European processes such as the Bologna and the Copenhagen processes emphasize the importance of lifelong learning. Only those education systems which are permeable are the ones that actually make lifelong learning possible. Permeability thus means that there should not be any educational impasse. Permeability, consequently, should include flexible and fully working transitional pathways within the education system.

The concept of permeability which is used in the study encompasses several aspects: Are access and transitions possible between organisations and organisational fields? Are previously learned competencies recognised and credited. Exist organisations or educational programs which combine characteristics of VET and HE? Are the graduates of one education sector recognised as legitimate participant of the other education sector and are they supported? Answers to these questions reveal hierarchies in the education system and appreciation of different forms of learning and learning environments. Moreover, the question of permeability is important since stratified education systems without links between education sectors most likely impede equal access to educational and employment opportunities. The analysis of institutional permeability structures thus offers important insights in regard to conditions and sources of social inequality.

In an era of internationalisation and Europeanisation, in which exogenous pressure is exerted on the education systems of nation-states, the European demands concerning permeability pose non-negligible challenges to education systems like the German one where due to a traditional division of general education and vocational education and training (VET) permeability throughout the skill formation system is limited (Baethge 2006, Powell and Solga 2011).

Against this background it is asked to what extent has institutional permeability between VET and higher education (HE) changed in Germany since the 1990s? What influences have the intergovernmental Bologna and Copenhagen processes had on institutional developments in Germany?

To analyse changes of the institutional structures the paper primarily builds on sociological neo-institutionalism augmented by a discourse analytical approach based in the sociology of knowledge (Keller 2008) in order to reveal the contentiousness and the power struggles involved in processes of change. Knowledge is the key bridging concept between discourse analysis and neo-institutionalism and amenable to the cultural analysis of education and society; the argument is social constructivist and emphasizes the ideas driving institutional change.

Following the assumptions of sociological neo-institutionalism that rules, standards and ideas are diffusing worldwide (e.g. Boli and Thomas 1994; Dobbin 1997), it is also assumed that the ideas and norms formulated in the Europeanization processes Bologna and Copenhagen diffuse into the nation-states via mechanism like social construction (such as the framing of problems and solutions), learning, and competition (Dobbin, Simmons, and Garrett 2007). In the countries themselves, the European processes can then be interpreted in discourses as confirmation of existing symbolic orders, or be made the occasion for requests for a new interpretation or a change of existing structures, thereby enabling and promoting institutional change. Using Scott’s (2008) encompassing definition of institutions the change of institutional permeability structures is analysed by focussing not only on the regulative but also on the cultural-cognitive and normative dimension. Thus, the focus is on policies and regulations, but also on norms and in particular on  ideas. The latter are analysed in connection with the Sociology of Knowledge Approach to Discourse (Keller 2008) in the construction of meaning of permeability at the level of discursive practices of social actors. Since educational organisations are characterised by extremely stable institutions which often impede substantial reforms of the education system (Meyer/Rowan 2006), the historically grown structures have also to be taken into account when analysing the impact of exogenous pressure und reform processes in general. 

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