Putting Higher Education To Work

"Written by Emanuela di Gropello (lead author), Prateek Tandon, and Shahid Yusuf, with significant contributions from many others."--P. xv.

This book assesses whether East Asian higher education is providing research and innovation for growth and delivering its graduates with the skills necessary for productivity in the labor market. It also seeks to determine how higher education systems could be improved in order to deliver these outcomes. It features new data and diagnostic material to better understand labor markets, what skills firms want, and what skills graduates have; shows how countries can become more innovative; and describes in detail the key areas of reform needed for higher education to be a larger engine of East Asian growth. It will be of interest to policymakers, governments, academia, donors, NGOs, students, researchers, and lower- and middle-income countries looking to break the middle-income trap.

Today, a college education is increasingly viewed as the gateway to the American Dream—a necessary prerequisite for social mobility. Yet recent policy reforms in the United States effectively steer former welfare recipients away from an education that could further their career prospects, forcing them directly into the workforce where they often find only low-paying jobs with little opportunity for growth. In Putting Poor People to Work, Kathleen Shaw, Sara Goldrick-Rab, Christopher Mazzeo, and Jerry A. Jacobs explore this troubling disconnect between the principles of "work-first" and "college for all." Using comprehensive interviews with government officials and sophisticated data from six states over a four year period, Putting Poor People to Work shows how recent changes in public policy have reduced the quantity and quality of education and training available to adults with low incomes. The authors analyze how two policies encouraging work—the federal welfare reform law of 1996 and the Workforce Investment Act of 1998—have made moving people off of public assistance as soon as possible, with little regard to their long-term career prospects, a government priority. Putting Poor People to Work shows that since the passage of these "work-first" laws, not only are fewer low-income individuals pursuing postsecondary education, but when they do, they are increasingly directed towards the most ineffective, short-term forms of training, rather than higher-quality college-level education. Moreover, the schools most able and ready to serve poor adults—the community colleges—are deterred by these policies from doing so. Having a competitive, agile workforce that can compete with any in the world is a national priority. In a global economy where skills are paramount, that goal requires broad popular access to education and training. Putting Poor People to Work shows how current U.S. policy discourages poor Americans from seeking out a college education, stranding them in jobs with little potential for growth. This important new book makes a powerful argument for a shift in national priorities that would encourage the poor to embrace both work and education, rather than having to choose between the two. Institute for Research on Poverty Affiliated Books on Poverty and Public Policy">An Institute for Research on Poverty Affiliated Book on Poverty and Public Policy

The world of tertiary education has changed significantly in the past fifteen years. Developing countries have seen tremendous enrollment growth, especially in the private sector. Many nations are facing an exponentially rising demand as more young people graduate from high school as a result of the successful implementation of the Education for All agenda. The launch of the Sustainable Development Goals by the United Nations in September 2015 has given renewed consideration to the importance of education for development and the urgency of putting in place viable financing strategies. Against this background this book explores the crucial role played by tertiary education towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. It observes that tertiary education finds itself at a crossroad today, as national systems are pulled in several directions by a combination of factors—crisis factors, rupture factors, and stimulation factors—bringing about both opportunities and challenges. How these forces in the tertiary education ecosystem play out in each country will determine the new “perils” and “promises” that are likely to shape the contribution of tertiary education to economic and social development in the years to come.

This volume seeks to identify and explore the forces affecting higher education in the Asia Pacific region today. It includes a set of conceptually-rich organizing chapters followed by detailed country-specific studies that detail both the underlying dynamics of these forces and the manner in which they have affected specific countries. In this way, the chapters touch on the complex demographics of the region, how continued and continuous economic development impinges on higher education, and how neoliberalism has affected higher education across many dimensions. The volume also addresses the complex issues associated with cross border education and the daunting challenges of both national and cross-national quality assurance.

This book discusses higher education research as a field of study in Asia. It traces the evolution of research in the field of higher education in several Asian countries, and shares ideas about the evolving higher education research communities in Asia. It also identifies common and dissimilar challenges across national communities, providing researchers and policymakers essential new insights into the relevance of a greater regional articulation of national higher education research communities, and their further integration into and contribution to the international higher education research community as a whole.

In Putting the Humanities PhD to Work Katina L. Rogers grounds practical career advice in a nuanced consideration of the current landscape of the academic workforce. Drawing on surveys, interviews, and personal experience, Rogers explores the evolving rhetoric and practices regarding career preparation and how those changes intersect with admissions practices, scholarly reward structures, and academic labor practices—especially the increasing reliance on contingent labor. Rogers invites readers to consider how graduate training can lead to meaningful and significant careers beyond the academy. She provides graduate students with context and analysis to inform the ways they discern their own potential career paths while taking an activist perspective that moves toward individual success and systemic change. For those in positions to make decisions in humanities departments or programs, Rogers outlines the circumstances and pressures that students face and gives examples of programmatic reform that address career matters in structural ways. Throughout, Rogers highlights the important possibility that different kinds of careers offer engaging, fulfilling, and even unexpected pathways for students who seek them out.