International Journal for Research in Vocational Education and Training
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The Role of Higher Education Through the Eyes of Hungarian Undergraduate Students and Graduates: A Qualitative Exploratory Study
Full text linkContext: Most education systems equip graduates with the professional knowledge and cognitive skills needed to enter the world of work. However, there are other competencies also important for young graduates to become successful employees. Due to the growing uncertainty that characterizes the labour market, the demand for non-cognitive skills (communication, collaboration, critical thinking etc.) that support employee development potential and better integration has increased significantly. However, higher education institutions often transmit a culture that is different from that of workplaces. The aim of our study is to explore the role of the examined higher education institution in preparing students for the labour market. Our long-term goal is to support institutional development on the basis of this data.
Methods: To answer these questions, semi-structured inteviews were conducted. Qualitative research methods were preferred, which offer the possibility of uncovering hidden mechanisms. The selection criterion for participants (n=18) was that they had obtained their diploma within the last three years, while, for the other portion of the interviewees, a selection criterion was that they were full-time students. The participants are students of the same rural higher education institution. To ensure the validity and reliability of the research results, personal triangulation was validated using the intercoding technique, which is suitable for a priori coding.
Results: The results confirmed that higher education institutions provide a good foundation for entering to the labour market, but the development of broad competencies is less advanced. Frequent reference was made to the dominance of theory at the expense of practical orientation. Additionally, participants emphasized that they did not see relevance of the course material and its future applicability to the labour market, and, in some cases, they mentioned problems relating to the attitudes of instructors and the quality of the training provided for the students. A portion of the undergraduate students who work (in addition to being in school) believe that they acquired the most important skills during student employment and not during their higher education studies.
Conclusions: One of the challenges for higher education is to prepare students to meet employers\u27 needs by developing students’ competencies. During their years in higher education, students should be equipped with a set of competencies that will ensure their integration into the labour market. Our current research contributes to this goal by mapping the competencies, and highlighting where there is room for improvement which can contribute to graduates\u27 success at work.
Co-Operation Between Actors in Dual Training Programmes: Conditions for Success in the Mexican Tourism Sector
Full text linkContext: For many years, dual training programmes have been transferred from German speaking countries to other countries. It has been repeatedly pointed out that this transfer is made particularly difficult by the need for co-operation between numerous different stakeholders. Despite various transfer activities, however, the scientific findings on the topic to date are rather limited.
Approach: This study therefore identifies and discusses the principles for successful co-operation in the Mexican vocational training system in the tourism sector. Two research questions are addressed, the first following a deductive research approach and the second an inductive one: 1) Which of the principles for successful co-operation named in the research literature can also be found in Mexico? 2) Which other or further principles are relevant in the Mexican context? The tourism sector in Mexico is especially suitable as an object of investigation as, over a number of years there has been an intensive implementation of dual training structures here. Based on 70 expert interviews with the various stakeholders in three regions of Mexico, principles for successful co-operation were developed.
Findings: The findings show that a large number of interacting principles are necessary for successful co-operation between the players. A total of 18 principles were identified in the categories of relationships, control efforts and embedding. Seven of these principles had not been explicitly identified in the existing scientific literature. Some examples of the new principles identified are: Regarding the "relationships" category, the findings identified the identification and selection of partners as a previously non-existent principle. The aspect of contracts at an international and national level was also recognised as an independent principle from our data, which can be assigned to the category "control". Internal security is also an important aspect for the learning centres and can be subsumed under the category of embedding. The newly generated principle of the length of the practical phases can also be categorised as embedding.
Conclusions: These principles are discussed and interpreted both in the context of existing scientific approaches and specifically in the Mexican context. The work reveals the high degree of interdependence between the principles. Individual principles can therefore not be considered in isolation. The review and extension of the principles can provide important stimuli for both VET transfer research and educational governance research.
Challenges and Strategies for Expanding Enterprise-Based Training to Develop Skills for the ICT Industry in the Philippines
Full text linkPurpose: Since 2000, the Philippines has experienced significant growth domestic product (GDP) growth, particularly in the Information Technology Business Process Outsourcing (IT-BPO) sector, highlighting the need for skill development through Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET). Although enterprise-based training (EBT) is seen as the optimal strategy for supporting transition to a technology-driven economy, it represents less than 4% of TVET offerings. Research on the challenges and strategies for increasing employer participation in EBT, especially within the information and communication technology (ICT) industry, is currently lacking. This study examines these challenges and explores strategies for expanding EBT in the Philippines.
Methods: The study employed a qualitative methodology. Data was collected through 13 semi-structured interviews with TVET public agency representatives, private sector representatives, and international TVET experts who supported TVET development in the Philippines. In addition, an online meeting by the Private Sector Advisory Council Jobs Committee was observed to explore the research question. Analysis occurred concurrently with data collection to identify themes iteratively.
Findings: Successful employer engagement in EBT requires EBT to be viewed as both a private and a public good. Findings are organized around these two fundamental concepts. In the Philippines, structural challenges such as wage requirements, insufficient program duration, and inefficient tax benefits currently prevent EBT from effectively functioning as a private good for building company talent pipelines. Additionally, the lack of systematic involvement from social partners, lengthy processes for establishing occupational standards, and insufficient awareness hinder EBT from being recognized as a public good. To enhance its role as a private good, EBT design should include wage increase schedules and longer program durations. To establish EBT as a public good, it is suggested that there be systematic involvement from social partners, flexible regulations, and sector-based strategies.
Conclusion: This study enhances the understanding of employer engagement in TVET within the Filipino context and provides policy implications for enhancing EBT in the ICT sector. These insights could potentially be applicable in similar contexts, such as developing countries with a demand for skilled workers in technology-based industries, but lacking employer engagement. It recommends future research to further explore employer engagement with a particular emphasis on strategic collaboration with social partners, given their crucial role in engaging employers.
Workplace Learning for Critical Core Skills Development: Empirical Evidence From Singapore
Full text linkContext: Soft skills or critical core skills (CCS), e.g., communication, problem solving, etc, have been recognized by both individuals and organizations as important but at shortage in the labour market. Within this context, the development of CCS for the employees becomes more and more pressing for the organizations in order to cope with the everchanging demand of workforce. By clustering 2000 participants into seven occupation groups in terms of their similar patterns in the use of CCS, this article aims to show how workplace learning initiated by individuals in different occupations can forge a highly similar learning pathway to develop CCS for the purpose of their personal and professional development.
Methods: Drawing on the quantitative results of 2000 participants from Singaporean workforce into seven occupational groups, a qualitative study using semi-structured interview questions that seek to understand how workplace learning attributes to the development of critical core skills. 39 participants were selected to represent the critical core skills profile of the seven occupation groups in Singapore. Unlike earlier research focusing on specific occupation, the present study provides cross-national evidence for the development of critical core skills.
Findings: Participants\u27 narratives of their workplace activities are analysed. The empirical study revealed that everyday practices at workplaces facilitate learning pathway more effectively than formal and structured training, for instance, learning from the experience, errors, and also peers within the community of practice.
Conclusions: This paper provides an in-depth qualitative study of workplace activities across the diverse occupational groups in Singapore which is lacking in existing literature, including participation and involvement practices using the lens of situated learning theory to account for the development of critical core skills. As a result, this paper enriches the scarce research base about critical core skills development and participatory practices in the community of practices and its links to organisation-wide performance.
Classroom Disruptions and Classroom Management in Learning Factory Settings at Vocational Schools
Full text linkContext: As part of vocational education and training, learning factories are a new, hands-on learning setting in which students can create products with realistic digital manufacturing equipment while still in vocational school. Given their novelty, learning factories have not yet been studied with respect to whether special classroom management may be needed. One key aspect of classroom management for teachers is the dealing with classroom disruptions. The aim of this study is to investigate what types of classroom disruptions occur in learning factories and how teachers deal with them.
Methods: To close the existing research gap, a guideline-based, semi-structured interview study with seven teachers from the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, was conducted. The interviews were analyzed with a qualitative content analysis using the software MAXQDA.
Findings: The findings show that in this new setting, established strategies for mitigating classroom disruptions can be adapted and applied. Teachers were found to use and optimize their existing abilities to ensure learning success and were able to protect the monetary value of the factory against certain disruptions. Mutual trust between teachers and students, as well as teachers utilizing strategies according to their personality, were mentioned as the most important factors in ensuring success in this context.
Conclusion: Learning factories as a new learning environment in vocational schools do not seem to require specific classroom management approaches. As a result, their use can be safely expanded. Teachers value the possibility of teaching in this special setting while seeing that there are new possible ways of disruptions. Nevertheless, the interviewees feel themselves prepared for these new challenges, using their already established repertoire of strategies, adapting them, if necessary, to this new setting. To do this, teachers need to systemize and understand disruptions inside their classrooms. So far, research is lacking systemizations for classroom disruptions in digital settings like learning factories. This study extends the research landscape with an adaption of an already existing construct.
Career Adaptability and Career Construction as Mediating Variables Between Hardiness and Vocational Identity
Full text linkBackground: The Career Construction Theory (CCT) focuses on the active role people can play when they create and design their singular paths for career success. Unlike other career guidance theories that focus their attention on identifying vocational interests or on the fit between the person and the work settings, CCT raises the possibility that people can go beyond the determinants of their life. This study tested the adaptation model proposed by Career Construction Theory. Consolidation of vocational identity is particularly important at the university stage, in which people decide their first steps about their professional future.
Method: Participants were 1023 students from Spain and Brazil. The Spanish subsample was composed of 602 participants, 34% were men (N = 207), and 66% were women (N = 395). The average age was 21.69. The Brazilian subsample was composed by 421 participants, 39% were men (N = 165), and 61% were women (N = 256), with an average age of 24.84. The four dimensions in the model were each operationally defined by a single indicator. The Hardiness Scale represented adaptive readiness. The Career Adapt-Abilities Scale represented adaptability resources. The Student Career Construction Inventory represented adapting responses. And finally, The Vocational Identity Status Assessment represented the adaptation result.
Results: Bivariate correlations obtained between the measures were as expected by the theoretical model. All variables were significantly related to each other, and the values of the correlations were positive and quite high in both the Spanish and Brazilian subsamples. Structural Equation Modeling analysis of data indicated that the relationship between hardiness and vocational identity was mediated by both career adaptability and career construction. The overall fit indices for confirmatory factor analysis (CFAs) and structural equation models (SEMs) showed that the multiple factor structure models did not fit the data as well as the second-order structure model for hardiness, career adaptability and career construction. The multiple factor solutions only provided a better adjustment compared to the second-order solution for vocational identity.
Conclusions: The analysis supported empirically the four-dimension model proposed by the Career Construction Theory. This major finding suggests new pathways to improve individual decision-making about work and career.
Realizing Decent Work in a "Sandwich" Position: Assessing VET Trainers\u27 Working Conditions in Times of Multiple Transformations
Full text linkContext: The German vocational training and education (VET) system is designed to cope with change. Within this system, organizational VET trainers (OVETT) are the main persons of reference for apprentices in the organization, in most cases for the whole three-year training period. Whether training can help to realize or maintain decent work also depends on whether the trainers themselves have decent working conditions.
Approach: The empirical foundation for our analysis of the situation of OVETTs and the challenges they face in transformative times is a recently conducted study. Using a mixed-methods research design, consisting of 28 qualitative interviews and an online survey completed by 1,004 organizational VET trainers, this study analyzes the working conditions of German VET trainers and assesses possible effects on decent work.
Findings: We show that although there is a willingness on the part of OVETTs to handle change and transformation, they are not sufficiently involved in their companies\u27 strategic decisions. Our data shows that some OVETTs perceive themselves as being in a potentially influential position. Many, however, report that they are only the object of change instead of participating and contributing their competencies and opinions. The data shows the extent to which the work of vocational trainers is affected by stress, conflicting demands and a lack of support. This is particularly true for part-time trainers who, in addition to their normal work, are also responsible for the success of the apprentices and the entire VET system. However, the high intrinsic motivation of trainers enables them to fulfil their tasks and meet the high expectations placed on them.
Conclusions: A special aspect of this is the "sandwich" position of OVETTs, who face transformative, societal demands, and challenges from both below (i.e., from the apprentices) and above (i.e., from management). At the same time, there is a lack of structural and operational resources. Organizational changes expose them more directly to certain challenges, but do not give them a chance to help shape their own conditions. Although the VET trainers are accustomed to mastering different requirements and interests, in transformative times new challenges arise and intensify the already heavy burden on VET personnel. If these are not addressed and VET work is not organized as decent, this will also jeopardize the quality of the vocational training system in the medium term.
Second Chance in Vocational Education and Training of Adults in Slovakia: Second or Wasted Chance?
Full text linkContext: The paper focuses on an analysis of school-based vocational education and training (VET) of adults in Slovakia against the background of the concept of second-chance education (hereafter SCE). The concept of SCE involves different conditions of education to those that adults faced during their initial education and were unable to meet. Adults primarily study part-time, where they are offered a mirror image of a reduced full-time programme rather than an alternative space for obtaining a degree.
Approach: Several theoretical research methods were used in the paper. An analysis of available statistical data about adults in VET, secondary analysis of relevant literature, the authors\u27 own findings from previous research, and a comparison of selected characteristics of VET of adults in Slovakia with the principles of second chance education allowed for the formulation of synthesised findings and recommendations on necessary changes in adult education in vocational education and training.
Findings: The absence of SCE principles in the vocational education and training of adults in Slovakia is one of the reasons for insufficient participation of low-educated adults. Neither schools, nor the state or municipalities, nor employment offices have created a mechanism for acquiring and keeping adults in education. VET of adults does not fulfil a social integration function because it is mostly used by adults who are upgrading or supplementing their existing qualifications. A significant manifestation of the lack of interest in improving the situation of the low-educated in VET is, among other things, the absence of training programmes that would prepare teachers for a non-mainstream educational process with non-mainstream pupils. The measures, which would be aimed at increasing the participation of the low-educated adults in secondary education are absent. This situation results, among other things, in persistent regional disparities in adult participation in education, which deepen the marginalisation of entire regions and their populations.
Conclusion: The VET of adults in Slovakia lacks the concept of second-chance education that would enable those who needed it the most to enter and obtain higher level of education. The implementation of the elements of the SCE concept in VET would allow for an increase in the participation and success of the most vulnerable groups of adults with the lowest education and socio-economic status.
Vocational Didactics: Mapping the Terrain in Swedish Upper Secondary Vocational Education and Training
Full text linkPurpose: The article focuses on the contribution of didactics and didactic theory as a distinct strand in research on vocational education and training (VET). Empirical research is reviewed to further explore what characterizes vocational didactics in the Swedish context of Upper Secondary VET.
Approach: Semi-structured and flexible review methodology was used to identify didactic research and map its emergent features. An analytic framework was constructed for this purpose and used iteratively throughout the review process. The framework expresses the constitutive simultaneous interdependence of the relationships A-B-C. They refer to A) the ways of how the actors engage with the content as meaning and matter or relationship between the actors and the content, B) the relationship between the actors and the method through interaction with the content, and C) relationship between the methods embedded in work tasks and school assignments and how they underpin the content. A total of 26 sources was identified and thematized as school-based vocational didactics, collaborative vocational didactics, and work-based vocational didactics.
Findings: Four distinct features of vocational didactics in Upper Secondary Vocational Education and Training (USVET) are outlined: 1) Diversification of the use of simulation as a method in school-based education pointing to vocational knowledge and skills 2) broadening of instruction (and reflection) as a method by inclusion of several parties (e.g., supervisors, workplace staff, instructors-practitioners), 3) work tasks as a method pointing to vocational knowledge and skills as content, 4) interaction between several parties using verbal and non-verbal means. Despite a growing interest in the importance of work tasks in their dual affordance of meaning and matter, few sources deal with students\u27 learning processes in alignment with the logic of the production of goods and services.
Conclusion: The analytic framework we have put forth strengthens the conceptual boundaries of vocational didactics from a point of view of profession-related learning objectives (content), actors, and methods involved. Applying the didactic theories to review empirical research on VET strengthens the integrity of vocational didactics as a particular field.
Students\u27 Thriving and Well-Being in Online Learning Environments in Vocational Education and Training
Full text linkContext: Recent research on students\u27 experiences with the quality of online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the challenge to the development of online learning. During the pandemic, anxiety, depression, and fatigue occurred in online studies, which also weakened students\u27 well-being. In this quantitative study, we examined how students thrive in synchronous and asynchronous online implementations. The goal of the research was to support students\u27 well-being in online studies; therefore, the study uses the PERMA well-being theory.
Approach: Finnish vocational education and training students (N = 363) participated in the study and answered the questions on positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment from both asynchronous and synchronous online delivery perspectives using a questionnaire.
Findings: This study highlighted the importance of the teacher\u27s online learning facilitation skills and task design skills, and the emotions generated in an online course. Based on the results, the respondents were divided into three student profiles: (1) Students thriving in online courses in general; (2) Students thriving, especially in asynchronous online courses; and (3) Students not thriving in online courses in general.
Conclusions: According to the findings, students need different options for completing online courses. The role of the teacher in creating a positive and supportive atmosphere, fostering relationships, and creating clear work-related and versatile tasks is of great importance in the generation of emotions, whether it is an asynchronous or synchronous online implementation.