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Policy proposals promoting vocational education focus on the school-to-work transition. But with technological change, gains in youth employment may be offset by less adaptability and diminished employment later in life. To test for this tradeoff, we employ a difference-in-differences approach that compares employment rates across different ages for people with general and vocational education. Using microdata for 11 countries from IALS, we find strong and robust support for such a tradeoff, especially in countries emphasizing apprenticeship programs. German Microcensus data and Austrian administrative data confirm the results for within-occupational-group analysis and for exogenous variation from plant closures, respectively.

There has been an explosion of interest in mindfulness-based programs (MBPs) such as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy. This is demonstrated in increased research, implementation of MBPs in healthcare, educational, criminal justice and workplace settings, and in mainstream interest. For the sustainable development of the field there is a need to articulate a definition of what an MBP is and what it is not. This paper provides a framework to define the essential characteristics of the family of MBPs originating from the parent program MBSR, and the processes which inform adaptations of MBPs for different populations or contexts. The framework addresses the essential characteristics of the program and of teacher. MBPs: are informed by theories and practices that draw from a confluence of contemplative traditions, science, and the major disciplines of medicine, psychology and education; underpinned by a model of human experience which addresses the causes of human distress and the pathways to relieving it; develop a new relationship with experience characterized by present moment focus, decentering and an approach orientation; catalyze the development of qualities such as joy, compassion, wisdom, equanimity and greater attentional, emotional and behavioral self-regulation, and engage participants in a sustained intensive training in mindfulness meditation practice, in an experiential inquiry-based learning process and in exercises to develop understanding. The paper's aim is to support clarity, which will in turn support the systematic development of MBP research, and the integrity of the field during the process of implementation in the mainstream.

This paper examines the perceptions of vocational expertise and school-towork pathways among WorldSkills Competition (WSC) achievers and their co-workers and employers within the Finnish context. At the biennial international WSC, young people (aged 18-to-23 years) from over 60 countries demonstrate their skills in more than 40 trades. Individualized training for this competition is provided through the cooperation of vocational institutions (e.g., expert coaches, team leaders and competition panellists) and industry (e.g., mentors, sponsors, materials, equipment). Semi-structured thematic interviews (N=51) were conducted in 2013 and 2014 with former Finnish WSC medal or diploma winners (n=18) who had since begun their working lives (1-to-15 years of work experience). Their employers (n=16) and colleagues (n=17) were also interviewed. Results showed that in addition to vocation-specific knowledge and skills, problem-solving skills, creativity, social skills and self-regulatory skills were acknowledged as the most significant elements of vocational expertise. The findings also indicated that formal vocational education combined with deliberate practice and training based on expert mentoring improved the long-term career progress and vocational expertise of the WSC achievers.

Currently, the training of the future work force presents challenging problems to higher education. This training, in the form of practical and theoretical knowledge can come from multiple platforms, channels and means, both formal and informal. In addition, it is quite difficult to assess the knowledge skill level that a student has acquired to optimize their chances for future employability. This, together with the need to still manage academic curricula on paper, the problems of confidence when validating these documents and contrasting them with real knowledge, etc., means that management in higher education requires revolutionary new tools. This work evaluates the benefits of the blockchain (or distributed ledger) technology and advocates a decentralised model of confidence for transactions based on an academic crypto currency. In this approach blockchain is used to manage transactions of content, teaching and competencies, assessed by consensus by students, trainers and employers, to eliminate once and for all the “gap” between the academic world and the working world. This paper aims to address the current challenges of an increasingly dispersed, open and ubiquitous higher education. The proposed model can be implemented in any training institution to adapt its teaching to the specific needs of professional profiles validated by employers in the sector. This model has been validated by means of a prototype with more than acceptable results.

Complex and rapidly evolving work contexts augment industry calls for future-capable graduates that can demonstrate enterprise capabilities such as critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, and value creation. Gaps between employers’ expectations and evaluations of higher education (HE) graduates’ enterprise capabilities continue to drive university curriculum renewal. There is a particular focus on work-integrated learning (WIL), a spectrum of industry-student engagement activities which provide valuable opportunities for developing and applying skills and knowledge, including enterprise capabilities. Despite small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) offering fertile ground for enterprise learning, challenges limit their engagement in workplace-based WIL (internships/placements) due to resource and supervisory constraints. This study explores how co-working spaces may support SME engagement in WIL to develop enterprise capabilities, better preparing HE students for future work. It piloted two rounds of business student internships in the largest co-working space in Western Australia, surveying and interviewing both students and workplace supervisors to gauge development and understand enablers and challenges during WIL. Findings affirmed the synergistic value of SMEs and co-working spaces for fostering students’ enterprise capabilities, particularly communication and critical thinking skills, innovative behaviour, and building confidence. While some of the challenges which impact on SMEs engagement and outcomes in WIL remained, the co-working environment offered unique exposure to entrepreneurial mindsets and rich opportunities for collaboration, networking, and formal training. This study offers important insights on WIL design that increases participation among SMEs, a targeted objective of Australia’s national WIL strategy, and leverages co-working space environments to produce future-capable graduates.

This paper argues that micro-credentials are gig credentials for the gig economy. Micro-credentials are short competency-based industry-aligned units of learning, while the gig economy comprises contingent work by individual ‘suppliers’. Both can be facilitated by (often the same) digital platforms, and both are underpinned by social relations of precariousness in the labour market and in society. They are mutually reinforcing and each has the potential to amplify the other. Rather than presenting new opportunities for social inclusion and access to education, they contribute to the privatisation of education by unbundling the curriculum and blurring the line between public and private provision in higher education. They accelerate the transfer of the costs of employment preparation, induction, and progression from governments and employers to individuals. Micro-credentials contribute to ‘disciplining’ higher education in two ways: first by building tighter links between higher education and workplace requirements (rather than whole occupations), and through ensuring universities are more ‘responsive’ to employer demands in a competitive market crowded with other types of providers. Instead of micro-credentials, progressive, democratic societies should seek to ensure that all members of society have access to a meaningful qualification that has value in the labour market and in society more broadly, and as a bridge to further education. This is a broader vision of education in which the purpose of education is to prepare individuals to live lives they have reason to value, and not just in the specifics required of particular jobs.

Diversity and mobility in education and work present a paramount challenge that needs better conceptualization in educational theory. This challenge has been addressed by educational scholars with the notion of boundaries, particularly by the concepts of boundary crossing and boundary objects. Although studies on boundary crossing and boundary objects emphasize that boundaries carry learning potential, it is not explicated in what way they do so. By reviewing this literature, this article offers an understanding of boundaries as dialogical phenomena. The review of the literature reveals four potential learning mechanisms that can take place at boundaries: identification, coordination, reflection, and transformation. These mechanisms show various ways in which sociocultural differences and resulting discontinuities in action and interaction can come to function as resources for development of intersecting identities and practices.

Gaps between science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and required workplace skills have been identified in industry, academia, and government. Educators acknowledge the need to reform STEM education to better prepare students for their future careers. We pursue this growing interest in the skills needed for STEM disciplines and ask whether frameworks for 21st century skills and engineering education cover all of important STEM competencies. In this study, we identify important STEM competencies and evaluate the relevance of current frameworks applied in education using the standardized job-specific database operated and maintained by the US Department of Labor. Our analysis of the importance of 109 skills, types of knowledge and work activities, revealed 18 skills, seven categories of knowledge, and 27 work activities important for STEM workers. We investigate the perspectives of STEM and non-STEM job incumbents, comparing the importance of each skill, knowledge, and work activity for the two groups. We aimed to condense dimensions of the 52 key areas by categorizing them according to the Katz and Kahn (1978) framework and testing for inter-rater reliability. Our findings show frameworks for 21st century skills and engineering education do not encompass all important STEM competencies. Implications for STEM education programs are discussed, including how they can bridge gaps between education and important workplace competencies.

Purpose In the context of far-reaching changes in higher education and the labour market, there has been extensive discussion on what constitutes graduate employability and what shapes graduates’ labour market outcomes. Many of these discussions are based on skills-centred approaches and related supply-side logic. The purpose of this paper is to develop an alternative, relational conceptualisation of employability based on the concept of capitals. It discusses how this provides a more detailed and multi-dimensional account of the resources graduates draw upon when transitioning to the labour market. Design/methodology/approach The paper presents a new model on graduate employability, linked to five areas of capital which are seen as constitutive of graduates’ employability and significant to their transitions to the labour market. The paper draws together existing conceptual approaches and research studies to illustrate the different features of the model and how they relate to graduate employability. It also discusses some practical implications for those helping to facilitate graduates’ transitions to the job market. Findings The paper argues that the graduate capital model presents a new way of understanding graduate employability which addresses the challenges of facilitating graduates’ transitions and early career management. The forms of capital outlined are conceived as key resources that confer benefits and advantages onto individuals. These resources encompass a range of human, social, cultural, identity and psycho-social dimensions and are acquired through graduates’ formal and informal experiences. Research limitations/implications Whilst this is a conceptual model, it has potentially strong implications for future research in this area in terms of further research exploration on the core components and their application in the labour market. Practical implications This re-conceptualization of graduate employability has significant implication for graduates’ career management and strategising in developing resources for enhancing their transitions to and progression within the labour market. It also has implications for career educators in developing practical employability strategies that can be used within institutional settings. Social implications The paper raises salient implications for the effective and equitable management of graduate outcomes post-graduation which has clear relevance for all stakeholders in graduate employability, including students/graduates, career educators and employers. Originality/value The paper develops a new model for conceptualising graduate employability and illustrates and applies this to discussion of graduate employability. It also raises practical applications around the different components of the model.

Despite the increasing popularity of doctoral education, many students do not complete their studies, and very little information is available about them. Understanding why some students consider that they do not want to, or cannot, continue with their studies is essential to reduce dropout rates and to improve the overall quality of doctoral programmes. This study focuses on the motives students give for considering dropping out of their doctoral degree. Participants were 724 social sciences doctoral students from 56 Spanish universities, who responded to a questionnaire containing doctoral degree conditions questions and an open-ended question on motives for dropping out. Results showed that a third of the sample, mainly the youngest, female and part time students, stated that they had intended to drop out. The most frequent motives for considering dropping out were difficulties in achieving a balance between work, personal life and doctoral studies and problems with socialization. Overall, results offer a complex picture that has implications for the design of doctoral programmes, such as the conditions and demands of part-time doctoral studies or the implementation of educational proposals that facilitate students' academic and personal integration into the scientific community in order to prevent the development of a culture of institutional neglect.