Cooperative education has been in existence for approximately eighty three years as a tool to supplement classroom instruction with practical work experience. Some reports suggest that the combination of classroom learning and on-the-job training provides substantial benefits to cooperative education students. Despite these findings, cooperative education has not achieved the recognition that it probably deserves. This may be due to a number of reasons including: (1) lack of adequate promotion, (2) lack of adequate funding, and (3) lack of understanding of the program itself. A major contributing factor to these three limitations, is the failure of cooperative educators to sufficiently document the benefit of cooperative education programs. In fact, the reports attended to above have recognized the need for greater documentation of program benefits. The present study was undertaken to provide some empirical data regarding the perceived benefits of a community college cooperative education program. In conducting the study the researcher hoped to contribute to the existing data base on the benefit of cooperative education by examining the professional development and personal growth effects of a cooperative education program. The study was an ex post facto retrospective survey conducted among 460 former cooperative education students from Quinsigamond Community College in Worcester, Massachusetts. A survey instrument called the Cooperative Education Assessment Survey (CEAS) was developed specifically for the study. The results indicated that a majority of the participants assessed the professional development and personal growth benefits of the program positively. No gender differences were observed. However, significant race, age, employment status and enrollment status differences were found.

Sweden has long been lauded for its efforts to promote equality since the 1970s, but there is still work to be done in terms of gender equality in the labor market. Specifically, the Swedish labor market exhibits horizontal gender segregation, with men and women working in professions that are often gender-coded. To shed light on this issue, a study was conducted to examine vocational teachers' experiences with gender equality. The study draws on Connell's concept of gender order and gender regime, as well as the Swedish state's definition of gender equality (Jämställdhet). Results show that experiences with gender equality are varied, with shortcomings within the teaching profession and school organization making it difficult for teachers to uphold the core values of a “jämställd” education. Interestingly, the study also found differences between non-authorized and authorized vocational teachers, with the latter group identifying greater inequality issues within education and taking more active steps to promote gender equality in their classrooms.

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