scholarly journals Pushed out of the education system: using a natural experiment to evaluate consequences for boys

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kira Solveig Larsen ◽  
Lars Højsgaard Andersen ◽  
Britt Østergaard Larsen
Keyword(s):  
Population Data ◽  
Vocational Education And Training ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Upper Secondary Education ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Admission Requirements ◽  
Criminal Charges ◽  
And Training

Abstract Objectives To examine the short-term effects of admission requirements for upper secondary vocational education and training (VET) on enrollment and criminal offending among academically low-achieving boys. Methods We apply multi-group difference-in-differences models to full population data and analyze an educational policy reform in Denmark (N = 60,759). Results The reform caused a 16 percentage points lower enrollment in VET among academically low-achieving boys, and their risk of being charged with a crime increased by up to two percentage points 9 months after the end of compulsory school. However, after 12 months, the effect on criminal charges disappeared. Conclusion In the education-crime nexus, educational enrollment in upper secondary education is an understudied margin, which has important implications for both scholars and policy-makers. Limitations include the short follow-up period and that the analyses examine effects for boys only.

scholarly journals When Work Comes First: Young Adults in Vocational Education and Training in Norway

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 270-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Hagen Tønder ◽  
Tove Mogstad Aspøy
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Secondary Education ◽  
Vocational Education ◽  
Education And Training ◽  
Vocational Education And Training ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Upper Secondary Education ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
And Training ◽  
Vocational Programme

Since reforms implemented in 1994, vocational education and training (VET) in Norway has been integrated and standardized as part of upper-secondary education. When young people enter upper-secondary education at the age of 15 or 16, they can choose either a vocational programme or a general academic programme. The standard model in vocational programmes is 2 years of school-based education, followed by 2 years of apprenticeship training. However, in practice, only a minority follow the standard route and acquire a trade certificate within 4 years. The average age upon completion of a vocational programme in Norway is 28 years, which is among the highest in the OECD. The purpose of this study was to explore personal trajectories within the Norwegian context to gain a better understanding of why people choose to obtain a trade certificate as young adults, instead of following the standardized route, drawn up by policy makers. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 34 people who obtained a trade certificate when they were aged between 25 and 35 years. The study showed that the opportunity to acquire formal VET qualifications through workplace learning provides an important second chance for many young adults in Norway. Based on the findings, we argue that policy makers need to see educational achievement in a long-term perspective and to design institutional structures that support learning opportunities at work, as well as in formal educational settings.

scholarly journals VET Teachers’ Interpretations of Individualisation and Teaching of Skills and Social Order in two Nordic Countries

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 355-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elsa Eiríksdóttir ◽  
Per-Åke Rosvall
Keyword(s):  
Vocational Education ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
Education And Training ◽  
Vocational Education And Training ◽  
Educational Goals ◽  
Upper Secondary Education ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Upper Secondary Schools ◽  
And Training

The age at which young people leave education for the labour market has increased in recent decades, and entering upper secondary education has become the norm. As a result, the diversity of the student population has increased, for instance in terms of students’ academic merits and achievements at school. Increased diversity seems to affect vocational education and training more than tracks preparing students for higher education, because entry into vocational education and training (VET) programmes is rarely selective. In this article we analyse a series of interviews with VET teachers regarding VET practices in upper secondary schools in Sweden and Iceland. We examine how policy plays out in practice in VET by looking at how VET teachers navigate the sometimes-conflicting educational goals of employability and civic engagement, while simultaneously teaching a highly diverse group of students. In both countries, pedagogic practices are dominated by individualisation with a focus on task-related skills. Those practices are important in VET, but can exclude broader understandings of civil and workplace life, because general knowledge about areas such as ethics, democracy, equality, and environmental issues is difficult to obtain if education gives students few opportunities to interact with others, such as through group work or classroom discussions.

scholarly journals The politics of educational transitions: Evidence from Catalonia

2020 ◽  
pp. 147490412097604
Author(s):  
Aina Tarabini ◽  
Judith Jacovkis
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Education ◽  
Vocational Education ◽  
Education And Training ◽  
Vocational Education And Training ◽  
Educational Transitions ◽  
Early School Leaving ◽  
Upper Secondary Education ◽  
Early School ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
And Training

Transitions to upper secondary education are of crucial importance to understanding educational inequalities. They are also vital in explaining the contemporary dynamics of Early School Leaving. Global hegemonic discourses around educational transitions and Early School Leaving shape student pathways in terms of rational and linear choices, assuming equal opportunities for lifelong learning. Simultaneously, the European Strategy attributes key roles to Vocational Education and Training and to guidance in order to smooth educational transitions, reduce Early School Leaving and meet the needs of the knowledge-based economy. The aim of the article is to problematise the linear relationship between Early School Leaving, Vocational Education and Training, and guidance policies representing the dominant contemporary rhetoric concerned with ensuring smooth transitions and opening up long-term educational pathways for young people. The article provides an in-depth analysis of the political construction of the transition from lower to upper secondary education in Catalonia, identifying how it is conceptualised at a discursive level by policy actors and also how it is implemented at the institutional level. The results aim to be regarded as a useful analytical resource to inform critical policy analyses of educational transitions and their implications in terms of social inequalities.

scholarly journals Vocational Education and Training, Vocational Baccalaureate or Academic High School? An Empirical Analysis of Social Selective Transitions to Upper Secondary Education in the German-Speaking Part of Switzerland

2018 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rolf Becker ◽  
David Glauser
Keyword(s):  
Social Classes ◽  
Vocational Education And Training ◽  
Compulsory Schooling ◽  
Upper Secondary Education ◽  
Educational Decision ◽  
Academic High School ◽  
The Social ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
German Speaking ◽  
And Training

Abstract We analyze the educational decision at the end of compulsory schooling in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. In order to reveal the social selectivity of this decision we adapted the theory of subjectively expected utility to the Swiss context. We apply and test an innovative model with panel data. The variation of achievement and educational decision across social classes largely explains the selectivity of this transition.

Pre-Employment Skill Formation in Australia and Germany

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Polesel
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Vocational Education And Training ◽  
Comprehensive High Schools ◽  
Skill Formation ◽  
Upper Secondary Education ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Selection Mechanisms ◽  
Senior Secondary ◽  
Vocational Studies ◽  
And Training

This chapter provides a critical analysis of the role that vocational education and training plays in preparing young people for the labour market in two contrasting systems – Australia and Germany. In Germany, this occurs mainly within the structure of the “dual system”. In Australia, it occurs within a system of comprehensive high schools, where vocational studies are located within the senior secondary certificates. In Australia, it also occurs to an extent in the adult sector VET institutions and in some specialist providers which focus on school-aged youth. The concepts of education logic and employment logic and the type of welfare state, whether neocorporatist or neoliberal, are used to analyse important differences between Australia and Germany. The chapter argues that the skills formation of young people requires both symbolic and financial support and an approach to upper secondary education which is not captive to the sorting and selection mechanisms of universities.

scholarly journals Vietnamese Students’ Perception and Loyalty towards an Image of Vocational Education and Training

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 228-238
Author(s):  
Vi Hoang Dang
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Vocational Education ◽  
Industrial Development ◽  
Education And Training ◽  
Vocational Education And Training ◽  
Vocational Students ◽  
Upper Secondary School ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
And Training

Stakeholders’ perceptions towards a career in vocational education and training (VET) in Vietnam negate the country’s industrial development plan. During the last 15 years, the Vietnamese Governments investment in to the sector increased annually. However, parents and their children still pursue the goal of higher education via the mainstream rather than a career path way using the vocational education and training system. Although stereotypical views of vocational students are being challenged, Confucian ideology maintains some influence over stakeholders’ educational decisions leading to the sustained popularity of higher education. This study explores the perceptions of students on the image of and their loyalty towards vocational education and training. A sample of 300 lower secondary school, 300 upper secondary school, and 300 vocational students was drawn from across the Northern and Southern regions of Vietnam. A survey questionnaire was used to collect data and mean analysis conducted to explore the data. The findings indicate that agreement with statements about facilities and equipment, teacher’s ability, curriculum, and soft skills are the clearest indicators of enhanced perceptions about the image of vocational education and training. Encouragement from parents appears most influential to positively affecting lower secondary students’ loyalty. Unexpected was that vocational students had less interesting continuing in vocational education and training compared to lower and upper secondary school students inclination towards a career in VET. First-hand experience seemingly leads to diminished perceptions and loyalty towards vocational education.

International education governance in the francophone microcosm

2021 ◽  
pp. 174549992110614
Author(s):  
Isabelle Le Mouillour
Keyword(s):  
International Education ◽  
International Cooperation ◽  
Mission Statements ◽  
Vocational Education And Training ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Private Actors ◽  
And Training

International cooperation is high on the agenda of policy makers in times of globalisation and shared challenges such as climate change, poverty, equity or digitalisation. The present paper investigates strategies and actors involved in international cooperation policy in the field of vocational education and training within the francophone area. Using a discursive institutionalism approach as an analysis frame, the article traces and identifies the development of ideas and discourses. It also examines the changes and tensions in the French public institutional set-up in that specific policy field. The analysis builds on analysis of policy documents, mission statements of actors involved (ministries, public and private actors, non-for-profit organisations, international and European actors).

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