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8 août 2011

Vocational education and training is good for you

http://www.cedefop.europa.eu/EN/Images-ContentManagement/cover_5517_en.jpgVocational education and training is good for you - The social benefits of VET for individuals. This report investigates the social benefits of initial and continuing vocational education and training (VET) for individuals in Europe. Drawing on data from the European Community household panel, results show that initial VET is associated with positive changes in social outcomes for individuals. These social outcomes are mediated by the institutional setting in which VET takes place. Health benefits were mainly found in egalitarian contexts such as in Finland and Sweden, whereas benefits in terms of civic participation were mainly found in systems that reward participation in civil society, such as in Germany and Denmark. The benefits of continuing VET were found in systems known for their political efforts to improve training and working conditions in the workplace, such as in Scandinavian countries. Overall, the social benefits of VET for individuals materialise in all countries but their nature will change according to the institutional factors supporting the formation of certain types of benefit. Dowload the report Vocational education and training is good for you.
Aims

This project had three aims:
(a) to review different theoretical approaches explaining why a learning experience can benefit individuals, their families and their communities and to apply these theoretical principles to the particular case of vocational education and training (VET);
(b) to locate initial VET (IVET) and continuing VET (CVET) within national contexts of education provision and their relationships with the economy; in so doing, to determine whether these national contexts exhibit characteristics which are desirable for social benefits to be realised;
(c) to test empirically the social benefits of IVET and CVET in Europe, using data from the European community household panel (ECHP).
Conclusions and recommendations

Looking across our results, we can conclude that there are important complementarities between the institutional arrangements of IVET ― and to some extent CVET ― and social benefits achieved by individuals. Strong welfare states complement the realisation of health benefits of IVET. Systems that reward civic participation see more voluntarism in organisations linked to IVET. In policy terms, the returns on investment in IVET are affected by the mix of other institutions present in the countries. Without such institutions there is a need for policy coherence across sectors to raise the effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability of the efforts made in IVET to promote social outcomes for individuals. VET itself cannot generate social outcomes without challenging economic and social inequalities at macro level, and stigma and disadvantage attached to the value of IVET and CVET, which individuals perceive at micro level. Tackling these issues may ensure net positive impact of VET for individuals.
Future research is needed to deepen our understanding of how VET is embedded in the system of social and structural inequalities and how this can limit the generation of social benefits. VET itself can deepen educational inequalities if its value is not recognised both socially and monetarily and if there are strong selection effects (VET education mainly catering for the educational needs of pupils from disadvantaged social backgrounds, as a route to earn a livelihood). Previous research mainly focused on the impact of income inequality on economic growth, crime, civic unrest, health, and well-being: few studies focused on inequalities in education. Our results on the possible links between meso-level institutions and micro-level processes by which IVET relates to social outcomes is just the beginning of this research.
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