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This paper aims to compare the performance of building trades apprenticeship programs in the USA, sponsored jointly by employers and unions, with those sponsored unilaterally by employers. It reviews enrolment and graduation rates, including participation of women and minorities. The article also looks behind the numbers to examine the operation of apprenticeship. It reviews the evolution of joint programs, including institutional arrangements and recent innovations to cope with the challenging characteristics of construction labor markets.

Statistical comparisons by type of program sponsor are carried out using individual‐level data on registered apprenticeship for the period 1996‐2003. Evolution of apprenticeship programs is discussed in a historical perspective.

Joint programs (with union participation) were found to have much higher enrolments and greater participation of women and ethnic/racial minorities. Joint programs also exhibit markedly better performance for all groups on rates of attrition and completion. Joint programs have developed various innovations, including college credit for training and scholarship loans to expand apprenticeship and improve quality and retention, although there are no quantitative evaluations of the effectiveness of many of these specific measures.

Statistical information includes about 65 percent of all registered apprentices in the USA.

The paper shows that alternative forms of training sponsorship have substantially different effects on enrolment and graduation. Identification of the practices, that improve enrolment and retention, and their widespread adoption would enhance the effectiveness of training programs.

The dataset used in this paper has not yet been used in any publications. The findings regarding joint programs are notable, in view of the skilled labor shortages facing the construction industry in the USA.

Apprenticeships in the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, which operate under the United Services Military Apprenticeship Program (USMAP), now account for about 20 percent of all registered apprentices in the USA. The purpose of this paper is to draw on interviews and focus groups to examine the strengths and limitations of USMAP, develops implications of the study for policy, and presents ideas for demonstration projects to learn how best to improve USMAP.

The primary method involved background research on USMAP and USMAP occupations, interviews with key staff members involved with USMAP operations, and 11 focus groups at two Navy and two Marine Corps bases with USMAP apprentices, USMAP completers, and USMAP supervisors.

The study contributes by answering key questions about USMAP. Positives include the potential to upgrade skills, document occupational competencies, and smooth the transition to civilian employment. The study shows that service members have a weak understanding of the rationale for participating and for completing their apprenticeships. Logistical problems often result in incomplete documentation. Counselors lack knowledge about how to make USMAP completers attractive to employers. Finally, USMAP does little to engage employers in insuring the occupational standards are adequate for civilian jobs and in hiring those completing apprenticeships. The study draws policy implications and presents an agenda for research.

The military should provide additional financial support to help the program connect participants with civilian jobs, including a website where employers could search for candidates and communicate with veterans.

This study is the first to examine the operations and implementation of the USMAP.

The purpose of this paper is to show how and why government discoursal constraints have obstructed the development of viable degree apprenticeships for regulated healthcare professionals working in England and suggests some ways these constraints can now be managed and overcome.

The study uses an analysis of published literature, reviews of government and health professional body policies and regulations and semi-structured interviews recorded with those leading on the development of degree apprenticeships in healthcare-regulated professions.

Once created, a bureaucracy tends to look for ways to control discourse, to sustain itself and to extend its reach. In doing so, fault lines may be exposed which undermine the position of that bureaucracy, but it will continue to control discourses to maintain power over those it requires to act. There is no pedagogical need for End Point Assessment (EPA) to measure the competence of regulated healthcare professionals. The paper produces evidence to show how meeting health professional registration requirements is a sufficient metric for measuring successful degree apprenticeship outcomes.

This paper examined current practices relating to the registered nurse and nursing associate degree apprenticeships only. The validity of EPA for measuring occupational competence should be further investigated.

The NHS and other public service organisations should use these findings to re-examine and challenge the requirements for EPA in degree apprenticeships for all regulated professions.

Understanding how “centering” bureaucracies control discourse in their interests can help those in their orbit find ways to challenge and alter the course of policy.

This paper aims to evaluate the variations in the entry and exit of women apprentices in the USA, overall and by race/ethnicity, over the 1995‐2003 period. Also aims to examine how women's representation among new apprentices and their attrition and retention rates vary with individual, training program, and occupational characteristics.

An individual‐level dataset from the US Department of Labor is used to estimate econometrically women's representation in apprenticeship programs and women's odds of completing programs.

Women's representation among new trainees is very low and deteriorating. The results confirm previous findings based on data for the early 1990s that program sponsorship has significant impact on women's representation and retention. Women have better chances of joining the high‐skill construction workforce if they enroll in union‐contractor joint programs. Joint programs feature higher shares of women in the incoming classes and higher odds of graduation in comparison with the unilateral contractor programs. While White women have higher completion rates than Latinas and Black women, the union impact on shares of enrollees is the largest for Black women and the lowest for White women.

The dataset is not nationally representative. It covers 31 states or about 65 percent of all apprentices.

Union sponsorship is necessary but not sufficient to enhance women's integration in the trades. Increasing participation of women in apprenticeship and the trades requires major changes in policies, priorities, and behavior of contactors, unions, and the government to actively recruit women and improve working conditions at the construction site.

This is the first systematic analysis of performance of women apprentices that utilizes the most recent data from the USA.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the joint training and apprenticeship system emerging in maintenance occupations in the US transit industry, its challenges and strategies to overcome them.

The paper reports on early results, including efforts to develop a consensus national framework for apprenticeship and training in transit maintenance. In the paper, training is an arena that both management and labour have common interests. Collaboration in training can foster partnership and improved labour‐management relationships. Implementing technological innovations and organisational changes in workplace practices are facilitated by training and together with training demonstrate strong positive financial payoffs.

The paper finds that the training and apprenticeship system discussed is not yet fully implemented.

The paper shows that several industries in America and other countries are facing similar shortages of skilled technicians due to technological and significant demographic changes.

The paper reviews approaches taken to develop a national effort to promote quality and sustainability in the emerging training system for transit maintenance workers.

Traditionally, apprenticeships have been the domain of further education and skills training providers, predominately at pre-higher education levels where management, organisation, inspection and funding have little in common with those familiar to higher education. Higher level and degree apprenticeships have brought together different cultures and methods of designing, delivering and assessing knowledge, skills and behaviours, funding learners and learning providers, data reporting, quality management and its review or inspection. The purpose of this paper is to establish the primary concerns about managing quality in degree apprenticeships, the challenges the variances bring, how the challenges are being resolved and future work that may be required.

A review of a range of guidance and organisations involved in managing the quality of higher education in apprenticeships was undertaken. The primary focus is on the advice and guidance provided through the Quality Code and associated documentation, which are key to managing and assuring standards and quality in UK higher education. In addition, requirements and guidance provided through other bodies is considered along with the cross-sector groups charged with developing quality assurance processes for apprenticeships at all levels.

The paper shows a range of detailed guidance available to those entering the higher and degree apprenticeships arena and how the organisations involved in quality assurance of apprenticeships are working together to remove or mitigate concerns to ensure that quality is embedded and successfully managed.

Designing and delivering higher level and degree apprenticeships is a relatively new addition to UK higher education providers. There are long established practices to assure the quality and standards of UK higher education wherever and, however, it is delivered, in the UK, overseas and through online models. Apprenticeships across the UK have changed significantly over recent years, and new models, organisations and methods of working and funding have been introduced. This paper brings together key activity by the Quality Assurance Agency and other stakeholders to show how standards and quality can be managed and assured.

Purpose – Research shows that new graduates of Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) programs often fail to understand and appreciate the connection between library science theory and practice. In other fields, culminating experiences often serve the function of combining theory and praxis for students. While notably different from the current structure of the MLIS curriculum, other disciplines provide a model for how the culminating experience component of a degree program can be facilitated successfully. This chapter examines the culminating experiences of other fields in order to provide guidance for how American Library Association-accredited MLIS programs could adopt or integrate similar programs.

Approach – The study explores four culminating experiences commonly used in other fields: fieldwork, apprenticeships and residencies, service-learning, and creative exhibitions. For each culminating experience, recommendations for potential applications to MLIS curricula are provided.

Findings – Culminating MLIS experiences that bring students into the communities they will serve – for example, fieldwork, residencies, and service-learning – may better prepare them for the new world they will face as LIS professionals and may better introduce them to the experiences of their patrons. Exploration of these alternative culminating experiences may help students bridge the gap between theory and practice during and beyond their MLIS degree programs.

Originality/Value – A thorough literature review revealed no similar examination of culminating experiences in MLIS programs’ curricula in particular. Combined with other studies that make recommendations for updating the MLIS curriculum, this exploratory study can serve as a useful resource for MLIS programs hoping to redesign their curricula.

The purpose of this study is to describe one advanced manufacturing company’s efforts to build a channel of skilled workforce by developing an apprenticeship programme with high schools.

Using a qualitative case study approach, the authors interviewed the members of the organisation to gain insights into opportunities and challenges they faced in addressing their skills needs.

The analysis showed that the collaboration and commitment of stakeholders were essential to the success of the programme. Furthermore, flexibility in employer’s expectations to allow for career progression was critical to motivating students to continue in the programme. A positive impact of the programme on overall employee morale and organisational culture was revealed.

Although the findings may be relevant to other similar organisations, they may have limitations in their applicability to other contexts.

The study holds promise for the field of human resource development, as practitioners and scholars can benefit from the renewed interest in youth apprenticeship to identify how their activities within and outside of the organisation can build and retain the human capacity needed for organisational performance and competitiveness.

Employer–education partnerships have been touted as a solution to the skills gaps in industries. However, there is very little literature on employer-initiated apprenticeships focused on youth in the USA. Industry–education apprenticeship programmes offers employers an opportunity to address the skills problem in ways that meet their need.

The purpose of this research is to provide an in‐depth analysis of the labor market for apprentice training in the US construction industry. Also, the paper analyzes the learning process of apprentices and discusses the role of apprenticeships as a pathway to higher education.

The interdisciplinary approach of this research integrates both the economic, institutional and educational aspects of apprenticeship training to show the process of developing the construction labor force in the USA.

The major finding of this research is to highlight the importance of apprenticeship programs in the US construction industry and how these programs can be used as a way to help rebalance the labor market. By increasing the number of workers with intermediate skills, we can insure the distribution of skills more closely matches the distribution of available jobs.

Because of space constraints, the research limitations are that little is said about the factors that affect apprenticeship program completion rates.

The practical implications of this research are to provide policy makers some recommendations that can be used to foster the growth and development of apprenticeship programs in the US construction industry.

The major social implications are that apprenticeship programs should viewed as an alternative pathway to higher education. They can ultimately improve career mobility and earnings. This can lead to a more equal distribution of income while expanding the tax base.

This paper provides a unique analysis of an important segment of the US labor force by focusing on the economics and learning process of apprentices in the US construction industry. Understanding the learning styles of many apprentices helps explain the importance of the dual nature of their training.