Limits to mobility: competence and qualifications in Europe

Abstract

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -This paper aims to explore structural and systemic influences in the development of competence models and qualifications systems at sectoral and national levels across Europe, considering the influences of different socio-economic models of skill formation on the processes of design and provision of qualifications. Design/methodology/approach -The paper is based on a meta analysis of three European projects that used literature review, documentary analysis and interviews with practitioners and policy makers. Findings -The main methodological and practical challenges posed by varieties of competence and qualifications to inter-country comparability of qualifications are shown to be related to different socio-economic models of skill formation.Research limitations/implications -The research is limited to 13 countries and four sectors but these were carefully selected to maximise coverage of European diversity with respect to competence models, training regimes and approaches to qualifications. There is clearly a need for further research involving more countries and sectors. Practical implications -The paper offers recommendations for improving the potential of the European Qualifications Framework to promote comparability of qualifications and hence mobility of labour. These recommendations will be of interest to policy makers and practitioners involved in using the EQF and similar instruments. Originality/value -This is the first systematic attempt to explore the methodological and practical difficulties of establishing comparability between qualifications.

“Competence” and occupational standards: observations from six European countries

“…A substantial literature has built up around understandings and uses of "competence", both in the context of individual countrieswithin Europe particularly in France, the UK, and Germanyand comparatively; a summary up to 2004 is provided by Le Deist and Winterton (2005), and subsequent comparative European discussions include Mulder et al (2007), Weigel et al (2007), Winterton (2009), Brockmann et al (2009Brockmann et al ( , 2011 and Le Deist and Tutlys (2012). This literature points to significant differences in national traditions, as well as the need to distinguish between on one hand the conceptualisation of competence and on the other the way that it is applied in different VET and professional applications, both within and between countries.…”

“…This literature points to significant differences in national traditions, as well as the need to distinguish between on one hand the conceptualisation of competence and on the other the way that it is applied in different VET and professional applications, both within and between countries. Several authors have also commented that usage in European VET instruments, particularly the European Qualifications Framework (EQF), fails to offer clarity (Winterton 2009, Le Deist and Tutlys 2012, and Lester 2015a.…”

Identification Of The Demand Of Welders In The Labour Market Of Lithuania

“…For example, in Germany and other countries of "collective skill formation" model qualifications are used as references for remuneration levels defined by collective agreements between social partners and governments (Cedefop, 2010;Busemeyer & Trampusch, 2012). In the countries of liberal market economy (the UK, Ireland) the reform of qualifications and their systems is oriented to the increase of flexibility of the contents of qualifications and pathways of their acquisition (e.g., by fostering modularisation of qualifications and training curricula) (Le Deist & Tūtlys, 2012). These reforms target to reduce the state regulation of the labour market access and to increase the role of individual choice in this field by sustaining certain regulatory function of qualifications, e. g. in the quality assurance of training provision.…”

Review Essay: Europeanisation of Curricula in Europe: Policy and Practice, Curriculum Reform in Europe: The Impact of Learning Outcomes

“…It develops a model for understanding whether there are few or many stages in the process of curriculum development (undifferentiated, semi-differentiated and differentiated) and how these typologies correlate with the representation of stakeholders in the process. This chapter could have been underpinned by the typologies developed within the literature on skills formation systems which divide the systems in Europe into different socio-economic models of skill formation (Deist & Tütlys, 2012). An analysis of the differences in stakeholders' involvement and curriculum design on the basis of the typologies developed by, for example, Deist and Tütlys (neo-corporatist model based on state regulation, neo-corporatist model based on social partners' involvement, liberal market economy model and transitional model) might explain the differences among the countries in stakeholders' involvement (chapter 6) and lead to an understanding of differences in the granularity of the curriculum -that is, in the degree of detail in outcome specifications (see below).…”