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This book is the sixth volume in a series resulting from the international networking of the research group VETYL (Vocational Education and Training/Yrkeskunnande och Larande) at the Department of Education, Stockholm University in Sweden. The book serves as an umbrella for the presentation of research that focuses on a variety of policy issues and dimensions of the partnership between education and the world of work. The selected and reviewed texts in this volume were intended for the 8th Stockholm International Conference of Research in Vocational Education and Training planned for May 2020, which did not take place due to the [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19 restrictions. The contributions deal with transitions in vocational education and training systems and depict the diversity of research in the field.

Edited excerpts from publication.

The contents are as follows: Section one, 'VET policies: national and regional perspectives', contains the chapters: The VET system in Lombardy (Italy): a first pedagogical outlook between history and future / Francesco Magni; Shifting currents: the influence of Brexit on VET policy discourse in four countries (Denmark, England, Finland and Scotland) as portrayed through the European semester cycle / Jane Pither; The shift to technical elite formation and residuality: a European perspective / Bill Esmond; Integration of refugees through access to their previous vocation: a literature review / Eva Eliasson, Ali Osman and Marianne Teras; Regional collaboration for integration and competence: the case of Swedish for immigrants with previous professional training (Sfx) / Petros Gougoulakis and Katarina Lagercrantz All; The potential value of social representations for comparative [technical vocational education and training] TVET research: a Mexican case study / Ute Clement, Paola Garcia Fuentes and Claudia Hunink; A VET leadership model / Ramlee Mustapha and Irdayanti Mat Nashir.

Section two, 'Collaboration and partnership with the world of work', contains the chapters: Different structures, different results?: continental and Nordic education structures compared / Lorenz Lassnigg; Integration and appropriation of professional content: current challenges of Cuban vocational technical education / Juan Alberto Mena Lorenzo, Jorge Luis Mena Lorenzo, Vilma Maria Perez Vinas and Pedro Luis Yturria Montenegro; Difficulties, challenges and problems in the ongoing process of dual VET implementation in Spain: a systematic review of the scientific literature / Luis Martinez-Izquierdo, Monica Torres and Miguel A. Pereyra; The importance of industrial collaborations in developing future Malaysian vocational training institutions / Haryanti Mohd Affandi, Mohd Firdaus Mustaffa Kamal, Nurul Eizzaty Sohimi, Norazlinda Mohamad, Roshahliza Mohd Ramli, Razali Hassan and Lazaro Moreno Herrera; Vocational education and training, the contested partner in innovation projects / Magdolna Benke. Show less

Labour markets in most highly developed countries are marked by rising levels of skill segregation in the production process and increasing inequalities in skill-specific employment prospects. Local human capital has a likely effect on skill specific productivity levels and employment growth. Furthermore, theoretical studies suggest that skill segregation might matter for the polarisation of wages and employment. Analyses on regional employment growth by different skill levels are scarce and empirical evidence on the effects of skill segregation on qualification-specific employment is completely lacking. This discussion paper investigates the effects of the local skill composition and skill segregation in the production process on qualification-specific employment growth in West German regions. This study provides first evidence for the negative effects of skill segregation on low-skilled employment growth. Furthermore, the results show that a large share of local high-skilled employment does not foster further regional concentration of human capital but positively affects the employment prospects of less skilled workers. Show less

Whether individuals choose occupations that teach general or specific skills can have important implications on how protected they are from changing conditions on the labor market. This paper looks at the impact of growing up in a region exposed to structural change caused by import competition on vocational occupation choices using longitudinal social security data for Germany. Results show that individuals enter more skill-specific occupations like manufacturing and less general occupations like services if exposed to higher local import competition. Lifetime earnings are adversely affected, which can be attributed to vocational occupation choices.

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This paper presents a pilot comparative research project on pre-vocational education in lower secondary schools ([International Standard Classification of Education] ISCED level 2) within regions in three European countries. The primary aim of the study was to better understand how the pre-vocational education curriculum is constructed and taught within schools. A case study methodology was selected given the de-centralised nature of curriculum-making within each of the units of analysis. The data collection period covers the years 2009-2011 and the regions taking part were from Germany, Poland, and Scotland. The research method is based upon both the collection of secondary data, through the analysis of curriculum documents within regions in each country, and the use of primary data sources, through interviewing school teachers. The research builds upon previous studies in curriculum-making, in particular a theoretical framework that explores the differences between the ‘prescribed and enacted curriculum’. Finally, this study will argue that, although it is possible to identify quite a distinct pre-vocational curriculum within each region that, in practice, the subject is rarely taught (enacted) according to this prescribed curriculum.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

We study how the presence of a college affects the local economy using administrative data. Our analysis exploits the opening of new institutions of tertiary education across Germany in the 1980s and 1990s. The new college substantially increased the student population and share of high-skilled workers in the region. Yet, we find no effect on regional wages or employment indicating that the local economies did not experience additional growth through skill-biased technological change, for instance. Instead, there is sizable heterogeneity in the local gains: high-tech firms in manufacturing absorb most of the new college graduates, esp. in engineering professions. We find little impact on the low- or high-skilled service sector or employment in managerial professions. Finally, we show that local labor market conditions prior to the opening matter: in regions with a more dynamic labor market, the opening encourages firm creation and a permanent upskilling of the workforce. Areas with a less dynamic labor market experience little sustained growth in high-skilled workers who are absorbed by incumbent firms.

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We assess how changes in youth cohort sizes effect employment rates in German labour market regions. Replicating the conventional approach, we estimate that a percentage increase in the youth share reduces regional employment rates by -0.2 per cent. We challenge the assumption that cohort size effects are homogenous across space and find robust evidence that the negative effect of youth cohort size is more pronounced in the labour markets of metropolitan regions. These results suggest an upward pressure on urban regional employment rates as a result of the projected decrease in the size of the German youth share.

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A considerable number of German multinational enterprises (MNE) are located in the Greater Shanghai Area. German MNE in the industrial sector show an inclination to export German forms of technical training - more specifically German-style dual apprenticeship training - to their worldwide subsidiaries. Within China, this is especially the case for the Greater Shanghai Area, which has established itself as a 'hotspot' for dual apprenticeship training in the last 15 years. This paper explores what makes the Greater Shanghai Area such a 'hotspot' for dual apprenticeship training - in international comparison - by focusing on factors influencing the spatial agglomeration of dual apprenticeship training activities in this region. The paper finds unevenly distributed institutional resources regarding the attraction of German Foreign Direct Investment as well as unevenly distributed resources at the skill formation system level as important influencing factors. Both factors show 'self-reinforcing' dynamics strengthening already existing spatial agglomeration of dual apprenticeship training activities.

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Labour market entry is a process along the life course rather than a single transition, and various forms of individual mobility may be involved, among them mobility between firms, occupations etc. Starting from a general model of utility-orientation, it becomes clear that regional mobility and other forms of mobility are closely related. In this sense, regional mobility is one option to enhance early career perspectives, to avoid unemployment, etc. Regional-level variables (in particular, the local employment situation) form an important part of the determinants of such mobility processes, complementing the impact of firm-specific conditions and individual characteristics like formal qualifications. Looking at factors representing opportunities and constraints at different levels of aggregation simultaneously allows one not only to see who are the people who move but also to evaluate the relative relevance of individual and structural characteristics. These factors might act not additively, but rather as interactions. However, mobility decisions may not be primarily the consequence of the individual labour market situation, but may follow other (and often rather household or family-based) considerations. While many labour market analyses are confined to the observation of aggregate flows between regions, looking more closely at mobility processes therefore means to combine disaggregated labour-market data with detailed biographical information.

This paper will present analyses on regional mobility in early careers for West Germany. It draws upon recently collected data from the German Life History Study. These data allow to link regional-level data with longitudinal information on individual life courses. On this basis, the paper looks at determinants of individual mobility with a focus on incidence and distance of regional mobility at labour market entry.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner.

Selected papers from this conference are indexed from TD/TNC 87.466 to TD/TNC 87.478. Show less

Context: Due to limited geographical mobility, opportunities for adolescents interested in company-based training are primarily dependent on regional training offers. Competition for company-based training among adolescents varies regionally, and thus, the chance to obtain a training contract varies as well. In this article, we investigate the opportunities for adolescents to obtain company-based training depending on regional training market conditions. We assume that the advantages of obtaining a company-based training place exist in areas of decreased competition among interested adolescents. However, the question is whether those advantages will differ between adolescents depending on characteristics such as school achievement, socioeconomic status or migration background. Furthermore, we assume that, above all, market-induced ease-of-access to company-based training exists for occupations that face hiring challenges and indicates less occupational attractiveness.

Methods: The transition from school (after 9th and 10th grade) to company-based training is analysed using data from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS, starting cohort 4). This dataset is merged with the official regional training market data regarding local supply and demand ratio for training places (called 'SDR') in the dual system of Vocational Education and Training in Germany. Logistic regressions are used to predict the probabilities of obtaining a training place. The focus lies on the interaction effects between SDR and adolescents' education-related characteristics (school certificates and grade point average), socioeconomic characteristics and migration backgrounds. Subgroup-specific analyses of different clusters of hiring challenges for trainee occupations are used to examine whether these effects are valid for all occupations.

Findings: The results confirm regional differences in obtaining a training place depending on the SDR. Here, applicant hierarchies according to educational achievement continue to exist if competition for company-based training among adolescents decreases. Beneficiaries are better-qualified adolescents with poorer GPAs. SDR hardly influences social disparities. However, the advantages of obtaining a company-based training place primarily exist for training occupations with hiring challenges when competition for company-based training among adolescents decreases. These occupations have a significantly lower occupational prestige (ISEI-08) compared to occupations with fewer hiring challenges. Conclusion: The results make it clear that market-induced ease-of-access to company-based training is not necessarily an advantage. Because the findings indicate that the advantages pertain mainly to low-prestige occupations, it can be assumed that career-path disadvantages can arise down the road. Future studies should investigate this in more differentiated ways.

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This monograph provides a report on a conference held in Jena, Germany in 1998, on learning cities and regions. It focused on economic and cultural transition in Eastern Germany and on Jena as a learning city. Other conferences have taken place in France and Denmark/Sweden and more are planned. Jena is revealed as a city in the process of change, following the massive closures in its manufacturing base and the development of a new high technology industry. Part One contains a summary report from the Jena seminar; Parts Two and Three contain papers on economic and cultural transition and learning in general and specific papers on Jena. They emphasise the importance of a knowledge-based economy, the development of a learning society, the encouragement of cooperation between central governments, local governments, the private sector and civil society as a whole. Show less