While enjoying the respect and prestige in some countries, in others, despite being a significant educational sector, vocational education continues to suffer from low status and negative societal sentiments. Vocational education in China has been positioned at the bottom of the educational hierarchy, absorbing the 'left-over' students with 'less…

In the Reform Era, the Chinese Government has placed great emphasis on the role of education in ensuring the economic success of individuals and of the country as a whole. While vocational and academic post-secondary qualifications are officially set at the same level, vocational education is positioned at the bottom of the educational hierarchy…

Career technical education (CTE) has evolved markedly over the past century to provide a viable avenue for high school students who may seek an alternative and successful academic path that leads to a well-paid future career in the workforce. Recent studies have found that Career and Technology Education can lower dropout rates among high school…

Career technical education and skilled trades have been the subject of a social stigma that continues to make it a habit of mind that career technical education is inferior to a 4-year college education. This stigma is partially responsible for a shortage of skilled labor. This study aimed to explore how educators describe and understand the…

Identifying factors influencing career preferences is relevant for faculty, education planners, and authorities when designing educational policies. However, these factors vary according to the socioeconomic context. We estimate a discrete choice model to investigate the determinants of career preferences using a survey of high school students (n…

Situated and Activity theories have exercised a significant influence in the field of vocational learning for some considerable time, both sharing a focus on bounded forms of work and forms of learning that facilitate learning in, or to changes to, bounded forms of work. Yet much learning occurs in unbounded contexts often referred to as…

The digital transformation leads to changing work contexts and new work objects that give rise to the necessity of collaboration across occupational boundaries. Yet there is a lack of theoretical models of cross-occupational collaboration, particularly with regard to individuals' cross-occupational collaboration competency (COCC). In order to…

Today, creativity is considered a success factor in many occupational fields and a core competence of the 21st century. In vocational education and training (VET), creativity is defined as problem-solving ability and ascribed to the transversal competences. Creativity is always context-dependent in terms of the work environment and specific…

Interpersonal abilities as critical competencies are a prevalent subject in hospitality training. However, there remains a need to further study how teachers and trainers apply instruction practices to develop and strengthen students' interpersonal abilities. This study aimed at identifying instruction practices used by teachers and trainers to…

This report presents findings from an assessment of the implication of skills in Moldova's smart specialisation strategy. The ETF's role is to support Moldova as it endeavours to give vocational education and training systems a clear role in the implementation of its smart specialisation strategy. The report explores skills data at sub-sectoral…

This study focuses on the agri-food sector in Morocco and 'drivers' of change for skills. It alerts education and training institutions to prepare workers for the jobs of the future. The Moroccan society and economy depend heavily on agriculture production, employing around one third of the population and accounting for around 12% of GDP over the…

This article analyzes the writing competence of Norwegian students and apprentices in three professions: Healthcare, industrial mechanics and electricians. The research forms part of a large-scale assessment project in vocational education and training (VET). A subset of 108 written test-answers were subjected to an explorative analysis focusing…

Electricians' exposure to ergonomically challenging working positions and conditions makes them vulnerable to musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). Ergonomic behaviour and compliance with interventions may be expected to be intertwined with their understanding, knowledge, and habits regarding their occupation and regarding work environment and…

Globally, organizations are experiencing workforce and employee shortages that vary from one industry to another, and the hospitality industry is among the worst affected (De Smet et al., 2022). The primary purpose of this study was to identify and explore factors that contribute to turnover and attrition in the foodservice industry so that…

Context and purpose: In a context of land shortage with high rates of land degradation and soil erosion due to unsustainable agriculture practices in Burundi, vocational agriculture education needs to prioritize competencies that enable graduates to be effective change-agents in addressing sustainable agriculture challenges. This study aimed at…