Varieties of Cooperation between Schools and Employers in Vocational Training Christine Trampusch Professor of International Comparative Political Economy and Economic Sociology, University of Cologne, Cologne Center for Comparative Politics, Germany Leading House Co-Director Governance Vocational and Professional Education and Training (GOVPET), Switzerland Keynote
The two take home messages of the talk (1) Types of school-employers cooperation in IVT are country-specific and affected by the general patterns of firm-state cooperation in IVT. (2) Cooperation between schools and firms in vocational training does not develop by default but depends on public policies as well coordination among firms. 2
Varieties of Skill Formation Outline Varieties of Cooperation between Schools and Firms (CbSF) Varieties of CbSF in Collective Skill Formation Systems Conclusions CbSF in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, and the Netherlands at a glance (workshop in the afternoon) Cooperation between schools and firms at the boundary between VET and HE (workshop in the afternoon) Conclusions (workshop in the afternoon) 3
Varieties of Skill Formation Vocational education and training (VET) systems differ with regard to the division of labour between training firms and vocational schools Four features of collective systems firms are strongly involved in financing and administering workplace-based training; intermediary associations play an important role in the administration and reform of these systems; portable, certified occupational skills; training in schools but also in companies, usually in the form of dual apprenticeship training. 4
Varieties of Skill Formation Public Commitment High in IVT Public Commitment Low in IVT Firm Involvement Low in IVT Statist Skill Formation FL, NOR, SWE, FR Liberal Skill Formation US, UK Firm Involvement High in IVT Collective Skill Formation GER, AUT, SWI, NL, DK Segmentalist Skill Formation JAP Figure: Busemeyer/Iversen (2012) in Busemeyer/Trampusch Public investment: Public spending as a percentage of GDP on upper secondary education multiplied with the share of upper secondary students in vocational programs (both school and dual training schemes) Firm involvement: Share of upper secondary students in vocational education programs combining school- and workplace-based training 5
Varieties of Cooperation between Schools and Firms (CbSF) Why is cooperation important? Matching supply and demand of training places Better training quality Increases incentives for SMEs to participate in IVT Proper ordinances and curricula integration of work-based and school-based training Extending local and regional networks in IVT Building bridges to other subsystems in education and training Preventing drop outs Inclusion of disadvantaged labor market participants Why does cooperation not always happen? Difficulties? No tradition of firm involvement AND public commitment in IVT (non-collective training systems) Cooperation dilemmas precondition public policies as well as coordination among firms Different needs and preferences of large firms and SMEs Different rationalities and logic of actions in schools and firms: Firms, are profit seekers and maximizers, steered by the market logic, public schools are governed by the state and heavily affected by party political or within state cleavages. 6
Varieties of Cooperation between Schools and Firms (CbSF) How to conceptualize and measure cooperation? Cooperation: - Action or process of working together to the same end (Oxford dictionary) - Areas of cooperation? Levels of cooperation? Areas of Cooperation: - Learning process: Cooperation in curricular settings, how are learning experiences in the class room and in firms combined? - Governance: How do firms (or employers associations & networks) and schools cooperate in regulation, financing, administration and monitoring of schools as well as training in firms Levels of Cooperation: - Micro-level: Learning and teaching arrangements in schools and firms: e.g. do school teachers have contact with firms and trainers in firms? - Meso-level: Cooperation between collective actors: e.g. are employers associations represented in school boards? Are school representatives represented at examination committees of firms? - Macro-level: How do employers associations and schools cooperate in policy-making on rules steering vocational training: e.g. involvement in policy making? 7
Varieties of Cooperation between Schools and Firms (CbSF) Public Commitment High in IVT Public Commitment Low in IVT Firm Involvement Low in IVT Statist Skill Formation Weak CbSF Liberal Skill Formation Weak CbSF Firm Involvement High in IVT Collective Skill Formation Strong CbSF but strong variation Segmentalist Skill Formation Weak CbSF Collective Skill Formation Regimes: GER, SWI, AUT, DK, NL Firms and schools play different roles in VET in these countries Cooperation between firms and schools vary very much Denmark seems to be a good performer in governance cooperation More cooperation in Austria and Switzerland than in Germany In the Netherlands cooperation difficult but evaluations & projects 8
Conclusions Employer coordination in IVT is a sufficient condition for CbSF Collective systems differ with regard to the precise labor division between firms and schools in IVT Varieties of CbSF in collective systems depend on the role of the state in IVT Cooperation is important but does not happen by default 9
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