The European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training's (CEDEFOP) activities and research relating to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have focused on three areas of action: (1) development of training for SMEs; (2) information on the training provision available in the member states; and (3) promotion of the exchange and…

Over the past 20 years, continuing vocational training in France has evolved within an innovative institutional system that has produced results. The goals of the institutional program are to: (1) give individuals who had been excluded from initial training a second chance; (2) give people greater control over their lives by improving their level…

This paper summarizes a conference on the development of midlevel technical personnel in Germany and France. The proceedings of the conference were divided into five presentations: (1) an introduction to the subject of the project and the conference; (2) a comparative presentation of the origins and development of educational training routes in…

A study compared 17 European countries' initial and continuing vocational training systems. Two kinds of continuing training (CT)--that which is initiated by the employer and that which is intiated by the individual--provide an indicator for comparing the different situations observed throughout the European Community. The two forms are mutually…

Transformations in the French metalworking industries have given rise to numerous studies on employment and job content in metallurgy over the past decade. One study related technical transformations to changes in the skills content of certain categories of workers. Although automation results in the elimination of certain know-how belonging to an…