This report is about the role of the Independent Training Providers (ITPs) within the wider skills system and their contribution to national skills, economic and inclusion priorities. The role of ITPs is often unrecognised and is an under-researched area of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) provision, and with this research we aim to prompt national policy makers to reconsider whether they are making the best use of them in their country. We also aim to raise awareness among ITPs about the work undertaken by counterpart organisations in other countries and encourage them to consider whether there may be commercial or operational benefits from international collaboration. ITPs are private or charitable non-state providers of technical training provision and as noted they represent an under-researched and poorly understood sub-sector within wider TVET. Yet, as will be argued from the research evidence in this report, ITPs play an increasingly important role in delivering government policy priorities in the development of TVET systems, and they often contribute towards global development priorities as set out in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (United Nations, 2015) – particularly with regard to: » the elimination of poverty through creating jobs via sustainable economic growth » the provision of quality education » revitalising global partnerships for sustainable development. The report is based on research conducted by the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP), the UK’s trade body for work-based learning providers with over 900 companies in membership, supported by the British Council. The research started from the premise that the UK system of embedding ITPs within the formal TVET system was relatively unusual in world terms, and prompted discussion about which characteristics of ITPs had led this to happen, and whether they might have a role to play in newly emergent economies. In addition to the UK therefore, research was undertaken into TVET systems in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, both of which are regions that are hoping to benefit from a demographic dividend in terms of poverty reduction, employment generation and economic growth. In this context, the importance of skills development as a driver of socio-economic development is paramount, and governments in these regions have recognised the importance of TVET in this process.The study does not try to present a comprehensive view of policy and practice globally, but instead aims to give an overview and series of insights into the ways in which our researchers found ITPs to be positioned to help meet national policy priorities. We selected six countries overseas – Botswana, South Africa, Uganda, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka – for research into the contribution that ITPs played, or could play, within each country’s TVET systems; systems that we felt were broadly representative of a spread of emerging economies. The study used qualitative methods – desk-research, 18 telephone interviews and a UK policy expert workshop – to address the research aims and objectives.

This inquiry explores the impacts of new and changing technology on the quantity and nature of work. It builds on research and modelling carried out by governments, academics and other organisations in New Zealand and throughout the world. The inquiry aims to answer two main questions: What are the current and likely future impacts of technological change and disruption on the future of work, the workforce, labour markets, productivity and wellbeing? How can the Government better position New Zealand and New Zealanders to take advantage of innovation and technological change in terms of productivity, labour-market participation and the nature of work? The Terms of Reference asks two specific questions related to the education system: How can New Zealand’s education and training system be more effective in enabling adaptation to technological disruption? How can we address the digital divide in New Zealand?

This publication focuses on questions related to: 1. Career concentration: the extent to which young people’s occupational expectations are concentrated in the ten most commonly cited jobs, how they have changed over time and how they vary between different types of learner. 2. Labour market relevance: how young people’s occupational expectations are related to national projections of labour market demand. 3. Job realism: the risk that the jobs young people expect to be pursuing at age 30 will become automated. 4. Career potential: whether occupational expectations reflect the academic potential of students. 5. Career confusion: the extent to which students are misaligned in their educational and occupational expectations. 6. Providing guidance: whether participation in career development activities can be seen to make a difference to career thinking. 7. Career participation: how participation in career development activities has changed over time and varies between different types of learner.

Work-integrated learning (WIL) is widely considered instrumental in equipping new graduates with the required employability skills to function effectively in the work environment. Evaluation of WIL programs in enhancing skill development remains predominantly outcomes-focused with little attention to the process of what, how and from whom students acquire essential skills during work placement. This paper investigates best practice in the classroom and placement activities which develop employability skills and identifies factors impeding skill performance during WIL, based on survey data from 131 undergraduates across different disciplines in an Australian university. What students actually experienced during placement, or what they felt was important to their learning, broadly aligns with best practice principles for WIL programs and problems experienced in performing certain skills during placement can be largely attributed to poor design. Implications for academic and professional practitioners are discussed.

Adapting to the labour market after post-secondary education and finding a job that matches graduates’ skills, while providing a good standard of living, can be a daunting challenge for new graduates.This Commentary investigates whether work-integrated learning (specifically co-op programs) results in higher incomes or other benefits after graduation.It provides an analysis of National Graduate Survey (2013) data to determine (i) the returns to participation in co-op for different fields of study at both the college and university levels, (ii) differential outcomes based on individual characteristics, and (iii) the effects associated with non-monetary success in the labor market. Estimates suggest that co-op programs have significant benefits for participants in the form of eased transition to the labor market and higher incomes after graduation and that they may play a role in overcoming wage gaps associated with bias toward individual characteristics (race, gender, immigration status).

Digitalisation, globalisation, demographic shifts and other changes in work organisation are constantly reshaping skill needs. This can lead to persistent skill shortages and mismatch which are costly for individuals, firms and society in terms of lost wages and lower productivity and growth. These costs can be reduced through better assessment and anticipation of changing skill needs and by improving the responsiveness of skills development to these changes. This report identifies effective strategies for improving labour market information on skill needs and ensuring that this information is used effectively to develop the right skills. It provides a comparative assessment of practices across 29 countries in the following areas: (i) the collection of information on existing and future skill needs; (ii) the use of this information to guide skill development policies in the areas of labour, education and migration; and (iii) governance arrangements to ensure good co-ordination among the key stakeholders in the collection and use of skill needs information.

Despite current global economic growth, expansion and opportunity, millennials and Generation Z are expressing uneasiness and pessimism—about their careers, their lives and the world around them, according to Deloitte’s eighth annual Millennial Survey. In the past two years especially, we’ve seen steep declines in respondents’ views on the economy, their countries’ social/political situations, and institutions like government, the media and business. Organizations that can make the future brighter for millennials and Gen Zs stand to have the brightest futures themselves.

The research involved 19 institutions from eight countries and four continents. These institutional partners engaged in fact-finding and theory generation with the common aim of informing current and future employability policies and practices. This work aligned with the diverse aspirations of all higher education stakeholders and fostered communication between colleagues through open dialogue. The core research question was: How is employability termed, driven, and communicated by universities internationally?

Overall the study on which this report is based provides an opportunity to understand the way in which local-national and local-local collaborative working needs to develop if it is to enhance skill development in England. This entailed: identifying how other countries have devolved their skills and employment policy to local or regional levels; undertaking a local case study, that encompassed multiple local authorities - where moves to shape local skills provision to local demand were already in train – to understand how local skills devolution can be best realised. The Black Country in the West Midlands was selected as the case study; reflecting upon the international and local evidence to develop a framework to be used as a tool that will allow local actors to use their combined local knowledge to answer key questions about the context, drivers for change and desired outcomes to enable them to more effectively deliver local skills to meet local needs.