From Education to Work: Cross-National Perspectives. Revisitations of Papers Delivered at the Conference at the University of Toronto (April 18-20, 1996).

This volume is composed of 13 comparable longitudinal studies that draw on survey data and case studies of young people in Canada, Germany, Great Britain, and the United States. "Introduction: Transitions to Employment in a Cross-National Perspective" (Walter R. Heinz) provides a context and an overview. Part I has four chapters that discuss the relationships among social origin, gender, and transition patterns in a period of shifting job opportunities: "Social and Geographical Mobility 20 Years after High School" (Paul Anisef, Anton H. Turrittin, Zeng Lin); "Diverse Directions: Young Adults' Multiple Transitions" (Victor Thiessen, E. Dianne Looker); "New Routes to Employment: Integration and Exclusion" (John Bynner); and "From Education to Employment: Occupations and Careers in the Social Transformation of East Germany" (Ansgar Weymann). Five chapters in part II focus on the extent to which work experiences, skills, and credentials build bridges between school and the labor market: "Adolescent Part-Time Work and Postsecondary Transition Pathways in the United States" (Jeylan T. Mortimer, Monica Kirkpatrick Johnson); "Multiple Life-Sphere Participation by Young Adults" (Lesley Andres); "The Subbaccalaureate Labor Market in the United States: Challenges for the School-to-Work Transition" (W. Norton Grubb); "Creating New Pathways to Adulthood by Adapting German Apprenticeship in the United States" (Stephen F. Hamilton, Mary Agnes Hamilton); and "Job-Entry Patterns in a Life-Course Perspective" (Walter R. Heinz). Part III has four chapters that concern more theoretically oriented analyses of the changes in transition organization and options in (post-)industrial service societies: "Institutional Networks and Informal Strategies for Improving Work Entry for Youths" (James E. Rosenbaum); "School-to-Work Transitions and Postmodern Values: What's Changing in Canada?" (Harvey Krahn, Graham S. Lowe); "Education and Employment in Great Britain: The Polarizing Impact of the Market" (Frank Coffield); and "From Systems to Networks: The Reconstruction of Youth Transitions in Europe" (Lynne Chisholm). The book contains 531 references and an index. (YLB)