Joshua D. Hawley

Work Environment Characteristics and Implications for Training Transfer: A Case Study of the Nuclear Power Industry

This study aims to contribute to our understanding of the relationship between work environment and training transfer. It presents findings from a study undertaken as part of a larger training program evaluation. Data were collected from HRD professionals in the nuclear power industry using interviews. The study shows that peer support may be an important work environment factor influencing positive transfer and that a lack of manager support may negatively impact transfer.

The Emergence of ‘Workforce Development’: Definition, Conceptual Boundaries and Implications

This chapter begins a much-needed discourse about workforce development, a term used with increasing frequency among educational practitioners, policy-makers and scholars alike. In spite of the increasing use of the term, there has been limited discussion about its meaning and implications for established fields of study (Giloth, 2000; Grubb, 1999; Harrison and Weiss, 1998). This discourse is critical for both theoretical and practical reasons, particularly given the economic and social benefits that are expected from workforce development programmes (Grubb and Lazerson, 2004). Specifically, the purposes of this chapter are: (a) to discuss the emergence of workforce development based on five historical streams; (b) to propose a definition and conceptual boundaries for workforce development; and (c) to explore the implications of workforce development on policy-makers, researchers and practitioners.

Comparing the Payoff to Vocational and Academic Credentials in Thailand over Time.

Abstract Using data from Thailand’s National Labor Force Survey, this paper analyzes the long-run earnings differentials for vocational and academic schooling at the secondary and post-secondary levels. The results show that vocational schooling offers consistently higher returns for men and women at the secondary and post-secondary levels. However, the returns to vocational and academic credentials vary substantially, both by gender and year. The primary conclusion that vocational schooling offers a higher private rate of return should be tempered by the understanding of the long-run decline in value of some vocational credentials and the potential growing importance of all post-secondary degrees.

The Impact of Institutional Collaborations on the Earnings of Adult Workforce Education Completers

This article reports findings from a mixed-methods study of the impact of collaborations between adult education organizations and nonprofit or business partners on the earnings of program participants. The project uses survey data collected from a network of state-sponsored educational institutions and unemployment insurance data from program participants. Findings from the study emphasize that collaboration between adult workforce institutions and business, government, or nonprofit partners increases the earnings of adult training participants. The effects differ for men and women. These results were estimated using regression analysis, which related changes in quarterly earnings to two aspects of institutional collaboration: the intensity of collaboration and employer involvement.

How business associations use interorganizational networks to achieve workforce development goals: Implications for Human Resource Development

Abstract This study uses data from a series of comparative case studies to analyse the interorganizational networks of business associations providing workforce development services in the United States. Three aspects of the networks were of particular interest, including (a) the form the partnerships took, (b) the trade-off to involving educational or community vs. business partners in providing workforce development services and (c) the strengths of associations in brokering services to adults or youth. The findings demonstrate that business associations work in intermediary networks or provide their services directly. The conclusions suggest that human resource development professionals should work more actively with local business associations to recruit, train and provide supports for workers in US firms.

Effects of Government Spending on Research Workforce Development: Evidence from Biomedical Postdoctoral Researchers

We examine effects of government spending on postdoctoral researchers’ (postdocs) productivity in biomedical sciences, the largest population of postdocs in the US. We analyze changes in the productivity of postdocs before and after the US government’s 1997 decision to increase NIH funding. In the first round of analysis, we find that more government spending has resulted in longer postdoc careers. We see no significant changes in researchers’ productivity in terms of publication and conference presentations. However, when the population is segmented by citizenship, we find that the effects are heterogeneous; US citizens stay longer in postdoc positions with no change in publications and, in contrast, international permanent residents (green card holders) produce more conference papers and publications without significant changes in postdoc duration. Possible explanations and policy implications of the analysis are discussed.

Vocational-technical schooling and occupational matching in Thailand: differences between men and women

Using data from Thailands National Labor Force Survey, this paper provides estimates of the proportion of men and women who complete a vocational-technical education at the secondary or post-secondary level and obtain employment in a related field. The results show that completing a vocational education and working in a related occupation offers a benefit to women but not to men, after controlling for the interaction between years of work experience and matched occupations. These findings must be clarified with data that allow for narrower occupational matching. Nevertheless, the research offers some confirmation of the importance of vocational-technical schooling in national workforce development strategies.

Education as a Complex System

It was a cold rainy day in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Navid was working in his office at E40, one of MIT’s oldest buildings. E40 used to be a factory in the 1930s and was now hosting a large number of students, researchers, visitors, and faculty members. As a postdoctoral researcher, Navid was sharing an office with another postdoc, a long-time friend. Like many other researchers in temporary positions, they were both looking for tenure-track academic jobs. Navid and his friend had different training and areas of interest, but they shared an opinion on the job outlook: it was not a seller’s market. Each job opening received hundreds of applications, and it was very difficult to compete. Standing near the window and sipping from his cup of coffee, Navid heard Professor Dick Larson knock on the door. Dick was Navid’s supervisor. As smiling and energetic as always, Dick said: ‘Professors are like mothers who give birth to new PhDs!’ Navid replied: ‘OK?!’...‘What do you think happens if each mother, on average, gives birth to two boys and two daughters?’ Dick asked. The answer was easy: ‘The population grows ... until there are enough resources.’ Navid replied. Dick returned back to the job market problem: ‘OK, if we consider faculty members as people who train PhD students, and eventually hood them as new PhDs, like a mom that brings a baby into a new world, they are bringing these new PhDs into the world. What happens if each faculty member, during the whole career, gives birth to two PhDs?’ It was easy to follow the logic. The population should grow—unless we have limited faculty slots. If faculty positions are kept constant, only one of the two can replace the adviser and the second person should search for a job outside academia. In simple words, if everyone graduates two PhDs during their whole career, only 50% of them can land tenure-track jobs. Faculty members train many more than two PhDs during their careers; in fact, Dick had graduated 20 or more PhD students! Data have shown that on average each engineering faculty member graduates 7.8 new PhD graduates during their career (Larson et al. 2014). That is, only 1 out every 7.8 graduates can find an academic job in the U.S. Many others take temporary positions in academia (such as postdoc positions) and consequently increase universities’ teaching and research capacity, advise students, help faculty members gain more course releases, and train even more students. Postdocs also write more papers, which raises the hiring standards of the job market. In the same way that businesses may engage in a price war, postdocs create a publication war. These are just examples; many more reinforcing loops exist that work as vicious cycles (Ghaffarzadegan et al 2015). Navid and his officemate were inside this complex system. *Correspondence to: Navid Ghaffarzadegan, Virginia Tech, Industrial and Systems Engineering, Blacksburg, VA, United States. E-mail: navidg@vt.edu

The influence of learning activity on low-skilled workers’ skill improvement in the South Korean manufacturing industry

The main purpose of this study was to explore how low-skilled worker’s learning activity influences skill improvement. Using a unique 2007 Human Capital Corporate Panel data-set from the South Korean manufacturing industry, we operationalize skill improvement over time among low-skilled workers. A worker is classified as ‘low skilled’ if he or she has a low education level and poor technical skills. Regression models show that low-skilled workers’ informal learning positively influences their skill improvement. In contrast, we note that supervisors negatively influence skill improvement of low-skilled workers when measuring the change in technical skill proficiency. Quality circle programmes also have a positive influence on skill improvement. In conclusion, skills can be improved through planned interventions that increase collaboration on the job. The results from this study help to highlight the importance of designing learning interventions for low-skilled workers that take account of their underlying education and skills.

Does Developmental Education Help? Findings from the Academic Performance of Adult Undergraduate Students in Community Colleges.

ABSTRACT This paper examines the association between participating in developmental education and degree attainment within 6 years for adults (age 24 and older) who entered one of 10 Ohio public community or technical colleges for the first time in 2002–2013. Degree attainment is modeled using annual data on course enrollment and completion measures. Results from both a logistic regression (with fixed effects) and propensity score matching provide different estimates of the impact of developmental education on degree attainment. The study identifies a range of intermediate educational characteristics such as credit completion and persistence that are associated with final degree completion. Based on the results of this study, educational institutions that provide adult developmental education need to design specific educational interventions that will address the barriers adult undergraduates face.