Exchange Visits of Foreign Apprentices and Skilled Workers in the Aerospace Industry - an Evaluation of Strengths, Weaknesses and Challenges

Author(s):

Christiane Koeth(presenting / submitting)Marlène Lecamus(presenting)

Conference:

ECER 2011

Network:

2. Vocational Education and Training (VETNET)

Format:

Paper

Session Information

02 SES 12 B, Crossing Borders? Exchange Visits of Foreign Apprentices and Protection of White Privilege

Paper Session

Time:

2011-09-16

08:30-10:00

Room:

K 23/27,1 FL., 33

Chair:

Pekka Ilmari Kamarainen

Contribution

Arbeit und Leben Hamburg is part of the Aviation Cluster “Hamburg – the Place for Aviation” and has a long experience in the organisation of internships and exchange visits in the aerospace sector. Although the partnership between Arbeit und Leben, the aviation industry, vocational schools and sending organisations is established and works well, difficulties in the acquisition of internship places for incoming interns sometimes occur.

The reasons for those placements problems are manifold: the VET systems of Germany and the sending countries are different, not all interns speak English and German well enough, the demand for internship places sometimes exceeds the resources of companies to support interns, companies have a demand for interns in professions that the sending organisation can not offer or all organisations have trouble to include the internships in their training curricula, just to name a view.

To improve the placement of foreign interns and tackle all other occurring difficulties, a formative evaluation (e. g. Deitmer 2004, Diekmann 2010, Hellwig et. Al. 2004) is conducted. Goal of the evaluation is the identification of chances, risks and obstacles in the placement of foreign interns.

Key questions are:

- What are the expectations of employers towards the interns?

- What are the expectations of interns towards the employers?

- What are the expectations of schools, sending and receiving organisations?

- How did all stakeholders involved in the Process deal with occurring problems so far?

- How do all stakeholders benefit from the mobilitys?

- How can the experience gained in prior mobilitys be used to enlarge the mobility network?

The evaluation process consists of short interviews with in-company trainers, former interns, teachers and members of sending and receiving organisations. The analysis of the internship reports written by interns after the return to their home countries is also used as a data source. Group discussions with all stakeholders are part of the process.

During the mobility process, several important aspects of European VET systems and the mobility of skilled workers and technicians are part of all operational steps in intern placement and support.

For example, the description of learning outcomes according to ECVET is an emerging topic, because the inclusion of ECVET in VET curricula differs in the countries involved in the mobility programs.

The evaluation also sheds light on the sector-specific conditions of mobility activities. While the overall impact of e. g. the Leonardo da Vinci Mobility program was evaluated by Hellwig et. al. 2004 and WSF 2007 on a macro level, the meso - and micro level practically remained a “white spot”. The scope of the Evaluation process conducted by Arbeit und Leben is also different: instead of evaluating a whole mobility program, the mobility process, its relevant factors and the interaction between stakeholders is evaluated in this case.

Method

In order to gain a broad spectrum of information, a triangulation of methods is used. Research methods selected include interviews with interview guideline, questionnaires and group discussions. To gain an in-depths view on the complex topic, a qualitative research approach is used. The advantage of qualitative research methodology compared with quantitative research is the openness to unexpected answers. Thus, the evaluation process remains open to characteristics unknown when developing questions for interviews and group discussions. The open research process also leads to a better adaption of interview and group discussion questions to the evaluation goals in the next evaluation cycle. By conducting interviews and group discussions with all stakeholders involved, a triangulation of perspectives is achieved (e. g. Flick 2005). To secure that the collected information is correct, a communicative validation is the next step in the research process. All collected data is analysed by qualitative content analysis (Flick 2005, similar use of this method in: Köth 2011).

Expected Outcomes

Without the group discussions and interviews conducted so far, the mobility programs in the aviation sector would not exist. With the group discussions and the solutions developed, it was possible to develop curricula for internships and to learn about the VET Systems of the counties involved. The outcome of prior evaluation cycles also led to the improvement of the intercultural preparation and incoming seminars organised by “Arbeit und Leben”. However, several problems remain unresolved and will be tackled within the next evaluation cycle. An expected outcome of the next evaluation cycle is a profile of occupations which are suitable for internships in all participating Aviation companies in Hamburg. Those profiles will be target group specific. Target groups for internships are currently apprentices, technicians, skilled workers and unemployed persons. An additional goal is the development of internship profiles for foreign bachelor and master graduates. Bachelor and Master graduates are a target group for future internships. Other outcomes could be new ways of dealing with knowledge deficits in foreign languages (in this case: English and German). Due to the openness of the evaluation process, unexpected outcomes are also possible.

References

Deitmer (2004) Deitmer, Ludger: Management regionaler Innovationsnetzwerke. Evaluation als Ansatz zur Effizienzsteigerung regionaler Innovationsprozesse. Nomos, Baden-Baden. Flick (2005) Flick, Uwe: Qualitative Sozialforschung. Eine Einführung. Rowohlt. Reinbeck bei Hamburg. Köth (2011) Köth, Christiane: Nachhaltiges Handeln in der Kreislauf- und Abfallwirtschaft. Dissertationsschrift. (Will be published in 2011) Hellwig/Lauterbach/Hesse/Fabriz (2004): Hellwig, Wolfgang; Lauterbach, Uwe; Hesse, Hermann-Günter; Fabriz, Sabine: Evaluation of EU and international programmes and initiatives promoting mobility: selected case studies. In: Descy, P.; Tessaring, M.: Evaluation of systems and programmes. Third report on vocational training research in Europe: background report. Luxembourg. Rauner, F.; Heinemann. L., Piening, D. Costs, Benefits and Quality of Apprenticeships – a Regional Case Study; Conference proceedings of the second international INAP conference (INAP Innovative Apprenticeship Research network), Vienna 2008, pp 170 – 175 WSF (2007) WSF Wirtschafts- und Sozialforschung: Analysis of the Effects of LEONARDO DA VINCI Mobility Measures on Young Trainees, Employees and the Influence of Socio-economic Factors. Kerpen.

Author Information

Christiane Koeth (presenting / submitting)

Arbeit und Leben Hamburg

Transnationale Mobilität

Hamburg

Marlène Lecamus (presenting)

Arbeit und Leben Hamburg, Germany

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