Varieties of institutional renewal: the case of apprenticeship in the US, England, and Australia

Abstract

This study analyses attempts to renew apprenticeship over the last three decades in three liberal market economies–US, England and Australia. We conceptualise institutional renewal as entailing both revival, or growth in apprentice starts, and extension, or widening its occupational base. The paper contributes to the literature by considering reasons for the attempted renewal and offering an assessment of the outcomes of renewal. It also contributes to research at the intersection of institutional and comparative training literature by developing the concept of institutional renewal and applying it to apprenticeship. It is concluded that in quantitative terms renewal had some success in England and Australia, but the effect of intervention is more uncertain in the US. The paper also identifies a paradox that policies to promote apprenticeships have undermined the quality of training in England and Australia, leading to questions about the sustainability of renewal. © 2019 The Vocational Aspect of Education Ltd.

Keywords

Author Keywords

Apprenticeship vocational education and training (VET) Comparative vet institutional renewal liberal market economies

Index Keywords

Author Affiliations

King’s Business School, London, United Kingdom

Department of Political Economy, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia

Funding & Acknowledgements

U.S. Department of Labor, DOL

Funding text 1: We would like to acknowledge help from the US Department of Labor with the apprentice start statistics. We thank the JVET editor and the two anonymous reviewers for constructive comments. Also, we are grateful to Chiara Benassi, Marius Busemeyer, Gina di Maio, Lukas Graf, Hugh Guthrie, Hal Hansen, Andreas Kornelakis, John West, Chris Winch, Alison Wolf, Gerhard Schnyder, and Janis Vossiek for comments on earlier versions of the manuscript; and to the audience at the SASE annual meeting in 2019 for feedback, in particular Manuel Nicklich. Howard Gospel would like to thank the Leverhulme Trust for the award of the Leverhulme Emeritus Fellowship in connection with this work.; Funding text 2: We would like to acknowledge help from the US Department of Labor with the apprentice start statistics. We thank the JVET editor and the two anonymous reviewers for constructive comments. Also, we are grateful to Chiara Benassi, Marius Busemeyer, Gina di Maio, Lukas Graf, Hugh Guthrie, Hal Hansen, Andreas Kornelakis, John West, Chris Winch, Alison Wolf, Gerhard Schnyder, and Janis Vossiek for comments on earlier versions of the manuscript; and to the audience at the SASE annual meeting in 2019 for feedback, in particular Manuel Nicklich. Howard Gospel would like to thank the Leverhulme Trust for the award of the Leverhulme Emeritus Fellowship in connection with this work.

Leverhulme Trust

Funding text 1: We would like to acknowledge help from the US Department of Labor with the apprentice start statistics. We thank the JVET editor and the two anonymous reviewers for constructive comments. Also, we are grateful to Chiara Benassi, Marius Busemeyer, Gina di Maio, Lukas Graf, Hugh Guthrie, Hal Hansen, Andreas Kornelakis, John West, Chris Winch, Alison Wolf, Gerhard Schnyder, and Janis Vossiek for comments on earlier versions of the manuscript; and to the audience at the SASE annual meeting in 2019 for feedback, in particular Manuel Nicklich. Howard Gospel would like to thank the Leverhulme Trust for the award of the Leverhulme Emeritus Fellowship in connection with this work.; Funding text 2: We would like to acknowledge help from the US Department of Labor with the apprentice start statistics. We thank the JVET editor and the two anonymous reviewers for constructive comments. Also, we are grateful to Chiara Benassi, Marius Busemeyer, Gina di Maio, Lukas Graf, Hugh Guthrie, Hal Hansen, Andreas Kornelakis, John West, Chris Winch, Alison Wolf, Gerhard Schnyder, and Janis Vossiek for comments on earlier versions of the manuscript; and to the audience at the SASE annual meeting in 2019 for feedback, in particular Manuel Nicklich. Howard Gospel would like to thank the Leverhulme Trust for the award of the Leverhulme Emeritus Fellowship in connection with this work.

References 10 References

1 Industry 4 0 Higher Apprenticeships Project is Underway, (2018)

2 Research, (2025)

3 Defense White Paper, (2012)

4 Trends in Vet Policy and Participation, (2016)

5 Discussion Paper, (2016)

6 Baccaro, Lucio, Diversified Quality Production 2.0: on Arndt Sorge and Wolfgang Streeck, ‘Diversified quality production re-visited: Its contribution to German socioeconomic performance over time’, Socio-Economic Review, 16, 3, pp. 614-619, (2018)

7 Vocational Training International Perspectives, (2010)

8 Barabasch, Antje, Introduction, Work and Education in America: The Art of Integration, pp. 1-14, (2012)

9 Boas, Taylor C., Neoliberalism: From new liberal philosophy to anti-liberal slogan, Studies in Comparative International Development, 44, 2, pp. 137-161, (2009)

10 Vocational Training International Perspectives, (2010)

Varieties of institutional renewal: the case of apprenticeship in the US, England, and Australia

How to Cite