Employability Imperative: Schooling for Work as a National Project

The focus of this book is not whether schooling prepares youth for future work. Instead, the focus of this book is on how schooling for work has become a global phenomenon and a concerted project of nations. The importance of this phenomenon for schooling is that while there is often little direct empirical evidence linking schooling and the broader economy, there is an important link nonetheless. For example, the global triumph of capitalism through free-market trade and industry (even in officially socialist nations) is a testament to the overwhelming importance of economic competitiveness and labour market participation for individuals, communities, and nations alike. It is the national economy, however, which has the greatest potential impact on the largest number of individuals and their communities – not vice versa. So, it is often at the national level where the most discussion, planning, and policymaking occur related to schooling for work. Why? Because the direction that the national economy follows dictates in many instances the direction that communities’ and individuals’ economic fortunes go within that nation. Readers will find that this book looks predominantly at global phenomena resulting from the interplay between nations.