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This article recaps the results of research that used large data sets to identify the consequences of the singular focus on choice of provider that has been built into governments' creation of contestable markets for vocational education and training (VET) delivery. The results from big data sources show that, unlike the expectations promised by the proponents of contestable markets, the VET system is producing a smaller number of qualified persons in an increasingly narrow range of occupations by reducing access and equity. [More information on the method and detailed results are available in papers by the author indexed in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 137.134 and TD/TNC 137.118.]

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This report outlines the case for a change in the primary way in which disadvantage with regard to those under-represented in higher education (HE) in England is defined. Looking at the evidence regarding the drawbacks with how the present [Participation of Local areas] POLAR measure is being used, both nationally and regionally, it describes how a new approach could work based around an individual income based measure of socio-economic disadvantage and the creation of a national widening access cohort. Show less

In June 2016, the Department launched Marrung: Aboriginal Education Plan 2016-2026 (Marrung) [available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 139.356]. Marrung is a 10-year integrated plan, developed in partnership with the Victorian Aboriginal community including the Department's principal partner in Koorie education, the Victorian Aboriginal Education Association Incorporated (VAEAI). In 2018, the Department commenced the implementation of Marrung action 8a: 'Develop options for a revised approach to supporting Koorie learners engage and participate successfully in VET [including] through the redesign of the existing Koorie VET workforce'. This discussion paper is an overview to support meaningful conversation and consultation. The paper explores the evidence that shows a revised approach is needed to support Koorie learners to engage and participate successfully in vocational education and training (VET). It focuses on: changes in the characteristics of Koorie communities in Victoria; enrolment trends for Koorie learners across the spectrum of VET providers; current supports designed to increase Koorie engagement and participation in VET; and success enablers, and barriers for improving Koorie learner outcomes.

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Job quality is a major focus of policymakers around the world. For workers, the enterprises that employ them and for societies, there are benefits associated with high-quality jobs, and costs associated with poor-quality jobs. This report is the result of a project by the International Labour Organization and European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound). It provides a comparative analysis of job quality covering approximately 1.2 billion workers in Europe, Asia and the Americas. It analyses seven dimensions of job quality: the physical environment, work intensity, working time quality, the social environment, skills and development, prospects, and earnings, finding both important differences and similarities between countries. By analysing positive and negative aspects of job quality in different countries and societies, the report provides a way to look beyond national explanations, to see how some groups of workers are affected more than others and understand the particular issues for women workers around the world - in support of evidence-based policymaking to improve job quality.

Despite vast differences in economic structure, labour markets and development, 1.2 billion workers in 41 countries across the globe face common challenges and concerns: (1) women continue to face the most significant challenges; they earn significantly less than men and work more hours than men overall; (2) wide-scale differences in job quality in all countries are evident, reflecting the different nature of work across sectors, occupations and workplaces; (3) job insecurity is widespread and at least 30 per cent report being in a job without career prospects; (4) exposure to physical risks is still frequent across all countries, with repetitive hand and arm movements most reported; (5) working time differences are stark across the countries and regions covered with long working days common for over a third of workers; and (6) 70 per cent of all workers report a largely supportive social environment at work and high levels of satisfaction with their immediate supervisors.

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The ever-elusive white whale of corporate training programs is measuring return on investment (ROI). Over the past two years, the author has felt a growing discomfort with the term return on investment (ROI) and the methods of measuring it for learning programs. A precise and reliable mathematical formula to demonstrate ROI would solve so many problems. The author wants to broaden and fully define the term as well as implement practical tools for measuring its many aspects. This paper looks at the failings of traditional return on investment concepts, and then offers a better way to define it.

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Previous research attempted to identify personal resources that promote employability, that is, an individual's chance to find and maintain employment. This has resulted in a large number of different personal resources, which are not always clearly differentiated from one another and often seem to - at least partially - overlap conceptually and/or empirically. In response, we aim at conceptual clarification and integration of what we coin 'employability capital'. Based on a literature review, we developed a conceptual framework that integrates the various facets. Two types of distinctions were found: (a) an employability distinction, which differentiates between job-related, career-related, and development-related employability capital, and (b) a capital distinction, which differentiates between human capital (more specifically knowledge, skills, and attitudes) and social capital. We performed a Q-sorting study in which items of existing measurements were mapped onto the conceptual framework by subject matter experts. Overall, we found support for the conceptual framework.

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Occupation status, perception of workplace training and occupational identity are measured with 724 Chinese vocational students by qualified instruments. Results of the structural equation model indicate that occupational status and workplace training all influence students occupational identity, while the quality of workplace training has greater influence compared with occupational status, which challenges conventional Chinese views on occupational status and illustrates the importance of workplace training.

Published abstract.

The volume from which this paper is taken is available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 151.801. Show less

Rural economies are in transition around the world; in many countries, improved technology and linkages across sectors have expanded access to markets and accelerated production for some farmers. At the same time, rural areas globally are facing a growing base of landless and smallholder farmers, out-migration to urban areas, and persistence of low-skilled, informal, and seasonal jobs where women are often heavily concentrated. Recent global initiatives are examining programs that can effectively raise rural incomes, including how addressing shortfalls in women's hours worked and earnings can raise rural productivity and growth. But well-designed policies to address these issues require improved counting of individuals' employment, accounting for the complexity of measuring rural women's labor force participation, as well as data on social, economic, and institutional constraints that women face in seeking better economic opportunities.

Using recent rounds of the Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria, and Uganda Living Standards and Measurement Study-Integrated Surveys on Agriculture, as well as findings from recent country pilots conducted by the International Labour Organization, this paper discusses best practices and issues to consider when examining rural women's employment in socioeconomic surveys, as well as a survey research agenda to improve measurement.

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A majority of workers in the world are informally employed and contribute to economic and social development through market and non-market activities that are not protected, regulated, well-recognised or valued. This study provides an in-depth diagnosis of informality and the vulnerability prevailing in the informal economy. It explores new ideas to improve the lives of workers in the informal economy based on the ILO indicators of informality and the new OECD Key Indicators of Informality based on Individuals and their Household (KIIbIH). The report contributes in four ways to the global debate on the transition from the informal to the formal economy: (1) by examining the multiple faces of informality in a large sample of countries representing diverse conditions, locations and stages of development; (2) by presenting new empirical evidence on the links between informality and the development process; (3) by assessing risks and vulnerabilities in the informal economy, such as poverty and occupational risks, which can be mitigated with social protection and appropriate risk management instruments; and (4) by showing that the transition to formality is a complex issue that touches on a wide range of policy domains.

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In the current vocational education and training (VET) research, many empirical studies focus primarily on the development of competence-based test instruments that aim to measure the cognitive dispositions of a domain-specific competence construct. While these studies mainly focus on the analysis of competence structures and levels, the valid measurement of competence development represents a research gap. Studies with this focus differ significantly in their theoretical-conceptual foundations and their methodological approaches. Moreover, different challenges arise in the methodological aspects of a valid change measurement. For this purpose, the first chapter reviews the research on the measurement of competence development in the VET field. Given the increasing significance of sustainable development-related competencies in VET, an empirical analysis is performed on commercial trainees' development of declarative knowledge related to sustainability from a societal perspective and sustainability in business processes. The in-depth analyses are based on data sets from cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. The differences and similarities between these research designs are compared with regard to their analysis potential, analysis methods, and results.

Published abstract.

The volume from which this chapter is taken is available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 137.1084. Show less