Helping students develop the employability skills and professional capabilities they will need to transition into graduate roles is one of the most important mandates for university study. With this context in mind, this paper analyses the nature and implications of Australian university students' participation in paid work during study. The…

This article argues that the current social settlement underpinning vocational education and training (VET) in Australia is fractured. The current settlement is low trust and consists of qualifications based on competency-based training models of curriculum and competitive markets. The result is narrow qualifications that do not prepare people for…

Workforce development partnerships between higher education institutions and employers involve distinctive social and technical dynamics that differ from dominant higher education practices in the UK. The New Labour government encouraged such partnerships in England, including through the use of funding that aimed to stimulate reform to…

In order to promote effective pedagogical practices for students' work-based learning, we need to understand better how students' learning at work can be supported. This paper examines the factors explaining students' workplace learning (WPL) outcomes, addressing three aspects: (1) student-related individual factors, (2) social and…

Despite the development of employability skills being firmly entrenched in higher education's strategic agenda worldwide; recent graduates' standards in certain skills are not meeting industry expectations. This paper presents and tests a model of undergraduate competence in employability skills. It highlights those factors which impact…

This paper examines recent changes in the Scottish apprenticeship system of skill formation for joiners through an occupational skill ecosystem lens. Building trade apprenticeships in Scotland are based around a social partnership model more akin to "dual systems" than typical arrangements elsewhere in the UK. Drawing on in-depth…

Skill development has been a major policy agenda of the Indian government in the past few years. This paper sheds light on the current scenario and labour market outcomes of vocationally trained population. The paper is based on data from two recent rounds of nationally representative employment and unemployment survey. The paper shows that 2.4%…

The paper is based on a study of apprentices in retail and motor vehicle maintenance in England and Germany, exploring their perceptions of themselves as learners over time and in particular learning environments. The study combines biographical interviews with participant observation in colleges and workplaces. The paper examines the concept of…

This paper reports on recent research into enterprise skill profiles and workplace training practices in the Bangladesh manufacturing industry. The article presents survey and interview data for 37 enterprises across eight manufacturing sectors collected during a study for the International Labour Organisation. The research analysed enterprise and…

Korea's developmental skill formation system was shaped in the 1970s by the Korean developmental state that proactively sought rapid Heavy and Chemical Industrialisation as the nation's overarching goal. Vocational education at the upper secondary level and post-school in-company training in particular were strategically nurtured and…

Career management skills (CMS) are increasingly touted as necessary for all citizens, young and adult, particularly given the realities of employment and self-employment in a knowledge-based society, where "protean", "portfolio" careers are expected to increasingly become the norm, and lifelong career guidance an entitlement of all citizens. This…

This article focuses on a range of macro-level issues that frame debates about industry/education interaction in the UK. It explores a number of features that underpin the structure of the debate, including the declining "Britishness" of much of British business and the emergence of business as a for-profit provider of learning. It then reviews…

Successive governments, agencies and employer organisations have stressed the need for school leavers to be better prepared for working life, in particular, to achieve what are frequently termed employability skills; schools are expected to contribute to this policy agenda. Some academic commentators, however, criticise the concept of…

Recent research has established that small firms tend to develop and acquire the skills they need in different ways to those employed by larger organisations. More specifically, due to certain characteristics inherent to their small size, small firms generally display greater informality in their learning processes. As such, it is now broadly…

The one-year research project on the implementation of NQFs in developing countries was launched by the ILO 2009 in collaboration with the ETF. This article reviews some of the educational issues that arose from the project. The findings of the case studies raise issues that are important for how future research and policy on NQFs is taken…