Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide an example of best practice towards enhancing employability in the cross-sectoral labour market for doctorate-holders. This was achieved through an Erasmus+ KA2 (Strategic Partnership) skills development project which created a training programme (TRANSPEER) involving a multi-disciplinary cohort of…

This paper provides a critical analysis of the Chartered Institute for Management of Sport and Physical Activity's (CIMSPA) transformative aspirations for UK Higher Education (HE) based Sport and Physical Activity Vocational Education and Training (SPAVET) provision. In doing so, we apply selected elements of Giddens' Structuration theory to offer…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to review the use of "competence" as a concept and through the use of occupational competence standards in six European countries. Design/methodology/approach: Partners in an Erasmus+ project in each of the six countries prepared a review of the use of "competence" in their countries using…

"Healthy, Wealthy and Wise: The Impact of Adult Learning across the UK" identifies a range of economic and social policy challenges confronting the four nations today and argues that adult learning can make an important contribution to addressing these and promoting a fairer and more inclusive society. Published in 2017, the report draws…

In the 2015 general election campaign David Cameron celebrated the success of apprenticeships during the Coalition and promised another 3 million. This article argues that the "reinvention" of apprenticeships has neither created real skills nor provided real alternatives for young people and that the UK schemes fall far short of those in…

This paper aims to provide an overview of evidence of schools' engagement in Fairtrade in the UK through the Fairtrade Foundation's Fairtrade School Awards programme. The paper provides a summary of the comments from schools' engagement with the programme based on data from teachers and pupils' learning with evidence from the different levels of…

Workforce development partnerships between higher education institutions and employers involve distinctive social and technical dynamics that differ from dominant higher education practices in the UK. The New Labour government encouraged such partnerships in England, including through the use of funding that aimed to stimulate reform to…

Internationally, the increasing emphasis in universities on the quality of teaching, on student employability and on a corporate approach to entrepreneurial income generation has created a tension around the primacy afforded to published research outputs as a focus for academic work and status. In this study, a framework for academic socialisation…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a conceptual viewpoint which proposes the use of the post graduate Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) approach to learning in undergraduate education and practice-based training. Design/methodology/approach: This is an examination of the KTP approach and how this could be used effectively in…

In the UK policies such as the Children's Plan 2008-2020 through to Promoting the Emotional Health of Children and Young People (2010) identify that professionals such as teachers, youth workers, social workers and youth offending specialists, do not have the necessary underpinning knowledge to adequately support children and young people's…

Co-investment between the state, employer, and employee is an intrinsic feature of most vocational and education training systems. The government's strategy is to "profoundly" shift responsibility for funding learning and skills from the state to individuals and businesses. At a time of stringent cuts in publicly-funded further education…

This article draws upon original qualitative data to present an initial assessment of the significance of learning agreements for the development of socially responsible approaches to professional and human resource development within the workplace. The article suggests that the adoption of a partnership-based approach to learning is more…

Is the United States getting it wrong when it comes to educating tomorrow's innovators in critical fields? It has been known for years that the only way to compete globally in information technology, engineering, nanotechnology, robotics and other fields is to give students the best educational opportunities possible. But do individuals have a…

This collection of essays, which is arranged in four sections, concerns flexibility in the Vocational Education and Training (VET) systems of Europe. The first section, "Introduction," includes the following chapter: "Shaping Conditions for a Flexible VET" (Nieuwenhuis et al.). The second section, "Institutional and…

Successful employer engagement requires that colleges in the United Kingdom secure employers' involvement in the design, development, management, and delivery of post-16 learning so that the skill needs of employers and the workforce will be met and the increased productivity, competitiveness, and efficiency of individual organizations and the…