This paper provides the first evidence on the earnings, employment and college enrollment effects of computers and acquired skills from a randomized controlled trial providing computers to entering college students. We matched confidential administrative data from California Employment Development Department (EDD)/Unemployment Insurance (UI) system earnings records, the California Community College system, and the National Student Clearinghouse to all study participants for seven years after the random provision of computers. The experiment does not provide evidence that computer skills have short- or medium-run effects on earnings. These null effects are found along both the extensive and intensive margins of earnings (although the estimates are not precise). We also do not find evidence of positive or negative effects on college enrollment. A non-experimental analysis of [Current Population Survey CPS data reveals large, positive and statistically significant relationships between home computers, and earnings, employment and college enrollment, raising concerns about selection bias in non-experimental studies.

This article analyses the contribution of post-compulsory education and training systems to the development of literacy and numeracy skills across OECD countries. While there is extensive cross-country comparative research on the effects of primary and lower secondary education systems on aggregate skills levels, there has been little comparative analysis of system effects after the end of lower secondary education. This article uses a quasi‐cohort analysis of the tested literacy and numeracy skills of 15-year-olds in [Programme for International Student Assessment PISA 2000 and 27-year-olds in the 2011 OECD Survey of Adult Skills (SAS) to estimate the gains in different countries in mean levels of competence in literacy and numeracy. We found that Nordic countries (Norway and Sweden) with comprehensive upper secondary education and training systems and German-speaking countries (Austria and Germany) with dual systems of apprenticeship were particular[ly effective, whilst countries with mixed systems (England, Ireland, Northern Ireland and Spain) showed a relative decline in both literacy and numeracy. The education system characteristics that account for these differences are (a) the inclusiveness - as proxied by high rates of participation at 17/18 and low social gradients of level 3 completion; (b) the esteem of vocational programmes; and (c) curriculum standardisation with regard to the study of maths and the national language.

This article explores the implications of nonstandard employment for types of workers and their change over time. Using data from 1995, 2005, and 2017, we trace the evolving forms of nonstandard employment over the last decade and the associated job-quality patterns for workers with different skills, measured by education levels and occupation tasks. We find that nonstandard employment reduces earnings and weekly work schedule but does not affect the likelihood of feeling insecure about job continuity for workers in general. However, a closer examination reveals considerable variation along these three dimensions: highly educated nonstandard workers have lower earnings and fewer working hours than traditional workers over time and nonstandard routine occupation workers tend to feel greater job insecurity. Variations across gender and race-ethnicity are also discussed.

The Australian economy has experienced a high degree of structural and technological change over the past three decades. Significant changes will continue, with the decline of the manufacturing sector, the increasing use of mechanisation and technology in the mining and agricultural sectors, and with the growing role of computerisation and robotics in the workplace in general. The effects of such changes to date have included better pay and more employment opportunities for those whose skills are in demand, but it has also meant lower relative pay and fewer job opportunities for low-skilled and unskilled workers and for workers whose jobs have been replaced by technological development. Structural change leaves workers in industries that are in long-term relative decline with fewer employment opportunities which can lead to entrenched long-term unemployment. Technological change impacts on the types of jobs available within industries and the skills required. The purpose of this paper is to examine the regional dimension to labour market change and determine which areas are likely to be most at risk as the economy continues to experience changes in sectoral mix and in the types of jobs and the skills required.

Purpose: Programmes and courses integrating learning and work, captured generally in this paper as work integrated learning (WIL), usually provide flexible and innovative learning opportunities. In a digital age, information and communication technologies (ICTs) can be vital in delivering and enhancing such hybrid forms of WIL. The purpose of this paper is to explore the correlation and trajectory of ICT use among priests in the Church of England in the various forms of WIL. Design/methodology/approach: The case study explores ICT use among a sample of Church of England priests by examining initially their use of virtual learning environments (VLEs) such as Blackboard and Moodle in work-based learning (WBL); and assessing the trajectory and correlation to work-related learning (WRL) through their use of social networking/engagement tools such as Facebook and Twitter in continuing professional development courses (CPD). The correlation and trajectory is provided through a document analysis of VLE access and a survey questionnaire., Findings: Priests in WBL and priests engaged in WRL (i.e. CPD courses) revealed a correlation in the lack of ICT pervasiveness. With only a minority of priests engaging in further higher education (HE), the familiarity and use of ICT such as VLE platforms stagnated or declined. Correlated with social networking/engagement, priests overwhelmingly cited the 'lack of time' as a reason not to engage with social media, however, ICT reluctance caused by fear was the trajectory resulting in a further lack of 'ICT pervasiveness'. Research limitations/implications: While results may be generalisable among Church of England priests and other faith communities internationally, due to its unique and distinctive parameters, it is not generalisable to the general mature student adult education population., Practical implications: The case study highlighted that continued intentional familiarisation and use of ICT within the various forms of WIL programmes and courses among 'non-digital natives' would enhance learning. Such learning in WIL would be beneficial for HE programmes addressing e-readiness as a priority. Social implications: Specific to the sample case study, considering the importance of community engagement and WIL, this study highlights the challenges and changes required for improved social capital within the field of ICT and adult education. Originality/value: No studies have considered the training and education of priests as a WIL case study of ICT 'pervasiveness' and self-efficacy.

Over the coming decades, technology and automation are expected to dramatically transform how work will be undertaken. While many of these developments will improve productivity and provide new opportunities, some jobs will likely disappear. In this article, we report data from in‐depth interviews undertaken with 51 young Australians about their strategies for managing the possibility of technological disruption in the workplace. In the face of future uncertainties, we found that the majority of our participants remained confident in their ability to maintain for themselves a ‘good’ career story. We posit, however, that those who could neither avoid nor reduce the possibility that technological advancements might jeopardise their career plans demonstrated an outlook of career malleability whereby they accepted the risk yet remained subjectively confident in their own capacity to rewrite their career narrative if, or when, circumstances demanded.

Despite the relevance of the automatability of male and female jobs, only limited research has been conducted on this topic. Using and replicating data from Brookings Institution, CNBC, IWPR, McKinsey, PIAAC, and PwC, we performed analyses and made estimates regarding share of jobs with potential high rates of automation by worker characteristics (%, across countries), the number of women and men in occupations with low and high risk of automation, and in the total workforce (2014–2018, in millions), and share of tasks that could be automated with current technologies (%). The results of a study based on collected data and estimates provide support for our research model.

Purpose: Drawing on social feminist theory, this paper aims to close gaps between knowledge about gender-related barriers to information, communication and technology (ICT) adoption and the provision of entrepreneurship education and training (EET) programs. Design/methodology/approach: Empirical findings are drawn from 21 semi-structured interviews (22 informants) possessing differing training expertise regarding digital technology among women entrepreneurs. An open-coding technique was adopted where descriptive codes were first assigned to meaningful statements. Interpretive and pattern codes were then assigned to indicate common themes and patterns, which were reduced to higher-order categories to inform the research questions. Findings: The findings specify and validate further gender influences in the digital economy. Digital skills are identified, and strategies to close gender barriers to ICT adoption with EET are described. The findings are discussed in reference to a large-scale, Canadian ICT adoption program. Research limitations/implications: Perceptual data may be idiosyncratic to the sample. The work did not control for type of technology. Gender influences may differ by type of technology. Practical implications: Findings can be used to construct gender-inclusive ICT supports and inform ICT adoption policies. This includes program eligibility and evaluation criteria to measure the socio-economic impacts. Originality/value: The study is among the first to examine the intersection between knowledge about gender-related barriers to ICT adoption and EET. The findings can be adopted to ICT support programs targeted at small business owners and entrepreneurs.

Digital technology is increasingly central to our lives, particularly among young people. However, there remains a concern from government and businesses of a digital skills gap because many youths, especially girls, tend to be consumers rather than creators of technology. Drawing on 32 semi-structured interviews with digitally skilled teenagers (aged 13-19), this article investigates their digital career aspirations and examines how identities and discourses of gender can interact with the type of digital careers that are of interest to these youths. While it was found that digitally skilled young people still articulate traditional gendered discourses of digital competence, especially around technical abilities, the growing importance of creativity as a career pathway into digital technology is highlighted. Implications of the findings are discussed in relation to the new computing curriculum in England, which prioritises technical computing skills, and the discontinuation of information and communications technology (ICT), which facilitates a broader usage of software and digital productivity.