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Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the training and learning strategies adopted by family businesses in Ireland. Design/methodology/approach - In order to implement the study a database of family businesses was compiled. A number of sources were used to compile the database. Primary data from a stratified random sample of independent unquoted businesses were collected. Data were collected from 121 family businesses using a postal questionnaire. Findings - The key findings of this study are that family SMEs [small and medium enterprises] appear to prefer an informal learning strategy than a formal strategy and family SMEs are hindered by the lack of financial resources so as to enable learning and training to occur within the business. Research limitations/implications - This study used a single-respondent, self-administered questionnaire. Future research should incorporate analysing other members of the family business - family and non-family members - so as to get a ‘wider’ understanding of learning and training in family businesses in Ireland. Originality/value - This paper presents original findings in a highly relevant, but under-researched field - family businesses in Ireland, the issue of learning and training of family businesses.

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A recent report into the impacts of drought on young people’s access to education in rural and remote Australia has prompted an urgent call for a review of financial support to overcome the tyranny of distance at all levels of education. Research conducted by Charles Sturt University (CSU) academics Professor Margaret Alston and Dr Jenny Kent concluded drought has had significant impacts on access to all levels of schooling from primary to secondary through to tertiary education. The report was funded by the Federal Government and the Rural Education Program of the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal. Researchers conducted in-depth investigations in 2005 with students, their families, teachers as well as business, community and government representatives in seven rural and remote sites at Balranald, Cootamundra and Hay in NSW, Blackall and Longreach in Queensland and Cohuna and Kerang in Victoria. The research identified a number of key findings to ensure equality in educational access for young people in rural and urban Australia: increase Assisted Isolated Children (AIC) allowances to $8,000 for students at primary through to tertiary level to help families overcome the financial burden of education; and students who must leave home for tertiary education should automatically be eligible for the Youth Allowance Address. There are significant pressures on mothers in remote areas to deliver quality education through home tutoring at the same time as they work on and off farms. The research found that boys are more likely to leave school early and that the limited availability of TAFE in the communities highlights an enhanced role for vocational training in schools. Five required key actions are described. Show less

The objective of this paper is to evaluate a 'couples-based' policy intervention designed to reduce the number of Australian families with dependent children in which no adult was in paid employment. Selected women on family benefits (who were partnered with men receiving unemployment benefits) were randomly invited to participate in an interview process designed to identify strategies for increasing economic and social participation. The overall effect of the interview process led to lower hours of work among family benefit recipients, but to greater participation in job search and in study or training for work-related reasons. Whether women were interviewed with their partner or not had no effect on the level of economic activity of participants.

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This discussion document advocates for high quality community-focussed intergenerational family learning provision. It should become the dominant family learning model for early childhood centres, schools, and those who work in communities where strengthened educational outcomes are required. Intergenerational family learning is relevant to a number of overlapping social policy agendas. It attends to the very urgent economic development aspirations of Maori expressed in the Hui Taumata 2005; and to the 'desired community outcomes' in city and community visions. Intergenerational family learning supports the Schooling Strategy (family and community engagement in learning), and the New Zealand Adult Literacy Strategy (Learning for Living). It supports emerging Pasifika strategies for education. It addresses all three national priorities for government: economic transformation; families, young and old; and national identity. This discussion paper considers the evidence that intergenerational family learning not only benefits children, but can also make a significant contribution to the lives of adults. It supports literacy, language and numeracy skills, self-actualisation, and confident parenting. Together, these address educational inequality, poverty, and social exclusion.

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Vocational academic programs in secondary classrooms and in university settings are interdependent in terms of teacher preparation and curriculum design. Significant changes in either entity will affect the viability of the other. Family and Consumer Science programs in US secondary schools are facing several challenges. A focus group design was used to gain insight on the vitality and viability of these programs from the perspectives of three stakeholder groups - students, parents, and school administrators. Emerging themes are presented and discussed. The impact of multiple realities and their possible negative consequences on this and similar vocational programs are explored.

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This article discusses the origin and development of family-friendly policies and careers in Sweden. The starting-point for the discussion is that what 'family-friendly' is can never be separated from the gendered labour market. Drawing on Lotte Bailyn's analysis of gender 'equity', the article argues that the Swedish labour market has no doubt become much more 'family-friendly' over the decades, through family-friendly reforms, but the move has definitely lost pace, maybe even been slightly reversed, in the 1990s and 2000s. Seemingly, political and social reforms cannot reach much further without a radical change in people's views of labour division at home, i.e. in the private sphere.

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This paper investigates how and when differences in work behaviour between men and women develop, focusing on the evolution of the gender gaps over the period of family development. The findings support the theory that gender differences in the formal labour market stem from the presence of children in the home and that childbirth and children entering school are critical times in women's employment. Births mark a dramatic decline in participation in work for women, while school entry is a time of considerable turnover in participation. The length of absence from work following a subsequent birth is closely related to whether the mother was in work between births, while maternity pay and leave entitlements appear to influence the precise timing of the return to work. In addition, a return to work following birth is often only temporary. The gradual decline in women's relative wages following the first birth appears to stem from the accumulation of several shorter periods of unusually low wage growth for women around the times of birth and school entry. There is also a sharp movement into part-time work for women following childbirth and a transition towards non-permanent positions and non-supervisory roles at both critical points.

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This study examines the influence of two potential sources of strength (i.e. ethnic identity and parent/teacher support) on the cognitive variables of career decision self-efficacy and outcome expectations in a sample of 104 African American ninth-grade students. The results indicate that parental support is positively related to career decision self-efficacy and teacher support is positively related to career decision self-efficacy and career outcome expectations. No relationship is found between ethnic identity and either self-efficacy or outcome expectations. The findings confirm the importance of considering contextual supports in career counseling and education. Limitations, implications for counseling, and suggestions for future research are discussed.

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This chapter begins by interpreting lifelong learning as a normative, triadic concept that embraces vocational training, personal development and citizenship education. The author endorses the importance of lifelong learning and widening participation in post-school education and highlights some UK government funded family-learning projects that are aimed at widening participation in education. She then draws on various criticisms of the UK government policy and her own experience to ‘re-identify’ the following four principles for widening participation in lifelong learning: (1) the need for consultation and liaison with communities about their learning needs and interests; (2) attention to how programs for poorer students and communities are to be funded; (3) the use of community and voluntary networks and partnerships in the development and delivery of such programs; and (4) the development of appropriate adult-centred curricula and pedagogy. She suggests that these principles are more likely to succeed if those involved recognise the normative and triadic requirements of ‘lifelong learning’ and the complex variety of families in today’s society.

The monograph from which this chapter was taken is indexed at TD/IRD 88.429; selected chapters are indexed from TD/TNC 89.54 to TD/TNC 89.67. Show less

The study provides an analysis of the different pathways into employment and their likely outcomes for different social groups, at different stages in their life course, and with different levels of care responsibilities. Where possible, the research analysed variations in the above patterns by ethnicity, faith and level of qualification. It forms part of the investigation by the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) into transforming work, which is designed to ascertain how work organisation and routeways into work can be transformed to improve productivity for businesses and the economy and to deliver better lifelong choices for women and men. It is a companion report to a literature review of employment transitions over the life cycle (Perrons and Sigle-Rushton, 2006) [indexed at TD/TNC 90.66] and a statistical study of career interruptions and labour market outcomes (Johnes, 2006). Key findings include: gendered employment patterns with respect to employment participation (in addition to segregation and pay) emerge immediately on leaving education and prior to the ages at which women and men are most likely to begin forming families; qualifications have a strong positive impact on the likelihood of being in employment, for all groups, but especially for women; caring responsibilities in general have a negative impact on employment, but this is gender differentiated; men are much more likely to remain in employment than women, but both women and men in professional and managerial occupational categories are significantly more likely to remain in continuous employment than those in routine and semi routine jobs; women and men who would like to work reduced hours are more likely than others to withdraw from the labour market; part-time workers are also more likely than others to leave the labour market; and a partner’s employment status has an important impact on the employment of older women and men.

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