References

This database has been compiled to provide a searchable repository on published research addressing “future skills” that will be a useful tool for researchers and individuals interested in the future of work and the future of skills.

The database integrates existing bibliographies focused on future skills and the future of work as well as the results of new ProQuest and Google Scholar searches. The process of building the database also involved consultations with experts and the identification of key research organizations publishing in this area, as well as searches of those organizations’ websites. For a more detailed explanation of how the database was assembled, please read the Future Skills Reference Database Technical Note.

The current database, assembled by future skills researchers at the Diversity Institute, is not exhaustive but represents a first step in building a more comprehensive database. It will be regularly updated and expanded as new material is published and identified. In that vein, we encourage those with suggestions for improvements to this database to connect with us directly at di.fsc@ryerson.ca.

From this database, we also selected 39 key publications and created an Annotated Bibliography. It is designed to serve as a useful tool for researchers, especially Canadian researchers, who may need some initial guidance in terms of the key references in this area.

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Reference

Earnings and employment outcomes for male and female postsecondary graduates of coop and noncoop programmes

New postsecondary graduates seeking entry into the Canadian workforce may experience more favourable labour market outcomes if they augment their education with job-related training. Employers, looking for new ways of differentiating among equally credentialed prospects, may prefer job candidates with practical training. These new realities have led to a steady increase in the availability and popularity of cooperative education programmes in Canadian colleges and universities. Few existing studies, however, have sought to examine whether or not earnings premiums or employment advantages exist for coop graduates. This paper compares the earnings and employment outcomes of postsecondary graduates with coop credentials to those with traditional, non-coop credentials. Even once controlling for a number of factors, coop programmes provide the greatest advantage at the university level, particularly among male graduates. In terms of employment status, college males and university females experienced the greatest advantages to attending coop programmes.
Reference

Inequalities and agencies in workplace learning experiences: International student perspectives

National systems of vocational education and training around the globe are facing reform driven by quality, international mobility, and equity. Evidence suggests that there are qualitatively distinctive challenges in providing and sustaining workplace learning experiences to international students. However, despite growing conceptual and empirical work, there is little evidence of the experiences of these students undertaking workplace learning opportunities as part of vocational education courses. This paper draws on a four-year study funded by the Australian Research Council that involved 105 in depth interviews with international students undertaking work integrated learning placements as part of vocational education courses in Australia. The results indicate that international students can experience different forms of discrimination and deskilling, and that these were legitimised by students in relation to their understanding of themselves as being aninternational student' (with fewer rights). However, the results also demonstrated the ways in which international students exercised their agency towards navigating or even disrupting these circumstances, which often included developing their social and cultural capital. This study, therefore, calls for more proactively inclusive induction and support practices that promote reciprocal understandings and navigational capacities for all involved in the provision of work integrated learning. This, it is argued, would not only expand and enrich the learning opportunities for international students, their tutors, employers, and employees involved in the provision of workplace learning opportunities, but it could also be a catalyst to promote greater mutual appreciation of diversity in the workplace.
Reference

All companies are technology companies: Preparing Canadians with the skills for a digital future

In a time of increased digitization, disruptive technologies, and the Internet of Things, dependency on in- formation and communication technology (ICT) increases. As the differences between the traditional and technology spheres narrow, organizations of all types will need talented individuals who can navigate the digital world. However, identifying the precise mix of skills is easier said than done. Canada's continued economic growth will require more than a workforce of trained coders; it will need a workforce with a well-rounded set of skills for non-technical and technical employees alike. Drawing on specific examples of programs designed for skills development at the post-secondary level, this article explores practical ways to cultivate a broad skill set by immersing post-secondary education students into the workplace and by engaging them in private-sector research environments.
Reference

Impact of the timing, type and severity of disability on the subjective well-being of individuals with disabilities

Despite the existence of a large volume of literature on subjective well-being (SWB) of the general population, very few studies have focused on individuals with disabilities. The present study uses data on 24,036 Canadians with disabilities to investigate factors affecting their SWB. It found that SWB, measured here by level of happiness, decreases with severity of disability but is independent of the type of physical disability. Those born with a disability are likely to be happier as compared to those disabled later on in life. Per capita family income has no effect on happiness. However, unemployment decreases happiness. Happiness is found to be U shaped in age, bottoming out around 40 years of age. Some of these results vary when the sample is split according to the timing, type or severity of disability.
Reference

The great Canadian training robbery: Evidence on the returns to educational mismatch

In this paper, I use data from the National Survey of Class Structure and Labour Process in Canada (NSCS) to estimate the returns to over and undereducation. I find that there are positive returns to overeducation for males in jobs that require a university bachelor's degree; but for other levels of required education, the returns are insignificant. I also find evidence of lower pay for undereducated males in jobs with low education requirements. For females, the returns to over and undereducation are insignificant for all levels of required education.
Reference

Basic information and communication technology skills among Canadian immigrants and non-immigrants

Male immigrants are disproportionately employed in information and communication technology (ICT) industries and occupations in Canada. The authors use a measure of basic ICT skills to document differences in skill levels, and those skills’ relationship with labour market earnings, across immigration classes and categories of Canadians at birth. Adult immigrants, including those assessed by Canada’s points system, have lower average ICT scores than Canadians at birth, although the rate of return to ICT skills is not statistically different between them. Immigrants who arrive as children and the Canadian-born children of immigrants have similar outcomes as the Canadian-born children of Canadian-born parents.
Reference

Are immigrants in Canada over-represented in riskier jobs relative to Canadian-born labor market participants?

Background: This paper uses new data to examine the gap in injury and fatality rates between immigrant men and women and their Canadian-born counterparts. Methods: Data from the 2011 National Household Survey and the Association of Workers² Compensation Boards of Canada were used to determine the difference in occupational and industry injury and fatality rates between various arrival cohorts of immigrants and those Canadian born. Results: For both men and women, there is no significant difference in occupational injury and fatality rates between various arrival cohorts of immigrants and Canadian-born workers. However, industry injury and fatality rates are lower for the most recent arrival cohorts of immigrants relative to Canadian-born workers. Conclusions: Although immigrants face many hurdles and challenges in their resettlement process in Canada, given the evidence from the paper, they are not likely to be at higher risk for work-related injuries relative to those Canadian-born.
Reference

Former temporary foreign workers and international students as sources of permanent immigration

Economie outcomes of former Temporary Foreign Workers (TFWs) and former international students (ISs) are compared to those of Skilled Worker Principal Applicants who have no Canadian experience at the time of landing. Controlling for only variables from the immigration points system, former TFWs have both higher earnings and employment rates, while ISs are no lower. When models are estimated separately by gender, male immigrants who were former TFWs have superior outcomes. Overall, the evidence provides support for the Canadian Experience Class in that former TFW, and to a lesser extent IS, status provides signals regarding immigrants' labour market integration.
Reference

A model of factors affecting the treatment of disabled individuals in organizations

A model of factors thought to affect the treatment of disabled individuals in organizations is presented. Specifically, the model suggests that person characteristics (e.g., attributes of the disabled person, attributes of the observer), environmental factors (i.e., legislation), and organizational characteristics (e.g., norms, values, policies, the nature of jobs, reward systems) combine to affect the way disabled individuals are treated in organizations. Furthermore, the model indicates that the relationships just noted are mediated by observers' cognitions (i.e., categorization, stereotyping, expectancies) and affective states. Finally, the model predicts that the disabled person's responses feed back to modify observers' expectancies and organizational characteristics. Implications for conducting research on disability issues and facilitating the inclusion of disabled individuals in organizational settings are discussed.