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This research paper presents and analyses the findings of the new [European Economic Area] EEA-funded large-scale research project entitled 'NEETs2' (EEA Grants/GR07-3757), which was completed in 2016. In brief, through primary nationwide quantitative and qualitative research), the project aimed, firstly, at the research-based mapping of the relationship between Greek [not in employment, education or training] NEETs and psychopathology - the sketching of their psychological profile - as well as the investigation of the impact of the economic crisis on their psychological profile and life course. Secondly, it aimed at a research-based mapping of NEETs' skills profile and their needs-in-skills. Within this context, the findings led to a targeted and competence-based training-reskilling programme (including two counseling and vocational guidance handbooks) and a proposed set of psychological supportive activities to promote the social inclusion of NEETs in Greece.

The research paper raises definitional issues concerning NEETs, while emphasizing the relation between youth unemployment and NEET rates both in the EU and Greece. Based on several of the key findings of the quantitative research, the paper maps the profile NEETs in Greece today, analyses their socio-demographic characteristics (comparing to the control group, namely the rest of the youth), presents findings related to the medical history and health-related characteristics and sketching the psychological profile of Greek NEETs. Furthermore it analyses the impact of crisis on the life course and employability of NEETs in Greece and provides evidence-based insights on their politically-related attitudes and civic values.

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The aim of the survey was to obtain a snapshot of the key issues, experiences and views of young people aged 12-25 in the [Australian Capital Territory] ACT and surrounding region. While the primary target group for the survey was young people aged 12-25, secondary target groups included young people who identified with specific cohorts of young people; and young people who had accessed support services in the ACT. The survey collected information from young people on their age; gender; region of residence; employment, education and training status; income; and living circumstances. The top five personal concerns that were most frequently identified by young people as 'affecting my life and worrying me' included: school work or study, stress, body image, feeling sad or anxious, and finding things to do in Canberra.

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Community men's sheds and the international movement associated with them provide an excellent example of one of many possible neat fits between men's learning and wellbeing, paradoxically and almost counter-intuitively without formalising or foregrounding either. The intention of our paper is to explore how men's sheds in community settings might point towards a way of radically changing thinking about men's informal learning, particularly for the significant proportion of older men not in paid work. What underpins this thinking is research into returns to adult education from nations such as Australia and Canada that while the least educated are least likely to participate, when they do participate they are most likely to benefit, and that training alone represents an inefficient investment policy for the less skilled. Our paper is also consistent with Coombs and Ahmed's (1974, p.8) contention that informal education is 'the lifelong process by which every individual acquires and accumulates knowledge, skills, attitudes and insights from daily exposure to the environment - at home, at work, at play.' Indeed, important aspects of all three are embedded within a community men's shed setting. While sheds have been particularly attractive to older men excluded in one or more dimensions (economic, social, spatial and institutional), it is important to acknowledge that men's sheds can and do accommodate men of all ages, and that some sheds specialize in young people. It is also important in a paper to a conference about gendered adult learning to acknowledge and explore what an important but often subtle roles women have played in shed development.

Men's sheds demonstrate how a community-based, grassroots international movement embedding both learning and wellbeing can be advanced by collective action by men themselves in community setting. The critical condition is that men are not treated as customers, patients, students or clients from negative, deficit or ageist models. While the shed movement started slowly and from small beginnings in parts of Australia, its very recent and rapid spread across and well beyond Australia to New Zealand, Ireland, and England is evidence of what can and does happen when men exercise agency, and when governments listen to and work with men rather than problematise or patronise. On one hand, our paper suggests that while sheds are conservative in that they reinforce and celebrate some traditional ways of being a man and doing things together, 'shoulder to shoulder'. On the other hand, men's sheds are radical in that they are based on models of community involvement that are democratic and inclusive, which eschew negative and hegemonic masculinities, are respectful of women, encouraging of salutogenic (health promoting) behaviour and of learner autonomy. This final condition is consistent with meta-analyses into research across all forms learning (Black, McCormick, James and Pedder, 2006) that an 'emphasis should be placed on practices, in both individual and collaborative contexts that seem to have the potential to promote ... autonomy in learning. This would seem to be the most secure foundation for lifelong learning.'

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The risk that flexible forms of employment are harmful to the health of workers is a major public health issue for the many countries, including Australia, where such forms of employment are common or have been growing. We ask whether the century-old system of arbitrated protections for workers and the distinctive welfare state in Australia averts any such harm to mental health. If Australian workers are harmed despite these protections, this adds weight to the international concerns about the hazards of flexible employment. Employing nine waves of panel survey data and dynamic random-effects panel data regression models, we examine the mental health consequences of unemployment, and of employment on a casual or fixed-term basis, compared with permanent employment. We control for demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, occupation, disabilities status, negative life events, and the level of social support. We find almost no evidence that flexible employment harms mental health. Unemployed men (but not women) have significantly and substantially lower mental health. But among the employed, only men who are on fixed term contracts, most especially graduates, have lower mental health than those who are employed on full-time permanent terms. Women have significantly higher mental health if they are employed full-time on casual terms.

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The teacher recruitment and retention challenge in England has significantly intensified since the [Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)] pandemic. Recruitment to initial teacher training (ITT) was considerably below target last year across a range of subjects and as of February 2023, this year's ITT recruitment is likely to be little better than last year, while teacher vacancies are significantly higher than the year before the pandemic. The recent trends in recruitment and retention affirm that addressing recruitment and retention should be an urgent policy priority in order to ensure schools have sufficient staff to provide a high quality education for pupils in England.

The aim of this annual series of Teacher Labour Market reports is to monitor the progress the school system in England is making towards meeting the teacher supply challenge. This report summarises the key trends in teacher recruitment, retention and working conditions. The findings also point towards areas where policy actions are likely to have the greatest impact on addressing the challenges.

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This report is based on the fourth edition of the European Company Survey (ECS), which was carried out jointly by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) and the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) in 2019. The purpose of the ECS is to map, assess and quantify information on company policies and practices across Europe on a harmonised basis. The survey collected information from 21,869 human resources managers and 3,073 employee representatives in the 27 EU Member States and the United Kingdom. The unit of enquiry for the survey is the establishment: the local unit or site. This report covers a wide range of workplace practices and strategies concerning work organisation, human resource management, skills use and skills development, and direct and indirect employee involvement in organisational decision-making. A key objective is to show how workplace practices are combined and how these 'bundles of practices' are associated with the win-win outcome of workplace well-being and establishment performance.

The analysis finds that the establishments that are most likely to generate this win-win outcome are those that combine a high degree of worker autonomy, a balanced motivational strategy, a comprehensive training and learning strategy, and high levels of direct employee involvement in decision-making, as well as offering managerial support for these practices. To boost the adoption of employee-oriented practices - particularly in relation to autonomy, skills and employee involvement - managers should be offered appropriate support, as they play a key role in the decision to initiate workplace change. They are also crucial to its success, as they must continuously support the workplace practices implemented.

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Student wellbeing is regarded as a salient priority across higher education. Given the growing participation of higher education students in work-integrated learning, it is important to explore how student wellbeing is being supported in this critical learning environment. While student wellbeing must be considered across all educational contexts, wellbeing may be most challenged when working and learning online. The purpose of this research, therefore, was to explore ways in which student wellbeing is supported by program coordinators when students are engaging in online work-integrated learning (eWIL). Seventeen program coordinators across Canada were interviewed and data were analyzed thematically. Thematic analysis generated three main themes: program coordinators' perspectives on their role in supporting student wellbeing, wellbeing supports offered to students engaged in WIL, and intersectional considerations for supporting student wellbeing. These findings advance the discussion of innovative and tailored approaches needed to support student wellbeing in online work-integrated learning environments.

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Post-secondary education - university, college, or apprenticeship training - has become the essential path to reasonably stable and satisfying employment for most Canadians. It follows, therefore, that the question of who gets into a post-secondary program, and who graduates, is now a critical issue not only for the individuals directly concerned and their families, but also for public policy and for the general Canadian public, more broadly. This is the issue that has come to be defined as access to post-secondary education, or simply accessibility. There is an obligation to acknowledge the importance of who has this access, partly as a matter of fairness and equity, and also as a matter of importance for public policy because a highly educated population contributes directly to Canada's collective social and economic well-being.

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We assess the relationship between numeracy skills and numeracy practices among adults in everyday life and at work from the Survey of Adult Skills, a product of the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), an international survey of about 250 000 adults aged 16-65 years old conducted by the OECD in 33 countries/economies. The level of proficiency and the intensity of engagement in numeracy practices are two embedded aspects of numeracy. Proficient adults use numeracy frequently and adults who regularly engage in numeracy practices improve their performance. Individual and contextual factors influence, in different ways across countries, the strength of these links. The intensity of the use of numeracy in everyday life decreases as the lapse of time since a person's studies increases. Moreover, employed people engage in mathematical activities less in the private setting if they do not do so intensively in the workplace.

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Young people (aged 12-25 years) are recognised as priority group in the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation's (VicHealth) Mental Wellbeing Strategy 2019-2023. Evidence indicates that youth (12-17 years) and young adulthood (18-25 years) are characterised by a series of critical transitions during which mental wellbeing can be compromised. The transition from education to work is one such example. Since 2015 VicHealth has supported three related studies that seek to understand and support the mental health of young people, going through this transition [reports available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 141.101, TD/TNC 141.102 and TD/TNC 141.103]. This report summarises the findings of these studies. Recommendations for how employment and transition into employment can be optimised to improve the mental health of young people are provided at the end of the report.

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