Workforce readiness is an issue that is of great national and societal importance. For the United States and other countries to thrive in a globally interconnected environment of wide-ranging opportunities and threats, the need to develop and maintain a skilled and adaptable workforce is critical. National investments in job training and schools remain essential in stimulating businesses and employment agencies to collaborate productively with educators who provide both training and vocational guidance. Workforce Readiness and the Future of Work argues that the large-scale multifaceted efforts required to ensure a reliable and strong supply of talent and skill in the U.S. workforce should be addressed systematically, simultaneously, and systemically across disciplines of thought and levels of analysis. In a four-part framework, the authors cover the major areas of: education in the K-12, vocational, postsecondary, and STEM arenas; economic and labor market considerations; employment, organizations, and the world of work; laws, policies, and budgets at the federal, state, local, and military levels. With contributions from leading scholars, this volume informs high-priority workforce effectiveness issues of current and future concern and concrete research, practice, and policy directions to generate novel insights of a multilevel and system-wide nature.

This volume presents the single most comprehensive source of knowledge on the career development of racial and ethnic minorities. In so doing, it serves as a resource to graduate students learning about career development and career counseling, counselors and psychologists providing career counseling to racial and ethnic minorities, and psychologists and counselors doing research on the career development of these diverse groups. In recognition of the value of both culture-specific and culture-general information about the vocational psychology of racial and ethnic minorities in the United States, the book has a dual focus. The first eight chapters are devoted to culture-specific information about career development and vocational behavior. The final two chapters synthesize and integrate the materials presented in the eight culture-specific chapters. The text has been divided into three sections. The first section focuses on career theory and research with racial and ethnic minorities. It consists of a review of the relevance and utility of various career theories and models from mainstream vocational psychology to our understanding of the vocational behavior and career development of racial and ethnic minorities -- African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, and American Indians. These chapters also summarize other theories from ethnic minority psychology that add to our understanding of minority career development. Finally, they review the existing empirical literature on the career development of these groups and provide a critique of this literature with recommendations for future research. The second section focuses on assessment and intervention with racial and ethnic minorities. The inclusion of the assessment dimension is very important because assessment is such a large and significant component of the career counseling process with these groups. The chapter authors offer guidelines and recommendations for providing career interventions with racial and ethnic minorities. In presenting these guidelines, they also address some of the cultural factors unique to each group that may serve either as facilitators or as inhibitors in the career counseling process. The third section includes commentaries, suggestions, reactions, and syntheses of the previous sections from scholars in the field of vocational psychology. These authors identify and examine the common principles, problems, and themes running across the chapters, and offer suggestions for advancing the field of racial and ethnic minority vocational psychology. This book will become both a valuable source of current information about the vocational psychology of racial and ethnic minorities as well as an inspiration for future research into the career development and vocational behavior of these culturally different individuals.

In order for the United States to maintain the global leadership and competitiveness in science and technology that are critical to achieving national goals, we must invest in research, encourage innovation, and grow a strong and talented science and technology workforce. Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation explores the role of diversity in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workforce and its value in keeping America innovative and competitive. According to the book, the U.S. labor market is projected to grow faster in science and engineering than in any other sector in the coming years, making minority participation in STEM education at all levels a national priority. Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation analyzes the rate of change and the challenges the nation currently faces in developing a strong and diverse workforce. Although minorities are the fastest growing segment of the population, they are underrepresented in the fields of science and engineering. Historically, there has been a strong connection between increasing educational attainment in the United States and the growth in and global leadership of the economy. Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation suggests that the federal government, industry, and post-secondary institutions work collaboratively with K-12 schools and school systems to increase minority access to and demand for post-secondary STEM education and technical training. The book also identifies best practices and offers a comprehensive road map for increasing involvement of underrepresented minorities and improving the quality of their education. It offers recommendations that focus on academic and social support, institutional roles, teacher preparation, affordability and program development.