Concise, clear and comprehensive snapshots of vocational education and training systems in EU, Iceland and Norway: this is what the Cedefop Spotlight on VET series offers. Building on individual country Spotlights, this publication provides an overview of VET systems with their distinctive qualities, such as main accession and progression routes…

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…

Individuals who pass through low-skilled work in their careers can represent this phase as showing strength of character as obstacles are overcome. However, continuing to work in low-skilled employment has so many negative consequences that finding ways to assist those individuals' career development is an important challenge for guidance policy…

This article presents the major findings of an international study that attempted to investigate the labour market outcomes of qualifications frameworks in six countries--Belize, France, Ireland, Jamaica, Sri Lanka, and Tunisia, as well as the regional framework in the Caribbean. It finds limited evidence of success, but fairly strong support for…

This paper presents formal interactions between vocational education and training and the labour market in France, part of a large European study commissioned by the Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop). The paper examines the nature of vocational education and training system, the feedback mechanisms and the…

Purpose: This paper aims to explore structural and systemic influences in the development of competence models and qualifications systems at sectoral and national levels across Europe, considering the influences of different socio-economic models of skill formation on the processes of design and provision of qualifications.…

Purpose: Though the notion of competence is common terminology in European VET policy at national and supra-national level, understandings vary widely, both across countries and within. The particular conceptions of competence adopted in the EQF are themselves problematic and the framework allows for a variety of interpretations. The purpose of…

In a context of fierce competition in the labour market and employment system, the decision to continue studying after completing French short-cycle higher vocational education must be distinguished from the simple individual decision for optimum allocation of resources postulated by standard human-resource theory. It has much more to do with a…

Although young people are graduating from college in increasing numbers in France, their labor market prospects have worsened. The employment system's capacity to absorb college graduates is out of kilter with the numbers of graduates from higher education. (SK)

Several factors have contributed to the worsening of the employment situation of French postsecondary graduates: aging of the first generation of employed graduates, sometimes forced back on the market by unemployment; slackened growth; and reduction in teaching and civil service opportunities. (MSE)

The problem of overqualification is related to the educational aspirations in a comparative cross-national study using data collected in opinion surveys in four European countries (Finland, France, Federal Republic of Germany, and Poland) and the United States. (JMF)

This brief examines trends in the retail trade, especially in grocery stores, from an international perspective. A comparison of recent national studies finds the following: (1) significant differences in structure and organization exist, especially in the role of traditional small shops versus large chain grocery stores; (2) increasing store size…

During the past decade, the number of jobs in France's administrative service sector has remained stable. General administrative work has become more infrequent; however, the basic occupations of secretary and accountancy have been maintained. Although the number of typists has declined, the number of "secretarial" jobs has increased…

An analysis of the service sector in five countries (France, Germany, Japan, Sweden, and the United States) was made through synthesis of earlier research on work patterns in the countries. Some of the findings and issues discovered concerned the following: (1) the heterogeneity of the service sector; (2) the progress of part-time work; (3)…

Considerations in analyzing and surveying the prospects for employment and training in the motor vehicle repair sector were explored by way of the example of France's motor vehicle repair sector. The discussion focused on the need to take the following steps: determine how labor is managed in the sector under consideration; consider the impact of…