Workforce Development

The global technology and innovation frontier pushes forward at a rapid pace, and countries around the world seek to either keep up, or catch up. Countries at the frontier are forward-looking, have robust economies, are open to investment and technology, and have competitive, well-matched workforces. And countries that want frontier-combatible workforces require agile, demand-driven training arrangements that allow for swift entry and re-entry to training. After all, as the fourth industrial revolution unfolds, technology and markets continue to change at ever-increasing speeds.

Globally, as new technologies are emerging and changing the nature of work, a growing number of countries and companies are realizing that prioritizing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) jobs can drive innovation and spur economic growth. Despite the business and economic benefits of gender diversity in STEM, globally, STEM jobs are traditionally male-dominated, and women are less likely to enter and more likely to leave STEM careers.

Despite its growing popularity, evidence that volunteering enhances civic values and social cohesion among different communities remains limited in developing countries. This study presents novel evidence from Lebanon on the impact of offering a volunteering program that consisted of inter-community volunteering activities and soft skills training on self-reported social cohesion values in the short term.

Despite the widespread popularity of entrepreneurship education, there is thin evidence on its effectiveness in improving employment outcomes over the medium to long term. A potential time lag between entrepreneurial intentions and actions is sometimes presented as a reason why employment impacts are rarely observed. Based on a randomized control trial among university students in Tunisia, this paper studies the medium-term impacts of entrepreneurship education four years after students' graduation.

Education has a large untapped potential to contribute to human capital, well-being, and wealth in the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA). In fact, it has been at the heart of the region's history and civilizations for centuries. In the 20th century, education was central to countries' struggles for independence, to building modern states and economies, and to defining national identities. Today, MENA has the lowest share of human capital in total wealth globally (Lange, Wodon, and Carey 2018).