Session Information
02 SES 11 A, Higher and Adult Education II: Transitions
Paper Session
Contribution
Vocational education and training (VET) helps young people to quickly and effectively enter the labour market if knowledge and skills acquired are in line with the demands of the companies and industries. In VET, students follow a job-specific, specialised training, alongside their general education, and specialise earlier than students in academic education. This early specialisation raises the student's employability, but it can also lead to reduced adaptability to changing occupational environments later (Hampf & Woessmann, 2016). Further education after initial VET is therefore essential, as this helps an individual not only to advance his or her career but also to sustain and develop the knowledge and skills needed for innovation and sustainability in a changing and competitive labour market.
Engagement in further education during a person’s early professional career depends on a multitude of factors. The literature on workplace learning sees structures, norms, values and practices in the workplace as key factors to motivate and engage employees in learning activities (Billett, 2014). As most learning at the workplace is informal and incidental, individual and social factors also become important, as there is a constant need to identify learning-situations and to make use of them (Nägele & Stalder, 2019). Learning at work is often very similar to a problem-solving process as the learner needs to frame the context, react to situational triggers, produce alternative solutions, assess intended and unintended consequences, and he or she needs to evaluate what has been done and learnt in accordance with the co-workers (Watkins & Marsick, 1992).
In this paper, results from an empirical study are presented in which we looked at the pathways to higher education in a sample of young adults after having finished initial education and training (Nägele, Neuenschwander, & Rodcharoen, 2018).
An individual’s desire to move towards higher education develops on the one hand out of learning activities at work. On the other hand, social status factors can trigger an individual’s engagement towards higher education. Learning opportunities, social support and sociodemographic factors are often discussed in the literature as primary drivers of becoming engaged in higher education. Furthermore, an individual will only invest in further education if it attributes some value to further education (Nägele et al., 2018).
Work offers incidental, informal, non-formal, or formal learning opportunities as interacting modes of learning (La Belle, 1982). An individual’s perception of learning opportunities at work is a prerequisite to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed and to develop future perspectives concerning their competence development and educational plans (Janssens, Smet, Onghena, & Kyndt, 2017; Kraiger, Ford, & Salas, 1993).
Method
The study was run in Switzerland where tertiary education features a two-tier structure with higher vocational education (also called professional education) and higher academic education (university-based education). On the upper secondary level, most young people follow the vocational track (78% in 2016 according to figures of the Federal Statistical Office). After having finished initial VET, graduates can mainly follow three pathways: 1) They can work, 2) they can attend higher vocational education, or 3) they can attend higher academic education on the condition of having a baccalaureate degree (Stalder & Nägele, 2011). Higher vocational and higher academic education are both seen as equal in value on the same ISCED level. Data stem from a multi-cohort longitudinal questionnaire-based survey study with three waves on educational decisions and educational pathways (BEN), running from 2012 to 2016 in the German part of Switzerland (Neuenschwander & Düggeli, 2013). Individuals were selected for the analyses in this paper only if they had not acquired diplomas in higher vocational or higher academic education before 2014. The final sample consisted of 601 individuals. Multinomial regression models were run, using SPSS 25 (IBM Corp., 2017).
Expected Outcomes
The results revealed two distinct sets of predictor variables for higher vocational education and higher academic education. High opportunities to learn at the workplace and low social support predicted engagement in higher vocational education, whereas social origin and nationality predicted engagement in higher academic education. Gender had no effect at all. The value attributed to further higher education was predictive for both higher vocational education and higher academic education. This study shows not only two distinct patterns for the engagement in higher vocational or higher academic education, but it also adds further evidence that work-place factors play a crucial role in the development of knowledge, skills and attitudes and the engagement in further education (Nägele et al., 2018). The results will be presented and discussed.
References
Billett, S. (2014). Learning in the circumstances of practice. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 33(5), 674–693 Hampf, F., & Woessmann, L. (2016). Vocational vs. general education and employment over the life-cycle: New evidence from PIAAC. München: Center for Economic Studies. Janssens, L., Smet, K., Onghena, P., & Kyndt, E. (2017). The relationship between learning conditions in the workplace and informal learning outcomes: A study among police inspectors. International Journal of Training and Development, 21(2), 92–112. Kraiger, K., Ford, J. K., & Salas, E. (1993). Application of cognitive, skill-based, and affective theories of learning outcomes to new methods of training evaluation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78(2), 311–328. Nägele, C., Neuenschwander, M. P., & Rodcharoen, P. (2018). Higher education in Switzerland: Predictors of becoming engaged in higher vocational or academic education – the role of workplace factors. International Journal for Research in Vocational Education and Training, 5(4), 264–284. Nägele, C., & Stalder, B. E. (2019). Motivation and engagement of learners in organizations. In S. McGrath, M. Mulder, J. Papier, & R. Suart (Eds.), Handbook of vocational education and training: Developments in the changing world of work. Springer. Neuenschwander, M. P., & Düggeli, A. (2013). BEN II - Forschungsplan. Berufliche Entscheidungen und Entwicklungsverläufe im Jugendalter und jungen Erwachsenenalter. Solothurn, CH: PH FHNW. Stalder, B. E., & Nägele, C. (2011). Vocational education and training in Switzerland: Organisation, development and challenges for the future. In M. M. Bergman, S. Hupka-Brunner, A. Keller, T. Meyer, & B. E. Stalder (Eds.), Transitionen im Jugendalter: Ergebnisse der Schweizer Längsschnittstudie TREE (pp. 18–38). Zürich, CH: Seismo Verlag. Watkins, K. E., & Marsick, V. J. (1992). Towards a theory of informal and incidental learning in organizations. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 11(4), 287–300.
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