This chapter discusses how workforce development initiatives vary widely across governments and institutions, and how institutional research can help bridge the gaps between them. Higher Education and Workforce Development: A Strategic Role for Institutional Research Richard A. Voorhees, Lee Harvey As was mentioned in the Editors’ Notes, this volume is a by-product of the joint symposium on workforce development cosponsored by the European Association for Institutional Research (EAIR) and the Association for Institutional Research (AIR). Among the first issues to be resolved by partic- ipants were the numerous differences in terminology used around the world for describing institutional research and workforce issues. Several terms, although well worn among some participants, were new to others. Terms that were new to symposium participants from the United States included employ- ability, qualifications, and national qualification frameworks. Employability refers to the capacity of an individual to get a job and the ability to retain it. For the individual, employability depends on the knowledge, skills, and atti- tudes he or she has and how those assets are used and presented to employ- ers. The burden of employability, then, resides foremost with the graduate’s individual attributes and to a lesser degree with the institution. In European colleges and universities, employability refers more to a general set of skills of value to employers and less to ensuring that students leave an institu- tion with a narrow skill set associated with a particular job. In contrast, at least within institutions focused on workforce development, the focus tends to be on specific skills needed for specific jobs. Qualifications are analogous to what Americans call a degree or cer- tificate. However, in a non-American context a qualification also recognizes that a person has achieved learning outcomes or competencies relevant to identified individual, professional, industry, or community needs. The NEW DIRECTIONS FOR INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH, no. 128, Winter 2005 © Lee Harvey. Printed with permission. 5 1