed more thoroughly in college instruction. The greatest improvements in assessment could be made by simply assembling existing information about student performance in more innovative ways. An appendix provides descriptions of some of the most widely used job analysis systems and identifies the KSAs that are stressed in them. (Contains 17 endnotes and 32 references.) (YLB)

Most scholars adopt one of two orientations when explaining why some occupations are more skilled than others: realism or constructionism; both views would benefit from a consideration of interactionism. No occupations are more likely to have to negotiate their status than those that emerge from amateur or voluntary work. Members of such occupations, such as emergency medical technicians (EMTs), must convince their audiences in the course of face-to-face interaction that they have skill or knowledge sufficient to provide for a fee what has traditionally been free. A study focused on two commercial and two volunteer EMT agencies. The commercial agencies' actual proficiency was insufficient for establishing their reputation since some volunteers possessed equivalent skills and most of the emergency calls did not require advanced training. EMT societies made no distinction between paid and volunteer providers, and the public remained largely unaware of differences. To understand how and why the paid EMTs were acquiring a reputation for greater skills required consideration of cultural understandings, institutional supports, tasks, and even competencies as resources whose meaning and use were discovered in the course of ongoing interaction. Both groups' reputations were affected by interactions involving EMTs and interactions and interpretations of nurses, physicians, and other audiences. (Contains 90 references.) (YLB)

Over the past 4 decades, the number of professional and technical workers has increased by 282 percent, and economic forecasts indicate that this trend of rapid growth will increase. The bureaucratization of the professions, expansion and application of scientific knowledge, and technological change have all fueled a "technization" of the work force. The trend toward an increasingly technical work force has not only necessitated a better educated work force but has challenged the ways in which the work force and workplace are currently conceptualized and organized. The vertical division of labor that has become increasingly dominant in Western society since the beginning of the 19th century is showing signs of strain because technical occupations (referred to as the "new crafts") are becoming increasingly analytic and are requiring ever-increasing amounts of specialized education. In view of these changes, researchers associated with the Program on Technology and Work at Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations have undertaken a 5-year program to build a comparative database to facilitate the development of a grounded theory of technical work. (Contains 96 references.) (MN)

Japan's economic success is clear evidence that purposeful investments in the educational quality of the work force pay major dividends in terms of enhanced productivity and increased competitiveness. The key elements of the Japanese system are, in fact, less than 40 years old. The current recession is a reminder of the transitory nature of economic trends. Within Japan, most discussions of the work force begin with the looming shortage of first-time workers and an expensive surplus of retirees. The Japanese have a relatively limited number of alternatives: increased use of female workers, greater use of older workers, increased number of guest workers, basic redistribution of workers from labor intensive sectors, and accelerated export of production jobs. The tightness of Japanese labor markets is a function of migration patterns that have yielded an economy and population increasingly concentrated in three areas: Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya. Side effects of educational competition include dwindling numbers of students in technical and vocational schools and increased costs of educating children that deter larger families and prolong the effects of the "baby bust." Changes for Japan may include a less rigid labor market, a shift to educational programs outside the firm, and an effort to apply the lessons of manufacturing efficiency to service sector industries. Numerous graphs and charts supplement the text. (YLB)

There is mounting evidence that the most significant deficit of new work force entrants is not an "academic skills gap" but rather poor attitudes concerning work. Despite growing recognition of their fundamental link to the quality of the work force, work attitudes have received virtually no detailed discussion in the public policy arena. Research on socialization and longitudinal studies confirm that work attitudes can indeed be influenced. Employer surveys and personality-based research studies indicate that the strength of the link between various personality traits and job performance varies widely across occupations. Research also confirms that managers can raise worker's motivation, initiative, self-determination, and persistence by providing positive feedback, information, and choices for workers to make. Another important research finding is that prosocial behavior can be developed both on the job and during early childhood. Because family background and early life experiences are good predictors of "hard-core unemployment" and because the key to shaping individuals' moral development probably lies at some middle ground between the social learning and cognitive development perspectives, it appears likely that schools can shape work-related values. The approach of teaching values along the lines of social learning or the situationist model also appears promising. (Contains 82 references.) (MN)

This paper demonstrates that production life-cycle models provide a conceptual framework to analyze systematically the interrelationships between industrial and technological change and human resources. Section II presents the life-cycle model, focusing on its implications for the types and level of employment and skill requirements in an area. Section III uses the life-cycle framework to assess the evidence on and implications of various state programs designed for the recruitment of firms, high tech job creation, and assistance to established firms. Trends in state efforts, life-cycle implications, and potential of the state strategies are discussed for each program type. Section IV provides guidelines for states in developing effective competitiveness strategies for each of three steps: state employment assessment, inventory of state resources, and strategic thinking about employment and work force needs. The final section presents conclusions that emerge from the analysis. It focuses on defensive and proactive state actions and their long-term implications as well as on evolving responsibilities in preparing a high quality work force. The states' roles in two major areas in which labor market adjustments spill beyond the boundaries of the firm are also discussed: the skill transfer process and displaced workers. (Contains 105 references.) (YLB)

State programs offer greatest promise for practical strategic actions to enhance the quality of the nation's adult work force. Three steps in the recursive process that create a model of state action are as follows: (1) documentation of the platform for action, which consists of current adult work force attributes and current institutional capacities to advance the quality of a state's labor force; (2) initial decision with respect to short-term work force quality goals; and (3) subsequent (recurring) decisions. The maturation of initiatives in two states--California and Florida--offers documentation of the instability that characterizes state efforts to address adult work force quality issues. According to the first step of the model, the state's role is to translate national demographic predictions into state-specific labor force quality implications. The goal should be to establish a combined early warning system and accessible intelligence network. An important component of the latter is an accurate inventory of current institutional capabilities. Recommendations for work force quality enhancement include the following: (1) investigate better uses of existing data systems; (2) document current institutional capacities to respond to work force needs; (3) explore the applicability of Canada's JOBSCAN concept; (4) expand the scope of reciprocal expectations from individuals and organizations receiving state benefits; (5) consider the consequences of expanding competency certification; and (6) join the Department of Defense in recommitment of military training funds to adult work force renewal. (Contains 58 bibliographic references and 60 endnotes.) (YLB)

Establishment of a national-state system of world-class occupational skill standards is a first step in restructuring adult vocational-technical education and job training programs. Occupational skills standards provide the necessary foundation for addressing three major state policy issues: the state's proper role in private work-based training, improved effectiveness and efficiency of public programs, and development of a public-private credentialing system that promotes worker mobility. The German Dual System has been proposed as a model for transforming the vocational education and job training system in the United States. As shown by the Illinois Manufacturing Tech Prep Project, development of national skill standards should be based on certain assumptions about the role and structure of skill standards in state work force preparation programs: development of world-class standards, need for basic enabling skills and independent role performance, standards based on federal-state labor market policies, state education goals and implementation of applied academics, and skill assessment and credentialing. A national-state system of occupational skill standards can be constructed by building the following national-state systems: industry skill corporations, training occupations, occupational skill standards, professional and technical credentials, performance standards systems, and regulatory policies for public and private training providers. Appendices include three figures and sample skill standards from the Illinois Tech Prep Project. (Contains 38 references.) (YLB)

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projections of occupational employment growth have consistently underpredicted the growth of skilled occupations. BLS currently predicts that professional, technical, and managerial jobs will account for 40.9 percent of employment growth between 1990 and 2005. Forecasting regressions predict these occupations will account for 53 to 68 percent of employment growth through 2005. Between 1986 and 1991, these occupations accounted, in fact, for 64 percent of employment growth. The BLS's projections of the supply/demand balance for college graduates have also been off the mark--predicting a surplus for the 1980s, when, in fact, a shortage developed and relative wage ratios for college graduates rose to all time highs. A slowdown in the growth of college educated workers during the 1990s and a continuing escalation of wage premiums for college graduates are projected. The social returns to a college education are extremely high and are likely to go even higher. Public policy should not attempt to discourage the shift of students into engineering and business, since the market will be able to absorb even larger numbers of graduates in these areas without significant trouble. Public policy should facilitate this process by focusing special effort on improving mathematics, science, and economics instruction. In making occupational forecasts BLS should do the following: use data on trends in industry-specific occupational staffing ratios to extrapolate staffing pattern changes; be less judgmental in projecting staffing ratios; develop shorter (5-year) forecasts; and examine why forecasts were inaccurate. Presentation of projections should include the following: identification of methodological changes made; alternative scenarios; no listing of occupations with the largest forecasted growth; and information on growth in wages and employment in each occupation. (Contains 37 references.) (YLB)

Although most people agree that not enough entry workers possess the skills required for success in the workplace, few individuals are able to articulate clearly why and where the skills gap occurs. Despite the popularity of blaming schools and curricula, little hard evidence exists to support the claim that U.S. secondary school performance is declining relative to its standing in recent decades. Research studies focusing on enterprises, schools, and workers have established the following: (1) employees consistently identify deficits in employees' behavioral skills as the primary cause of poor job performance; (2) efforts to bolster students' academic skills through high school reform are worthwhile, but it must be remembered that education must impart more than basic skills; and (3) the workplace rewards workers who possess work-related behavioral skills and attitudes. Educational legislation and policy must address these concerns through the following actions: (1) encourage the fostering of behavioral skills through legislation focusing on the connection between school and work; (2) use work-based learning programs and appropriate classroom techniques to foster development of attitudes and behaviors that translate well in work environments; and (3) investigate which work-related attitudes and behaviors are most important for success in the workplace. (MN)