"Research Messages 2021" highlights the diverse range of research activities undertaken over the past year by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER). In 2021, research was shaped both by the VET (vocational education and training) reform agenda, and issues emerging from the pandemic. The 2021 national VET research…

In the United States, apprenticeships have traditionally been considered the purview of the construction industry and a handful of other trades. But recent interest in developing nontraditional career paths has led to an expansion of apprenticeships into industries such as healthcare, childcare, advanced manufacturing, public safety, hospitality,…

Institutions of higher education prepare and develop students for the workforce, and in the coming decade, the challenge of workforce preparation will increase as the current workforce is retiring during a time of economic growth. Traditional higher education practice tasks faculty with developing appropriate curricula for students that will…

The purpose of this research study was to examine how chefs and other individuals in the food industry understood the field of culinary arts. This study used an instrumental case study with purposeful sampling of multiple cases. Through a series of open-ended interviews using snowball-sampling strategy that concluded with 45 participants sharing…

A growing number of U.S. companies across a range of industries are designing apprenticeship programs to give workers access to on-the-job learning opportunities that allow them to transition into in-demand jobs and careers. This discussion paper provides a snapshot of the current state of apprenticeship in the United States based on interviews…

Undergraduate research experiences provide students with opportunities to engage in high-impact experiential learning. Although prevalent in the sciences, there are now extensive banks of case studies demonstrating the use of undergraduate research as an educationally enriching activity across many disciplines. This study investigated the…

Registered Apprenticeship has long been known in the United States as a great training option for workers looking to learn a new skill and become an expert-level crafts person in their trade. Be it traditional industries or those that are only now becoming better known, the apprenticeship model has long been part of the training strategies…

On-the-job training (OJT) is the most frequently used training method in industry. This OJT is mostly unstructured. While off-job-site training (OJST) should prepare for or supplement OJT, coordination between OJT and OJST is often poor. Advantages of OJT include its low cost, realistic nature, and motivating force. However, it is usually…