In Austria, binding training objectives are defined for the company-based part of dual training (approximately 70-80 per cent of total training time), but there are scarcely any normative specifications on how these are to be achieved and there is no systematic quality assurance of the practice. The conditions under which vocational training…

Since 2008, the Austrian Vocational Training Act has given young people the opportunity to obtain vocational qualifications in supra-company training workshops. In addition to the traditional full-time vocational school system and company-based apprenticeship training, a third vocational qualification path has thus been established. This article…

The article investigates mechanisms of class reproduction by looking at school-to-work transitions of young blue-collar workers from Austria. The study adopts a Bourdieusian explanatory framework to show how working-class kids are guided towards picking up apprenticeship training instead of pursuing further education. Two classed dispositions are…

Context: Vocational education and training (VET) plays a crucial role in the social inclusion of refugees. The aim of this paper is to examine how the VET systems of Austria, Denmark and Germany responded to the arrival of young refugees since 2015. VET in these countries is categorised as system of collective skill formation, which offers…

In the history of vocational education and training, apprentices seldom feature as actors. They are also rarely mentioned among those affected by economic conditions and political measures. Studies of England and Scotland have shown that, over a period of decades, there was a widespread apprentice movement during the twentieth century. So far,…

Context: We addressed the issue of person-job-fit by focussing on both professional success and work satisfaction. Publications studying the predictive validity of (cognitive) ability, personality, or vocational interest alone have shown relationships with professional success or work satisfaction for each predictor separately. Nevertheless, these…

In inclusive education, learning and support assistants (LSAs) play an increasingly prominent role in supporting students with disabilities in regular classrooms. Previous research has identified various factors that influence the implementation of inclusive education, such as collaboration and the self-efficacy beliefs amongst the involved…

This research paper is the fifth in a series produced as part of the Cedefop project The changing nature and role of VET (2016-18). Based on comparative analysis of labour force survey data from 2014, the report analyses the vocational effect on labour market and education outcomes, asking whether any advantages conferred by vocational…

Context: Vocational education and training (VET) is expected to be designed for creating learning outcomes which meet the needs for skills and competences in the labour market. Hence, identifying current and upcoming skill requirements and ensuring that these requirements are incorporated into education has long been the subject of academic and…

This report is the result of an explorative study, carried out at a time when interest in apprenticeship for adults was on the rise and research and evidence on the topic was scarce and fragmented. It has explored the topic from a conceptual and theoretical point of view, reviewing relevant existing research. It has also considered a practical…

A distinct feature of the Austrian education system is its differentiation of programs in vocational education. Among these programs, the dual education system has a long tradition: Students undergo an apprenticeship in a company while also attending a vocational school in part-time. More than other forms of education, this combination of…

Vocational education and training (VET) is a major policy topic for countries all over the world, who are eager to learn from the best examples where participation in VET is high and youth unemployment is low. Policymakers want to know how strong VET systems manage challenges like rapid technological change, matching labor market demand for…

The Thinking Styles Inventories (TSI) are questionnaires for assessing individual preferences in constructing knowledge. This paper identifies several problems concerning their validity, which range from an inadequate use of factor analysis, to missing information on the measurement model, to findings indicating a low discrimination between the…

Research tells us much about the effects of primary and lower-secondary schooling on skills inequality, but we know less about the impact of the next stage of education. This article uses a differences-in-differences analysis of data on literacy and numeracy skills in PISA 2000 and SAS 2011/12 to assess the contribution of upper-secondary…

Austria, Germany and Switzerland are renowned for their extensive systems of collective vocational skill formation, which, however, have developed largely in separation from higher education. This divide has become increasingly contested as a result of a variety of socioeconomic factors that have led to an increasing demand for higher level…