Education and the workforce: a comparative analysis of the United States, Germany, and Britain
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Abstract
Education has often been perceived as the great equalizer, providing the skills and knowledge needed to compete in an ever increasingly competitive world. Nations are driven to create education systems that will foster a successful economy by producing appropriately skilled and educated citizens to facilitate domestic growth and global competition. This is accomplished by various education systems such as formal academic learning and vocational training. This study will engage case studies and survey analysis to explore why despite this common goal of prosperity, the United States, Germany, and Britain took different routes in creating education systems that each country felt would best serve its needs in the face of developing neoliberalism and subsequent economic competition that arose. Analysis of primary and secondary documents will be conducted to examine education funding sources, private sector interests in education, and cultural attitudes towards education. Cross-national differences will then be discussed in regards to their influence in the development of diverse of education systems. A survey will be used to explore differences in cultural attitudes towards education, the individual, and society as a whole in Britain and the United States. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of cross-national differences are documented in order to analyze distinctions and similarities in cultural attitudes that affect the development of education systems. I find that these attitudes play a large role in the development of each country’s education systems. These case studies will advance our understanding of how funding sources, the private sector, and cultural attitudes influence the development of policies within a country and by understanding the political frameworks, further research regarding educational policy and education frameworks can be conducted.