The global spread of Dual Apprenticeships (DAs) policies is conventionally portrayed as a phenomenon indissociable from the attraction exerted by the German dual training system and portrayed as an instance of policy borrowing or transfer. However, whereas there is growing clarity on the reasons behind the emergence of the German dual system as a role model, there is a more limited understanding of the local drivers behind this. In order to grapple with these questions, this chapter examines the processes of cross-national attraction behind the adoption of DAs in two different settings: the creation of the Dual System of Training in India and the establishment of the Mexican Model of Dual Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in Mexico. The chapter shows that the processes of policy adoption observed in these countries exhibit a number of important differences both in the impulses behind policy borrowing dynamics and the respective foci of attraction. Our results also show that the DA notion is subject to multiple interpretations and that an excessive emphasis on the allure of the German “global role model” is analytically problematic, pointing to the need for further empirical investigation on the role of domestic agency within processes of policy transfer. © 2026 selection and editorial matter, Oscar Valiente, Srabani Maitra, Philipp Gonon and Matthias Pilz; individual chapters, the contributors.
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