In the 21st century there is a lot of attention on sustainability (whether social or environmental). However, unfortunately, the economic perspective has been largely neglected in the field of education. This article deals with a quantitative assessment of the efficiency of tertiary education in individual EU countries, which allows to include the…

Driven by social, economic and technological changes, labour markets are becoming more flexible in the European Union and its neighbourhing countries. This translates into growth in novel employment relationships, which differ from 'traditional work' in terms of working conditions, content, and regulatory and legal ramifications. Conducted between…

In this article we examine the European Semester as an innovative form of policy coordination, with distinct effects on education and skills policies for Member States. We analyse the Semester's framing of education policy, and examine its manifestations in Spain and Sweden, two countries considered to be different in their approach to education.…

The article contributes to the emerging literature on the intersection of academic mobility and precarity by examining the impact of the 2016 Brexit referendum result on the mobility and immobility projects of migrant academics on temporary contracts. We draw on 22 interviews conducted with early-career researchers in the UK and Switzerland. We…

The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of the change in the vision of vocational education within the scope of the "Modernization of Vocational and Technical Education Project" (MTEM) and "Strengthening the Vocational Education and Training System" (MEGEP) financed by the EU, which was concluded by the Ministry of…

The objective of this research note is: to present the available evidence about the medium- to long-term outcomes and impact of ECEC provision from global literature and detail on how these are measured, with a focus on education and labour market outcomes for children as well as labour market outcomes for parents whose children receive ECEC…

This briefing reports on recent developments affecting Europe's recognition regimes -- both professional and academic. At the start of 2023, the European Year of Skills, the author looks at the context facing higher education stakeholders across four areas: the European labour market, Ukraine, developments in the higher education sector and the…

Since the mid 1990s vocational and education and training systems across Europe have had to respond to a number of external factors which have transformed the demand for skills. This paper examines the way in which VET systems have responded to the external factors and increase their resilience in the face of external shocks of one kind or…

Introduction: The current development of the world economy defined as the Fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) is rather determined by a larger social change caused by the interconnection of the physical, virtual, and social worlds. It affects the market of products, production factors, sectors, services, education, research, social…

This report looks at the impact of the business cycle on participation in adult learning in the EU-27 using aggregate quarterly country level data for the period 2005Q1-2019Q4. Data come from the EU Labour Force Survey. Although downturns may give individuals more incentives and more time to update their skills and knowledge, their ability to pay…

This book unravels the 'new reality' of national educational reforms, exploring optimal strategic directions for education and training. Offering a particular emphasis on EU-wide political guidelines, it encompasses lifelong learning across all levels, and it showcases the pivotal role of modern skills in education for reducing poverty, promoting…

This briefing reports on recent developments affecting Europe's recognition regimes -- both professional and academic. Currently, the principal change factor is the drive to digitalise, accelerated by the new circumstances created by the pandemic. The crisis in Ukraine, too, has prompted a range of initiatives. Meanwhile, uncertainty still…

This paper examines the adoption of dual VET in Spain as a process of educational policy transfer. Using Phillips and Ochs' (2003, 2004) policy transfer spectrum and decision-making classification and Perry and Tor's (2008) model of transfer forms, the study relies on semi-structured interviews with key decision-makers in the Spanish central…

Lifelong learning has been the subject of international policy debates and incremental developments over the past century. The purpose of this paper is to critically reflect on the neoliberal discourse of key competences for lifelong learning, which is promoted by the European Union as a self-sufficient policy solution that can cure a wide range…

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has highlighted the vast opportunities of working and learning digitally. In these exceptional times, where a large part of the workforce has been obliged to work remotely due to home confinement and social distancing measures, gig or crowd-workers have enjoyed a kind of 'home field' advantage: working and…