Jobs and Training in the 1980s: Vocational Policy and the Labor Market

In February 1979, I wrote to the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation seeking sup­ port for the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies to embark on a policy­ oriented program in vocational education. The reason for the request, which was generously granted by the foundation, was stated as follows: The federal program on vocational education dates from World War I. Impor­ tant changes were made in later legislation in 1963 and 1976, affecting the pro­ grams conducted by the Department of Health, Educa...