Source:
Journal of Vocational Education and Training
(2025)
The higher participation of England’s ethnic minority students on vocational courses at the age of 16 initiates them onto the ‘lower tier’ pathway in tertiary education . Lower tier implies participating in certain vocational courses and entering lower status universities. Consequently, ethnic minority students in England have a weaker labour market position upon graduation. Using semi-structured interviews, this article explores the decision-making process of 12 British Pakistani students, as they are initiated on this lower tier pathway. The findings suggest that decision-making is a negotiation of student biography with ethnic capital and ‘racial warehousing’. This interplay funnels many ethnic minority students towards the lower tier pathway, where selecting certain vocational courses is deemed as the only pathway feasible for progression. This study sheds light on the need to promote alternative vocational pathways to England’s ethnic minority students. © 2023 The vocational Aspect of education Ltd.
The higher participation of England’s ethnic minority students on
vocational courses at the age of 16 initiates them onto the ‘lower tier’ pathway in tertiary
education . Lower tier implies participating in certain
Keywords:
TVET
Bradford
BTEC
ethnic capital
racial warehousing
Words: Race
3 Citations
10.1080/13636820.2023.2248626
Source:
Journal of Vocational Education and Training
(2025)
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 article takes a historical approach to analysing and comparing the discourse used, focusing primarily on which training policy actors make which arguments about Ausbildungsreife or employability under which social, economic and training conditions. Specifically, it uses trade union, employer association and government documents from the period 1977 to 2018, evaluating them using the heuristic tools of interpretative models to create an understanding of Ausbildungsreife and employability, phenomenological structure and narrative structure. The findings demonstrate differences over time in the way individual actors structure their arguments and major divergences between the discourse in the two countries. © 2023 The vocational Aspect of education Ltd.
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.
Keywords:
employability
Germany
United Kingdom
discourse analysis
actors
vocational maturity
3 Citations
10.1080/13636820.2023.2229796
This article examines how vocational school principals in Israel view their relationships with their students' parents. Interviews with 26 vocational school principals reveal three predominant themes: lamenting the parents' lack of involvement, describing the parents through the deficit discourse, and adopting a managerial strategy of operating a ‘school without parents.’ This approach to parents carries implications, such as implementing many improvisations in light of the lack of a recognized cultural script of a ‘school without parents’, making educational and therapeutic decisions in place of the parents, taking the role of surrogate parent, and preferring caring practices over the cultivation of the students' academic capital. The Discussion explores these findings through the concept of symbolic violence. Moreover, the Discussion examines the impacts of the principals' descriptions and the symbolic violence accompanying them on establishing and maintaining social inequality and educational stratification. © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
This article examines how vocational school principals in Israel view their relationships with their students' parents. Interviews with 26 vocational school principals reveal three predominant themes: lamenting the parents'
…
Keywords:
vocational schoolsDeficit discourse
School-parent relations
Symbolic violence
vocational school principals
0 Citations
10.1080/01596306.2025.2491379
Source:
Journal of Vocational Education and Training
(2025)
Germany’s VET system is highly gender-segregated and marked by high dropout rates. This article investigates the dropout behaviour of apprentices in gender-atypical training occupations. First, we investigate whether gender-atypical apprentices drop out at a higher rate than their majority peers. Second, we examine differences in the self-reported reasons for dropping out among gender-typical and gender-atypical apprentices. Results show that gender-atypical apprentices, and particularly males in female-dominated occupations, are more likely to prematurely leave their apprenticeship. The self-reported reasons for dropping out differed by gender minority status: female minorities were more likely to drop out due to a lack of social integration, while male minorities were more likely to drop out due to unfulfilled aspirations in comparison to the gender majority. These results show that gender-specific perceptions and experiences are related to the higher dropout rates of gender-atypical apprentices. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Germany’s VET system is highly gender-segregated and marked by high dropout rates. This article investigates the dropout behaviour of apprentices in gender-atypical training occupations. First, we investigate whether gender-atypical apprentices drop out at a higher rate than their majority peers. Se
…
Keywords:
Dropout
vocational education and trainingGender segregation
career aspiration
gender-atypical occupations
12 Citations
10.1080/13636820.2023.2211546
Source:
Journal of Vocational Education and Training
(2025)
While an increasing number of studies postulate that vocational education and training (VET) activities have a positive impact on the innovative capacity of training companies, empirical evidence on the topic remains contradictory. This study exploits establishment data from a representative survey of German companies to estimate the relationship between firms’ participation in initial VET and their innovation outcomes. Our results show that the direct effects of initial VET on technological innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are on average quite weak. If at all, a training firm’s initial VET activities are associated with product innovation activities and not with process innovation. Larger effects can only be observed in case of microenterprises with fewer than ten employees. In these firms, initial VET is associated with a higher probability of (local) new-to-market product innovation if it is accompanied by changes in organisational processes that support individual learning and knowledge creation. We conclude from this finding that the knowledge diffusion function of the VET system primarily holds relevance for the smallest of the training companies and that initial VET is only positively related to technological innovation when it goes along with organisational learning in the training company. © 2023 The vocational Aspect of education Ltd.
While an increasing number of studies postulate that vocational education and training (VET) activities have a positive impact on the innovative capacity of training companies, empirical evidence on the topic remains contrad
…
Keywords:
Innovation
vocational education and training (VET)Organizational learning
SMEs
Knowledge diffusion
6 Citations
10.1080/13636820.2023.2201602
Source:
Journal of Vocational Education and Training
(2025)
The paper adds to the literature on vocational education and training by developing an account of the role played by technicians, and vocational education and training, in innovation. It also fills a gap in the innovation systems literature by analysing the neglected role of technicians and providers of vocational education and training in innovation. It outlines technicians’ contribution to innovation, sets out a theoretical framework for analysing the role of providers of vocational education and training in the innovation system, and discusses what ‘system failure’ involves in this context, as well as possible policy responses, using England as a case study. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
The paper adds to the literature on vocational education and training by developing an account of the role played by technicians, and vocational education<
…
Keywords:
Training
Innovation
apprnticeships
innovation systems
system failure
Technicians
12 Citations
10.1080/13636820.2023.2215749
Source:
International Journal of Inclusive Education
(2025)
Postsecondary education provides substantial benefits to transition-age youth in promoting improved career outcomes, but many individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are denied opportunities in this area. Previous research has shown that inclusive academic education and vocational activities lead to better outcomes, but it is unclear how often individuals with IDD engage in these activities and how they promote better outcomes in combination. This study analysed data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 to examine the extent to which these experiences predicted postsecondary education for students in the United States. Overall, we found that inclusive academic education was a consistent predictor of postsecondary education , while other associations were more complex. Implications for future research, policy, and practice related to our findings are provided. © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Postsecondary education provides substantial benefits to transition-age youth in promoting improved career outcomes, but many individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are denied opportunities in this area. Previous research has shown th
…
Keywords:
inclusive education
Transition
autism
intellectual disability
postsecondary education
2 Citations
10.1080/13603116.2023.2225503
Source:
Child and Youth Services
(2025)
Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) is a short-term skill development program in India aiming to train young job seekers, make them employable, facilitate employment and revitalize vocational education in India. vocational education and Training (VET) in India suffers from weak links with the labor market, low enrollments, and slow industry demand, hampering the expected outcomes. This paper uses grounded theory to explore young people’s perceptions of PMKVY as a career-building program. Qualitative data was collected from trainees (N = 30) in three districts of Raipur, Raigarh and Korba in Chhattisgarh, India, through personal interviews with young people enrolled in PMKVY using semi-structured questionnaires. It was found that the understanding of possible career-building among young people mainly varied based on their age and educational attainment when they entered the program. One’s choice, utilizing spare time, seeking experiential learning, benchmarked quality training and improving communication skills were the factors through which they looked at their career-building process. The paper considers the implications of these findings in the context of large-scale skill development and VET initiatives in India. It concludes that vocational education continues to be associated with lower esteem and is considered a last resort for students with poor academic records. Short-term programs like PMKVY can provide career-building opportunities to young people who are largely drawn from working-class backgrounds. PMKVY's targeted approach toward imparting employability skills and facilitating transitions to various employment opportunities acts as a buffer in the significant success of the program. © 2024 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) is a short-term skill development program in India aiming to train young job seekers, make them employable, facilitate employment and revitalize
vocational education in India.
Keywords:
vocational education and training (VET)India
Grounded Theory
skill training
PMKVY
2 Citations
10.1080/0145935X.2024.2340551
Source:
Proceedings ICSIT, International Conference on Society and Information Technologies
(2025)
education is a concept that is in a constant state of evolution, spanning various disciplines and serving as a conduit between academia, industry, and technological innovation. In the context of rapidly transforming labor markets driven by automation, artificial intelligence, and digitalization, work-based learning (WBL) must adapt in a similar fashion. This paper employs cybernetic theory to examine the dynamic interplay between education and work environments, emphasizing the role of positive and negative feedback loops in ensuring adaptability and maintaining quality assurance in vocational education . The study draws upon Ross Ashby's First Law of Cybernetics, emphasizing the importance of variety and adaptability in educational systems. Positive feedback loops have the capacity to drive innovation by integrating emerging industry trends into curricula, whereas negative feedback loops function as regulatory mechanisms that correct outdated content and align training programs with contemporary labor market demands. The successful implementation of cybernetic principles in education ensures that graduates acquire relevant, future-proof skills. However, the full realization of the potential of cybernetic feedback mechanisms is impeded by several challenges, including rigid educational structures, resistance to AI-driven learning analytics, and delayed curriculum adaptation. This paper proposes solutions, including AI-powered educational monitoring systems, agile curriculum development, and transdisciplinary collaboration between academia, industry, and policymakers. The integration of cybernetic principles into work-based learning can transform it from a reactive model to a proactive, data-driven framework, equipping students with the necessary competencies to thrive in a dynamic and ever-evolving workforce. © 2025 International Conference on Society and Information Technologies. All Rights Reserved.
education is a concept that is in a constant state of evolution, spanning various disciplines and serving as a conduit between academia, industry, and technological innovation. In the context of rapidly transforming labor markets driven by automation, artificial
…
Keywords:
vocational education Employment
Curricula
Personnel training
Apprentices
Students
vocational education Commerce
Work-Based Learning
Labour market
Adaptive learning
Adaptive learning
Wages
AI in education
Cybernetic Learning Systems
Feedback Loops
AI in education
Cybernetic learning system
Feedback loops
Industry innovations
Negative feedback loop
Positive feedback loop
0 Citations
10.54808/ICSIT2025.01.166
Source:
Proceedings of the International Conferences on Mobile Learning 2025 and Educational Technologies 2025
(2025)
The evolving landscape of education and workforce demands has led to the rise of microcredentials, offering a flexible and competency-based approach to lifelong learning. This paper explores the role of microcredentials for microcompetences, focusing on their significance in education and professional development. Unlike traditional degree programs, microcredentials provide modular, verifiable, and skill-specific certifications, ensuring learners acquire targeted competencies aligned with industry needs. The paper examines the implementation of blockchain-based verifiable credentials, ensuring security, authenticity, and interoperability within European education frameworks. Through case studies from EBSI-VECTOR, ESSA, NOO Ultra, and TRUSTCHAIN, this study highlights the practical adoption of microcredentials in higher education , vocational training, and corporate upskilling. The paper further discusses their impact on educational personalization, workforce mobility, and digital trust. Challenges such as standardization, credential stacking, and cross-border recognition are addressed, with recommendations for policy alignment and technological advancements. This research contributes to the ongoing discourse on the future of credentialing, advocating for scalable, secure, and transparent digital certification ecosystems in education . © 2025 Proceedings of the International Conferences on Mobile Learning 2025 and Educational Technologies 2025. All rights reserved.
The evolving landscape of education and workforce demands has led to the rise of microcredentials, offering a flexible and competency-based approach to lifelong learning. This paper explores the role of microcredentials for microcompetences, focusing on their si
…
Keywords:
Case-studies
Personnel training
lifelong learning
professional development
Industry needs
Microcredentials
Blockchain
Modulars
Microcredential
Life long learning
Block-chain
European education Frameworks
Microcompetences
Degree program
European education framework
Microcompetence
Blockchain
