Taking a page from the successful experience of countries like Germany and Austria, where youth unemployment is a mere 7 percent, acclaimed sociologists Katherine Newman and Hella Winston call for a radical reevaluation of the idea of vocational training, long discredited as an instrument of tracking. They argue that the United States can prepare a new, high-performance labour force if they revamp the school system to value industry apprenticeship and rigorous technical education. And by doing so, meet the growing demand for skilled employees in dozens of sectors where employers decry the absence of well trained workers.
