ABSTRACT
This chapter describes some policy-related approaches to postsecondary workforce development in place in the United States and Brazil, and outline some potential areas that might be reasonable approaches to enhance the impact of innovation relate to workforce transformation. Policy related to technical and vocational education has varied over time, with the federal government playing a key role in providing guidelines and incentives to implement major programs and approaches. While equating “skill” with educational attainment in traditional economics literature serves as a useful heuristic, it is also somewhat representative of the dysfunction present in policy approaches aimed at fixing the problem of workforce divergence. In Brazil, education has been shaped through different programs over time, in response to changing social and political objectives. There are some internal aspects of Brazil’s economic context that can explain the relatively late emphasis on advanced skills training and workforce development rather than on primary social/literacy-based direction.
