Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 
 

Files

File List


osu1174678446.pdf (2.25 MB)

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Investing in human capital: the origins of federal job training programs, 1900 to 1945

Dorn, Richard D.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1174678446

Abstract Details

2007, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, History.
This study explains the origins of federal investment in human capital between 1900 and the end of World War II. It traces the formation of public policies, ususally initiated by the private sector—business, labor, and newly-formed interest groups such as professional educators—that lobbied for federal public education and workforce training after 1900. Federal manpower training increased during crises, but receded during times of prosperity, when the private sector and individuals made the largest investments in human capital. Human capital development encompasses formal education and technical training, apprenticeship training, and trade school instruction. This study includes adult education, correspondence instruction, business schooling, and training in the workplace. The latter methods of instruction occur as “nonformal education.” The emphasis here is on blue-collar and white-collar occupations, skilled and semi-skilled work. The study is organized chronologically into ten chapters and utilizes archival and textual sources that cut across business, labor, education, and government. Among the topics included are the efforts to initiate industrial education at the turn of the twentieth century; public and private cooperation to train millions of Americans during both world wars; and cooperation between the private sector and public schools. Also, individual workers “self-invested” for promotions or career changes, and the Americanization movement, which declined after immigration restriction in the 1920s, provided the infrastructure for adult education thereafter. In addition the military promoted training as a recruitment incentive. New technologies-electronics, communications, automotive and aviation-changed the structure of the economy and created new occupations that requird training or retraining. Public education and all training suffered during the Great Depression, however. Small training programs in New Deal agencies—coupled with the Labor Department’s revival of apprenticeships—formed the core of the massive training during the Second World War. The resulting full employment eroded barriers, however temporarily, that segmented workers by race, sex, age and physical ability. Labor demand became so acute that politicians considered drafting men and women into wartime industries. The public and private sector together produced an astonishing investment in human capital. After the experience of “full employment” during World War II, politicians and policymakers discovered the benefits of investing in human capital. The GI bill serves as an important example. In twenty-first century, new technologies and labor market demands will require constant workforce training and retraining.
Warren Van Tine (Advisor)
History, United States
Education; Training; Workforce Education; Human Capital

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Dorn, R. D. (2007). Investing in human capital: the origins of federal job training programs, 1900 to 1945 [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1174678446

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Dorn, Richard. Investing in human capital: the origins of federal job training programs, 1900 to 1945. 2007. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1174678446.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Dorn, Richard. "Investing in human capital: the origins of federal job training programs, 1900 to 1945." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2007. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1174678446

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1174678446
6,280
© 2007, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.