There is considerable international interest in transitions from school to work. This article approaches the issue as part of the debate around 'vocational maturity' ("Ausbildungsreife") in Germany and 'employability' in the United Kingdom. Vocational education and training systems in these two countries differ significantly, so the…

Purpose: To understand the experience of community college career and technical education (CTE) industry advisory committee members. Methodology: Using the qualitative research tradition phenomenology, participants included advisory committee chairs and institutional programme department chairs to help create a composite description of their lived…

Established in 2009, Swedish Higher Vocational Education (HVE) gives employers an opportunity to initiate state-funded but locally conceptualised and managed training programmes. This article investigates the system, the ideas used in policy to mandate this arrangement of vocational education and training (VET) and the institutional relations of…

This research examines regional skill problems and the strategies adopted to reduce skill shortages by a set of employers (n = 16). The data collected in 2019 in a northern region in Portugal indicate considerable and persistent shortages of engineering and IT graduates and non-graduates for operational jobs. The employers implement anticipative…

A substantial literature already exists in international students' study experience, but since relatively less exploration has occurred into their involvement in work-integrated learning it was considered desirable to further develop what is known about this area. Still less is known about how organisational hosts of international interns regard…

An apprenticeship levy was introduced in England in 2017 to help the government meet its target of 3 million apprenticeships between 2015 and 2020. Training levies have been, until recently, something of an anathema in public policy circles in England with most having been abolished by the mid-1980s as the government moved towards creating a…

The idea of dual vocational education and training (VET) has developed almost since VET education in Poland was established when the nation became a sovereign country in 1919. VET reforms -- during the 20 years before the Second World War and after 1945 -- were carried out to support rising industry and other developing areas of the economy.…

In this paper, which takes the form of a dialogue, we discuss the possible directions that vocational education might take in the contemporary social, economic and technological context of the early 21st century. Taking account of the unresolved debates around vocational education internationally and future global economic demands for expertise we…

In Australia, the relatively low standing of vocational education and the occupations it serves is of growing concern. This standing is held to contribute to an increased number of young people preferring to engage in higher education and to look past vocational education as a potential post-school pathway. Consequently, there are skill shortages…

Work placements and workplace learning are increasingly integral components of undergraduate degrees, run within post-compulsory educational institutions; both in universities and further education colleges in the United Kingdom (UK). The intent in workplace learning is to help students attain the work-ready competencies (or employability) sought…

This study analyses the perspectives of four stakeholder groups towards Applied Baccalaureate (AB) degrees in the United States. Perspectives towards AB degrees that are held by community college personnel, university personnel, employers and student participants are analysed using the Policy Narrative Framework. Findings show the stakeholder…

In dual vocational education and training (VET) systems, school-leavers in their mid-teens who wish to pursue vocational certificates through in-firm apprenticeships are subjected to the training providers' quite selective hiring-processes. Previous research shows that youth with weak school performances are one of the groups that have the largest…

In this paper, we analyse the effects of workers' self-rated attitudinal skills and their performance on vocational skills tests on their wage. The survey was conducted with garment workers who had experience of less than three years in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The constituting elements of attitudinal skills were examined using the questionnaire for…

The concept of 'aesthetic labour' is relatively new in work-life research. It focuses on how service organisations utilise the physical appearance and personality of employees to support a particular business brand. In this way, employees are used as part of a differentiation marketing strategy. Whereas much of the research in aesthetic labour…

This article discusses the standing and attractiveness of vocational education and training (VET) in Finland. We argue that learning environments, along with the expectations for and attitudes towards them, are related to the attractiveness of VET. The empirical part of the article describes a comprehensive view of learning environments based on…