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How countries achieve economic security and equality

Social democratic capitalism helps countries achieve economic security and equality of opportunity and can be replicated by other rich democratic nations.
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Women and the future of work: Fix the present

There is a lot we don't know about what automation will mean for jobs in the future, including its impact (if any) on gender inequality. This note reviews evidence and forecasts on that question and makes four main points: (1) past automation has been (broadly) positive for women's average quality of life, economic empowerment, and equality; (2) forecasts of the gendered impact of automation and AI going forward based on the current distribution of employment suggest considerable uncertainty and a gender inequality of impact that is marginal compared to the potential impact overall; (3) the bigger risk---and/or opportunity---is likely to be in the combined impact of automation, policy, and social norms in changing the type of work that is seen as male or female; and (4) minimizing any potential aggravating impact of automation and AI on inequalities in economic power in the future can best be achieved by maximizing economic equality today.
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Developing future talent: How we can prepare for the future of work and business

The "future of work" is an evolving concept with wide-reaching implications for the economy, workforce, education, and society--including workers, business owners, students, and the people who serve them. The impact from these changes brings a sense of urgency to stay a few steps ahead and address systems' gaps and faulty machinery that threaten to put low-income workers and students at a disadvantage. This brief will provide an overview on the changing nature of employment relationships that have implications for low-wage workers. It will also feature recommendations to help education and workforce development practitioners and policymakers address the demands of the future economy, including recommendations for new approaches to business engagement.
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Technical change and the relative demand for skilled labor: The United States in historical perspective

This paper examines shifts over time in the relative demand for skilled labor in the United States. Although de-skilling in the conventional sense did occur overall in nineteenth century manufacturing, a more nuanced picture is that occupations "hollowed out": the share of "middle-skill" jobs - artisans - declined while those of "high-skill" - white collar, non-production workers - and "low-skill" - operatives and laborers increased. De-skilling did not occur in the aggregate economy; rather, the aggregate shares of low skill jobs decreased, middle skill jobs remained steady, and high skill jobs expanded from 1850 to the early twentieth century. The pattern of monotonic skill upgrading continued through much of the twentieth century until the recent "polarization" of labor demand since the late 1980s. New archival evidence on wages suggests that the demand for high skill (white collar) workers grew more rapidly than the supply starting well before the Civil War.
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Building capacity to measure essential employability skills: A focus on critical thinking

This report is the culmination of a three‐year research project conducted by George Brown College (GBC). As a member of the Learning Outcomes Assessment Consortium, sponsored and funded by the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO), this project responds to HEQCO’s request for colleges and universities to develop, implement and share new assessment tools that “measure and validate the attainment of these generic learning and cognitive skills."
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India's technology opportunity: Transforming work, empowering people

A dozen disruptive technologies can add up to $1 trillion in GDP by 2025 and help bring millions of Indians up the MGI Empowerment Line. This report is part of our ongoing work about the impact of technology on national economies and on Indian economic empowerment. Our goal is to provide a fact base and insights about important technological developments that will help business leaders and policy makers develop appropriate strategies and responses.
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Diversity in the digital age: Integrating pedagogy and technology for equity and inclusion

This qualitative dissertation explores the perceptions of how and why teachers might integrate technology to support their goals of equity and inclusion with a group of teachers who identify as culturally responsive in their pedagogy and describe themselves as fluent in the use of technology in school. Teachers working with students of diverse backgrounds were chosen purposively using an "extreme case sampling" method in order to interview experienced and pedagogically aligned participants. Drawing on in-depth interviews, a review of class artifacts and documents, and a focus group, this study provides critical insights into how self-identified culturally relevant teachers use technology. Discussion of the findings focused on two areas. The first examined how the unique affordances of technology lend themselves as a critical resource for teachers engaged in culturally responsive pedagogy. The second looked at how the self-directed approach of participant teachers led them to seek learning opportunities through informal means, in particular with peers they saw as aligned with their own thoughtful practice in service of their beliefs and values for equity and inclusion. Participants provided evidence that technology can be an active dimension of their work toward equity and inclusion. Thus, this research expands upon existing literature on pedagogical practice in both technology in education and diverse classrooms.
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The technological future of work and robotics

In this article we discuss the futures of work and robotics. We evaluate key future trends in the field of robotics and analyse different scenarios regarding the futures of human beings and work life. Subsequently, we present a roadmap of robotics, which covers key aspects of industrial and service robotics, discuss technology foresight insights and inter-linkages to robotics, and identify three critical technology roadmaps: (1) the technological future of robotics, (2) digitalization and (3) ICT technologies. Finally, we analyse key challenges of future work life and labor policy in the European Union: economic, social, and political and inform readers about some important strategic projects of the European Union, especially about European robotics strategy.
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Building skills connections series: Alberta in a nutshell

Alberta is well positioned to thrive amid disruptors like demographic change and rapid technological development but meeting the demand for skilled workers will be essential to ensuring its long-term prosperity. This report examines the state of skills gaps in Alberta, drawing on relevant literature, current data, and a series of interviews with Alberta employers and labour market experts. The first in a series, it lays the groundwork for in-depth analyses of the skills requirements in seven key sectors of the province’s economy, providing a broad overview of skills supply and demand in the province.