Why returning to VET? Results of a qualitative comparative study about English and German car mechatronics

Erika Edith Gericke

International Journal for Research in Vocational Education and Training (IJRVET), 2017, vol. 4, issue 3, 206-225

Abstract: Educational choices, especially the influence of class on these choices have been a subject of lively international debate. However, thus far, there has been little international and comparative research with respect to vocational and education training (VET) decision making from a subject-oriented perspective. This paper considers occupational-biographical orientations of English and German car mechatronics and focuses on the roles of learning and gaining vocational qualifications. Drawing on the concept of occupational-biographical orientations, the paper describes three types of orientations based on analyses of findings from 11 autobiographical-narrative interviews with English and German car mechatronics. The interviews clearly showed that occupational-biographical orientations explained different views on the necessity of returning to (continuous) vocational education and training. They also demonstrated that subjective perceptions of the national VET system fostered particular occupational-biographical challenges, which supported or hindered existing learning attitudes. Overall, the findings suggested that occupational-biographical orientations exerted the most important influence on learning biographies and decisions to return to (continuous) VET.

Keywords: VET; Vocational Education and Training; Comparative Qualitative Research; Lifelong Learning; Return on Education and Training; England; Germany (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:ijrvet:172019

DOI: 10.13152/IJRVET.4.3.2

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International Journal for Research in Vocational Education and Training (IJRVET) is currently edited by Karen Evans, Michael Gessler, Johanna Lasonen, Margaret Malloch, and Martin Mulder

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