This study explores skills and work-related dispositions in technical work. It adopts a sociocultural approach to closely examine skills in seven target jobs in worksites representing diverse industries--health care, traffic management, transportation, and semiconductor manufacturing. It explores employers' strategies for obtaining the skills they need under conditions of technological or organizational change.
The report should interest employers, industry groups, and policymakers at all levels of government who are concerned with changes in the modern workplace and the impact of those changes on workforce skills. It should also be of interest to school administrators and teachers who are implementing school reforms that attempt to improve youth transition from school to work.
This research was supported by the National Center for Research in Vocational Education, University of California, Berkeley. The Center, funded by the Office of Adult and Vocational Education, U.S. Department of Education, engages in research and development activities designed to increase the access of all Americans to a high-quality work life. The study was conducted in RAND's Institute on Education and Training (IET).