There is increasingly scholarship on gender and migration, yet the international migration of highly skilled women is still somewhat under-researched. This article focuses on this neglected area in the context of Australia's discretionary inward migration policies to solve skills shortages. The article draws on empirical research using a…

The credential landscape of vocational and higher education in the UK has expanded in recent years, alongside a rise in the number of students undertaking qualifications and a steady increase in tuition fees. The transition from an apprenticeship to higher education is one example of the progression from vocational to higher education. However,…

This article is the first study investigating New Zealand's early legislation in apprenticeship from the perspective of historical institutionalism. It shows that, between 1865 and the 1940s, New Zealand's apprenticeship system was less liberal in character than it is today, because a collective skill formation regime, involving dual…

This study was conducted to investigate which pitfalls users of personal development plans (PDPs) perceive in business and governmental organisations with mandatory PDP use. Hundred and thirty-one written statements of PDP users across three Dutch organisations were analysed and categorised into nine pitfalls. Next to an overall lack of use and…

The British further education (FE) sector has experienced almost continual restructuring as it adapts to simultaneously meet the evolving needs of industry and to tackle social injustice. Studies examining the work of FE lecturers suggest that they have become alienated and stressed by loss of autonomy and work intensification. This paper…

This article investigates whether the characteristics of feedback identified by the literature can be found within written assessment records for work and competence-based qualifications. It uses a brief literature review and analysis of the formative feedback within 257 learner portfolios. The characteristics identified by the literature are…

There is an assumption that e-learning is considered as a valued resource with great potential. This research explores how hairdressing apprentices experience vocational e-learning and makes recommendations on how good practice can be shared. An estimated 35,000 hairdressing and barber salons account for a quarter of a million UK workers and…

What is meant by "knowledge" in vocational education qualifications and who decides? These are significant questions in a context where "skill" is the prevailing discourse. This paper reports on a research project, undertaken in 2010-2011, which investigated the role of national stakeholders in defining knowledge in vocational…

During a number of years Swedish municipalities have work with improvement of competence and long-term quality in elderly care. The overall aim of the present study was to compare different learning activities (workplace improvement and/or courses), and to relate these activities to learning climate, learning strategies, and perception of care…

Curriculum mapping is an increasingly common concept within the field of education. A joint project between La Trobe University and the Public Health Agency of Canada attempted to map public health competencies with learning objectives from online learning modules developed by the two organisations. As part of this project a literature review was…

Public policy discourses claim that there is a "crisis" in the literacy and numeracy levels of the Australian workforce. In this paper, we propose a methodology for examining this "crisis" from a critical perspective. We draw on findings from an ongoing research project by the authors which investigates production workers'…

Vocational Education and Training (VET) Institutions face serious challenges, like the implementation of competence-based education and upcoming teacher shortages, which urge them to implement Human Resources Management policy and practices (HRM). The implementation of HRM, however, often stagnates. This paper describes a qualitative study--in…

Little has been published in the Australian vocational education and training (VET) literature on the topic of pre-apprenticeships, which are a loose type of preparatory courses for apprenticeships available in some trades. Nevertheless, pre-apprenticeships have been in existence for several decades. With continuing concern over skill shortages in…

Apprenticeship in developed and industrialised nations is increasingly understood and practised as learning which connects workplace activity and formal study. The concept of "expansive apprenticeship" defines frameworks for workforce development where participants acquire knowledge and skills which will help them in the future as well…

The British government continued intervention to support apprenticeship training across the economy has been notable in recent years. The construction industry is the only sector to retain a levy/grant scheme (that supports training including apprenticeships) since 1964, yet it still faces the problem of skills shortages. This article thus reviews…