Preparing Today's Students for Tomorrow's Jobs in Metropolitan America
Edited by Laura W. Perna Education, long the key to opportunity in the
United States, has become simply essential to earning a decent living.
By 2018, 63 percent of all jobs will require at least some postsecondary
education or training. Teachers and civic leaders stress the value of
study through high school and beyond, but to an alarmingly large segment
of America's population--including a disproportionate number of ethnic
and racial minorities--higher education seems neither obtainable nor
relevant. Preparing Today's Students for Tomorrow's Jobs in
Metropolitan America, edited by Laura W. Perna, offers useful insights
into how to bridge these gaps and provide urban workers with the
educational qualifications and skills they need for real-world jobs.
Preparing Today's Students for Tomorrow's Jobs in Metropolitan America
probes more deeply than recent reports on the misalignment between
workers' training and employers' requirements. Written by researchers in
education and urban policy, this volume takes a comprehensive approach.
It informs our understanding of the measurement and definition of the
learning required by employers. It examines the roles that different
educational sectors and providers play in workforce readiness. It
analyzes the institutional practices and public policies that promote
the educational preparation of today's students for tomorrow's jobs. The
volume also sheds light on several recurring questions, such as what is
the "right" amount of education, and what should be the relative
emphasis on "general" versus "specific" or "occupational" education and
training? Ensuring that today's students have the education and training
to meet future career demands is critical to the economic and social
well-being of individuals, cities, and the nation as a whole. With
recommendations for institutional leaders and public policymakers, as
well as future research, this volume takes important steps toward
realizing this goal. Laura W. Perna is Professor in the Graduate
School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania and editor of
Understanding the Working College Student: New Research and Its
Implications for Policy and Practice. The City in the Twenty-First
Century 2012 328 pages 6 x 9 14 illus. ISBN 978-0-8122-4453-3 Cloth
$65.00s £42.50 ISBN 978-0-8122-0843-6 Ebook $65.00s £42.50 World Rights
Public Policy, Education Short copy: Written by researchers in education
and urban policy, this volume offers useful insights into how to provide
urban workers with the educational qualifications they need for real
world jobs.
