The coordination of skill supply and demand in the market model of skill formation: testing the assumptions for the case of Chile

Abstract

The importance of skill formation for young people and the challenges of youth unemployment and underemployment are at the forefront of global development agendas. However, there is still an open debate about the most adequate policy frameworks to tackle these societal challenges and, particularly, about the role that the state and the market should play in the coordination of skills supply and demand. Taking Chile as a case study, the paper analyses how the market model of skill formation is re-contextualised by practitioners and other stakeholders at the local level. Through a realist evaluation approach, the paper tests to what extent the underlying theoretical assumptions of the market model hold up when confronted with the reality of the contexts in which young people, education providers and employers make decisions. The case of Chile is particularly interesting for the comparative literature because of its extreme neoliberal orientation and the centrality of the market in the allocation of resources and opportunities among different social groups. The findings show the limitations of the market for coordinating the supply and demand of skills and its negative consequences on the educational and work prospects of young people, especially the most disadvantaged. © 2019, © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Keywords

Author Keywords

Vocational education skill mismatch skill formation Youth transitions International development realist evaluation

Index Keywords

Author Affiliations

School of Education, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom

Funding & Acknowledgements

Universidad Alberto Hurtado, UAH

This work was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council through the project Newton RCUK-CONICYT Governing the educational and labour market trajectories of secondary TVET graduates in Chile [ES/N019229/1]. Adrian Zancajo\u2019s research is supported by the funding from the British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship [PF2\\180006] We would like to thank our colleagues from the Universidad Alberto Hurtado (Leandro Sep\u00FAlveda, Mar\u00EDa Jos\u00E9 Valdebenito and Carolina Gonz\u00E1lez) and from the University of Glasgow (Paulina Bravo and Alice Aldinucci) for their contributions in the preparation of this paper. We are also grateful to the editors of this special issue for their comments on an early version of this article.

University of Glasgow

This work was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council through the project Newton RCUK-CONICYT Governing the educational and labour market trajectories of secondary TVET graduates in Chile [ES/N019229/1]. Adrian Zancajo\u2019s research is supported by the funding from the British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship [PF2\\180006] We would like to thank our colleagues from the Universidad Alberto Hurtado (Leandro Sep\u00FAlveda, Mar\u00EDa Jos\u00E9 Valdebenito and Carolina Gonz\u00E1lez) and from the University of Glasgow (Paulina Bravo and Alice Aldinucci) for their contributions in the preparation of this paper. We are also grateful to the editors of this special issue for their comments on an early version of this article.

UK Research and Innovation, UKRI

This work was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council through the project Newton RCUK-CONICYT Governing the educational and labour market trajectories of secondary TVET graduates in Chile [ES/N019229/1]. Adrian Zancajo\u2019s research is supported by the funding from the British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship [PF2\\180006] We would like to thank our colleagues from the Universidad Alberto Hurtado (Leandro Sep\u00FAlveda, Mar\u00EDa Jos\u00E9 Valdebenito and Carolina Gonz\u00E1lez) and from the University of Glasgow (Paulina Bravo and Alice Aldinucci) for their contributions in the preparation of this paper. We are also grateful to the editors of this special issue for their comments on an early version of this article.

Economic and Social Research Council, ESRC

Grant: ES/N019229/1

This work was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council through the project Newton RCUK-CONICYT Governing the educational and labour market trajectories of secondary TVET graduates in Chile [ES/N019229/1]. Adrian Zancajo\u2019s research is supported by the funding from the British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship [PF2\\180006] We would like to thank our colleagues from the Universidad Alberto Hurtado (Leandro Sep\u00FAlveda, Mar\u00EDa Jos\u00E9 Valdebenito and Carolina Gonz\u00E1lez) and from the University of Glasgow (Paulina Bravo and Alice Aldinucci) for their contributions in the preparation of this paper. We are also grateful to the editors of this special issue for their comments on an early version of this article.

British Academy

Grant: PF2\180006

This work was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council through the project Newton RCUK-CONICYT Governing the educational and labour market trajectories of secondary TVET graduates in Chile [ES/N019229/1]. Adrian Zancajo\u2019s research is supported by the funding from the British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship [PF2\\180006] We would like to thank our colleagues from the Universidad Alberto Hurtado (Leandro Sep\u00FAlveda, Mar\u00EDa Jos\u00E9 Valdebenito and Carolina Gonz\u00E1lez) and from the University of Glasgow (Paulina Bravo and Alice Aldinucci) for their contributions in the preparation of this paper. We are also grateful to the editors of this special issue for their comments on an early version of this article.

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The coordination of skill supply and demand in the market model of skill formation: testing the assumptions for the case of Chile

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