University and vocational education,and youth labour market outcomes in Australia

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of university and vocational education, and other influences on a variety of labour market outcomes for Australian youths aged between 16 and 25. The six labour market outcomes investigated are: occupational status, hourly and weekly earnings, employment, unemployment and full-time work. The study finds that a bachelor’s degree has clear positive effects on each of these youth labour market outcomes, in contrast to vocational qualifications. Among men, vocational qualifications show no sizable positive effects on these outcomes. Among women, the higher-level vocational diploma is beneficial for employment and unemployment. In no instance are the positive effects of vocational education stronger than that for a bachelor’s degree. Many of these labour market outcomes are strongly associated with prior experiences of employment and unemployment. The findings suggest that policies, rather than focusing on expanding and reforming vocational education, should aim to ensure that young people quickly secure employment, preferably full-time, and avoid unemployment.     

Graduating in uncertain times: The impact of COVID-19 on recent graduate career prospects,trajectories and outcomes

This article examines the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on recent UK graduates' initial employment outcomes and how they experience the transition into a challenging labour market context. We draw on longitudinal survey and interview data, collected from recent graduates who had mainly graduated during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in summer 2020 that examines graduate perception of the labour market, impacts on labour market entry impacts and early career progression and effects of periods of unemployment or under-employment. The article shows some of the main impacts of the recent pandemic-affected labour market, including: widespread concerns about job opportunities and employer support, the perceived employment impacts of the pandemic and early signs of scarring and labour market disorientation amongst those who were struggling to find employment of their choice. Such experiences are clearly intensified during the specific COVID-19 context, but the policy implications they raise have wider relevance for supporting graduates during future periods of labour market volatility.     

对当前我国就业状况的分析与思考

马克思当年根据资本利润下降和工资上升趋势以有资本主义的失业规律，提出了资本主义必然灭亡的论断。然而，资本主义国家通过发展中小型企业，较大幅度地吸纳了剩余劳动力，减轻了不业压力，使资本主义制度得以延续下去。目前，我国的就业形势非常严峻，借鉴西方国家经验，大力发展中小企业，以此解决我国的就业问题，应该是一条可取的途径。     

我国当前失业问题的成因与对策分析

人口因素、体制性因素、结构性因素、技术进步因素、摩擦性因素共同造成了我国巨大的失业压力。解决失业问题,必须加强宏观调控,把促进就业作为近期经济社会发展的首要目标;保持国民经济适当的增长速度,通过经济扩张增加社会就业总量;调整经济结构,拓展和扩大就业渠道;调节劳动力供给,提高劳动者素质;培育和发展劳动力市场,完善就业服务体系;转变劳动者就业观念,大力发展非正规就业形式。     

The Transition from School to Work and the Recession: evidence from the Scottish School Leavers Surveys, 1977‐1983

This paper uses data from the Scottish School Leavers Surveys to investigate trends in the transition from school at a time of deepening recession. The main change observed is the collapse of employment between 1979 and 1983. The paper also describes trends in the distribution of school‐leaver employment, in its industrial and occupational composition, in patterns of movement in the youth labour market and in the role of special programmes. Some of its general conclusions challenge ideas current among some British sociologists. First, youth unemployment (at least among recent school leavers) is no longer significantly connected with patterns of subemployment or frequent job‐changing. Secondly, unemployment has not fundamentally changed the ‘selective function’ of education; credentials have retained their labour‐market value in relative if not in absolute terms. Thirdly, the recent rise in school‐leaver unemployment is very largely a result of the recession—the decline in the aggregate demand for labour—rather than of underlying structural changes that disadvantage young people; most recent changes in the transition from school to work are in principle reversible if the recession ends. The paper assesses the implications of these findings for the sociology of education, and concludes with a discussion of the possible impact of the Youth Training Scheme.     

Local Variations in School‐Leaver Unemployment within a Large City

Abstract

The social problems associated with youth unemployment are compounded by its concentration in particular areas. This paper examines how and why school‐leaver unemployment rates vary across different areas of Glasgow. The level of participation in full‐time education significantly influences the local level of youth unemployment: in areas where fewer young people continue in full‐time education, more of them enter the labour market and thus put themselves ‘at risk’ of unemployment. Among labour‐market entrants, unemployment rates vary across areas, but only in relation to young people's educational and family characteristics. Area inequalities within a city are derivative of individual line qualities; the chances of(un) employment of other wise com‐parable young people are much the same whichever part of the city they live in. The paper concludes by reviewing the policy implications of these findings, and the possible role of education and training measures.     

Transition systems and non-standard employment in early career: comparing Japan and Switzerland

Even though Japan and Switzerland are characterised by comparatively low youth unemployment rates, non-standard forms of employment are on the rise, posing a risk to the stable integration of young labour market entrants. Drawing on the French approach of societal analysis, this paper investigates how country-specific school-to-work transition systems stratify the risk of non-standard employment in early career differently in Japan and Switzerland. Our results reveal that in Japan, young entrants who completed university education are least at risk of becoming employed in non-standard work. On the contrary, it is the highly educated university graduates who mainly enter the labour market via non-standard employment in Switzerland, where vocational education promotes smooth transitions into standard employment relationships. Our findings suggest that the transition systems of the two countries differ in the way they revert to non-standard forms of employment. However, while job insecurities may not endanger labour market integration of highly skilled university graduates holding good career prospects in Switzerland, they may go hand in hand with social exclusion processes for the low-educated young entrants lacking bargaining power in the segmented Japanese labour market.     

人工智能时代的高等教育将如何存在

根据人工智能对未来就业的潜在影响,可将未来就业岗位划分为四个区域:安全区、慢变区、危险区和结合区,并由此产生了人工智能对未来就业的替代效应和创造效应。人工智能对未来就业的替代效应主要发生在强调弱社交、结构化和低技能的危险区;人工智能对未来就业的创造效应则主要发生在强调强社交、非结构化和高技能的安全区;而在慢变区和结合区内,人工智能对未来就业的潜在影响兼具替代效应和创造效应,是发生替代效应还是发生创造效应,主要取决于该区域内的劳动者是否具备人工智能商数,以及是否能实现人机共舞。因此,高等教育要提早谋划人工智能人才培养的长远规划,为学生提供“人工智能+”教育模式,通过培养人工智能时代的原住民,以应对人工智能时代的失业危机。对于安全区而言,人工智能替代就业的可能性较小,但也并不是绝无可能;对于慢变区而言,尽管人工智能渗透的速度、深度和力度没有那么明显,但教育仍要做好随时迎接人工智能的准备;对于结合区而言,教育大有所为,关键在于让未来劳动者具备与机器协作共生的能力;对于危险区而言,高等教育依然能通过人才培养来实现产业领域的优化升级和转型发展。     

工作任务视域下技能需求变迁与技能人才培养

人工智能背景下,工作任务的变迁呈现出了与前三次技术革命不同的特征。伴随着工作任务的替代、互补和拓展,劳动力市场出现工作极化现象,职业迭代加速,劳动者的高阶认知能力、非认知能力、技能组合和终身学习能力的重要性日益凸显。要准确测度劳动力技能供需的变化,革新教育体系和学习方式,对人才培养进行定向调整,构建终身学习生态圈,实现人工智能发展、技能升级与高质量就业的协调发展。     

论深化对劳动和劳动价值论的认识

自马克思《资本化》1867年问世以来，尤其在新的历史条件下，劳动和劳动价值论遇到了许多新的问题必须从理论上加以认识说明，诸如：经济全球化、新的科技革命与当代资本主义经济问题、社会主义市场经济问题等等。在深化认识之前，首先必须研究马克思的劳动和劳动价值论的基本内容和方法，掌握它的精神实质之后，才谈得上在实践中创新和发展。     

Youth lifestyles,employment and the labour market: concepts in need of clarification

Abstract

This paper attempts to throw some light on issues which are currently of major concern both to governments and individuals. Specifically it focuses on the transition process from school to work and unemployment. A selective review of recent major researches in this area indicates the complex interplay between life circumstances, employment and unemployment as they influence the ‘career’ development of young people. The notions of lifestyle, employment and labour markets are examined for their conceptual usefulness and are found to be wanting.

The paper begins with a definitional note on lifestyles and this is followed by a review of two recent qualitative and quantitative studies which have focussed on the employment‐related circumstances of young people. Such studies are utilised to clarify some of the processes which may be subsumed under the heading of occupational socialisation and, hence, point up the ambiguities in such received notions as employment, unemployment and the labour market.

By way of conclusion a preliminary analysis of data reflecting the perceptions of school leavers provides further conceptual clarification of the concepts in question by identifying six components of ‘lifestyle’ labelled, moral cynicism, work ethic, independent action, occupational passivity, financial management and survival optimism.     

The relationship between higher education and labour market in Greece: the weakest link?

The high level of graduate unemployment, even though it is acknowledged as one of the most distinctive characteristics of the Greek labour market, it has not attracted enough attention in the academic literature. This paper utilizes micro-data from the Labour Force Survey in order to investigate how the employment situation of young (aged 35 and below) graduates varies across fields of study. The findings suggest that graduates of disciplines that have high levels of private sector employment, such as Polytechnics and Computer Science, are in general better off in the Greek labour market. On the other hand, graduates of disciplines that are traditionally related to the needs of the public sector, such as Social and manities, face poor employment prospects. The findings of this study highlight the need for drastic reforms of the Higher Education system.     

Livelihood and Social Division

The struggle for livelihood has always been of central concern to working class people. In Australia today the concentration of unemployment raises issues which must be seen as part of an historical process, involving the reconstruction of social division and the struggle for the right to subsistence. These issues are examined in this article, with particular attention to the social and economic changes which have produced this threat to livelihood. Our research has shown that the responses of working class young people to this situation bring into sharp relief the complex social processes through which social division is produced. The evidence suggests that the cultural perspectives of working class males and females in Australia still have a force and significance which represent a potential challenge to the present pattern of restructuring of the economy which has resulted in such widespread unemployment. This raises particular questions about the growth in local employment initiatives in Australia (as in Europe) and its implications for curriculum development in schools in working class neighbourhoods.     

Technology policy and employment

Current social and economic problems as experienced in the UK are placed in the context of long-term trends in labour economics and the impact of new technology. The reasons why technological unemployment has not hitherto been a growing problem are stated and the relationship between technical change and economic recovery is analysed. Policy implications are suggested and the part which universities can play in recovery is discussed.     

The Context of the Youth Training Scheme: an analysis of its strategy and development

The Youth Training Scheme (YTS) owes its existence to the political opportunities created by youth unemployment and it retains unemployment‐relatedas well as training‐related objectives. This paper investigates the tensions between these two sets of objectives. Because YTS attempts to innovatefrom the bottom up, it risks entrapment in a ‘vicious circle’ of low status. Thecurrent YTS strategy assumes that the employment prospects of YTS trainees, and the effective dissemination of YTS and its training philosophy, both depend primarily on the content and quality of YTS training. The paper argues, by contrast, that both depend primarily on the context of YTS‐‐its relation to the structure of educational differentiation and to processes of recruitment and selection in the labour market‐‐and very little on its content. High quality training alone is unlikely to enable YTS to break the vicious circle of low status and achieve its broader training objectives. This is only likely to be achieved either through providing specific skills, credibly certified, in demand in the local labour market, or through giving trainees privileged access to the employmentnet works throughwhich employers recruit, and thereby enhancing the context of YTS.

Part 1 outlines the general argument. Datafrom the Scottish Young Peoples Survey (described in Part 2) are used (in Part 3) to compare YTS with its predecessor, the unemployment‐based Youth Opportunities Programme. The data reveal limited success in escaping from the vicious circle of low status in the first two years of YTS. This conclusion is based on aggregate‐level analyses; Part 4 discusses the internal differentiation of YTS, based primarily on differences in labour‐market context, and outlines a typology of four YTS sectors. The SYPS data provide qualified support for hypotheses associated with the sectors (Part 5). The sectors and the differences in the labour‐market context they denote may influence trainees’ orientations to YTS and should be allowed for in evaluating schemes (Part 6). The prospects for the development of YTS are discussed in Part 7. Of the two means of escaping the vicious circle of low status, described above, the former may be the more realistic option if unemployment falls, the latter if unemployment remains high.     

资源枯竭型城市的就业难题与解决对策

资源枯竭型城市在发展过程中面临着下岗失业人员多、就业难,因失业致贫的贫困人口数量大,失业导致的群体性事件频发等就业难题。就业结构单一,计划经济的影响,城市经济增长乏力,劳动力市场发育不成熟,就业观念落后是导致资源枯竭型城市就业难的原因。资源枯竭型城市在转型过程中应做好城市转型发展规划,坚持就业优先的发展战略;大力发展第三产业,提升城市的城市化水平;鼓励中小民营企业发展,扩大就业容量;加强公共就业服务体系建设;开展针对就业困难群体的就业援助,以此来解决其就业难题。     

An assessment of non-formal education and training centres’ linkages with role-players for adult employment in South Africa

This article outlines the results of a qualitative study, which investigated the adult non-formal education and education (NFET) centre linkages with external role-players in providing post-training support for the employment of graduates. The concern that informed this article is that adults who face long-term unemployment remain unemployed after completing the NFET programmes in South Africa. The article reports on an empirical study conducted to investigate what constitutes NFET enabling environments for employment. The findings reveal that most managers did not create institutional centre linkages that could enable graduates having access to essential post-training support, community resources, public goods and services. The author concludes that without linking the NFET programmes to external stakeholders, graduates will continue finding it difficult to be integrated in the labour market which perpetuates unemployment and chronic poverty in South Africa.     

University and the Entrance Examinations in a Greek Provincial Town: a bottom‐up perspective

The study, carried out in a Greek provincial town, focuses on the cultural meaning of university education and of participation in the extremely competitive entrance examinations to university. In spite of graduate unemployment, in relation to the labour market a university degree is seen as giving more possibilities. Also, the transition to university and the degree that follows are rewarded by the community with prestige and status. Moreover, gaining admission is also important in itself in relation to the individual's wish to achieve something with herlhis own strength. Finally, taking part in the examinations is seen as being of the utmost importance in relation to the local values. Regardless of the outcome, it allows the participants to realize a particular set of values among which the ‘duty to struggle’ seems to occupy, for historical reasons, a central place.     

金融危机对大学生就业的影响及对策

全球金融危机对中国这样一个人力资源大国除了经济的影响外,最致命的影响就是对就业和再就业的影响。面对金融危机,国家和各级地方政府正在采取的应对措施及相关建议;各高校应该怎样不断寻求新办法,倾力解决大学生的就业问题;大学生们应怎样从实际出发,迎难而上,最终实现自己的就业。笔者从上述三个方面提出了自己的见解,旨在引导社会和大学生正视困难．破解金融危机下的就业难题。     

Patterns of change in U.K. graduate unemployment, 1962–87

This paper is concerned with the changing pattern over time of unemployment among U.K. graduates at the outset and during the early stages of their careers. It is argued that, although the topic is highly relevant to a wide range of policy issues it has, as yet, received only limited attention from researchers. In the paper, unemployment trends in aggregate, by faculty and by subject are examined, using data from the annual First Destination Return, first compiled for the 1961/2 university graduates, and the 1970 and 1980 Graduate cohort surveys. In addition, differences related to gender and also to type of institution of study are identified, and the relationship between new graduate unemployment and unemployment in the U.K. economy as a whole is investigated. It is demonstrated that the basic trend of new graduate unemployment follows closely that of economy-wide unemployment, but that, within the graduate labour market, there is substantial, and persisting, variation across faculties and subjects. Possible explanations of this variation, arising from differing strengths of demand and supply, are suggested and the paper concludes that there is therefore scope for influence on the graduate labour market to bring about a closer correspondence of demand and supply.