The changing labour market for graduates from medium-level vocational education and training

Abstract

Working Papers describe preliminary results or research in progress by the author(s) and are published to stimulate discussion on a broad range of issues on which the OECD works. Comments on Working Papers are welcomed, and may be sent to els.contact@oecd.org. This series is designed to make available to a wider readership selected labour market, social policy and migration studies prepared for use within the OECD. Authorship is usually collective, but principal writers are named. The papers are generally available only in their original language-English or French-with a summary in the other. This document and any map included herein are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area. Note by Turkey: The information in this document with reference to "Cyprus" relates to the southern part of the Island. There is no single authority representing both Turkish and Greek Cypriot people on the Island. Turkey recognises the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). Until a lasting and equitable solution is found within the context of the United Nations, Turkey shall preserve its position concerning the "Cyprus issue". Note by all the European Union Member States of the OECD and the European Union: The Republic of Cyprus is recognised by all members of the United Nations with the exception of Turkey. The information in this document relates to the area under the effective control of the Government of the Republic of Cyprus. The statistical data for Israel are supplied by and under the responsibility of the relevant Israeli authorities. The use of such data by the OECD is without prejudice to the status of the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem and Israeli settlements in the West Bank under the terms of international law.

Unleashing the productive potential of digitalisation in Lithuania

“…The universities also stand to benefit through "valorisation" activities, including the commercialisation of research outcomes. However, academics consider a lack of private and public funding for collaborative research, including from universities themselves, and the focus on producing practical results by businesses as barriers to collaboration, according to opinion surveys (University-Business Cooperation in Europe, 2018 [27]). The workload and bureaucracy related to collaborative research explains in part a comparatively low absorption capacity among SMEs.…”

Fostering a strong labour market to support the recovery and sustain growth in Switzerland

“…Going forward, technological change and increased digitalisation is a major challenge for vocational and educational training (VET) systems as it alters patterns of demand for both technical skills and key competencies. Technological progress puts a number of jobs at risk of disappearing due to automation (Vandeweyer and Verhagen, 2020), while creating new job opportunities. With workers likely to change tasks and occupation more frequently over a longer work-life span, a strong grounding of cognitive skills becomes more important.…”

“…To some extent, the Swiss VET system is well-positioned to address this challenge as a number of extensions of the curriculum and flexible education pathways offer opportunities to vocational students to gain higher qualifications including through tertiary education. As a result, about one third of young VET graduates work in high-skill occupations, a share significantly above the European average of 18% (Vandeweyer et al, 2020). However, a majority of apprentices do not choose the path to tertiary education and overly narrow specialisation of VET students could become a concern.…”

“…However, a majority of apprentices do not choose the path to tertiary education and overly narrow specialisation of VET students could become a concern. While an obvious solution would be to reinforce the academic component in VET upper-secondary curricula, it may have some detrimental effects on the motivation of students (Vandeweyer et al, 2020, OECD, 2017a. It is therefore crucial that VET graduates have continued opportunities to up-skill and re-skill after entering the labour market.…”

Digitalising the economy in Slovenia

“…A review on entrepreneurship and innovation in higher education in Slovenia found that half of HEIs have put in place recruitment policies to attract international staff, while nearly all have internationalisation as a priority in their written strategies (Figure 36) (OECD/EU, 2021 [30]). A good example of the implementation of the internationalisation strategy is the University of Ljubljana, which has several bachelor and master degree programmes in English (University of Ljubljana, 2022) (University of Ljubljana, 2022 [80]). In addition, the doctoral school has 21 doctoral degree programmes in different fields open to Slovenians and external applicants (EU and non-EU members).…”