Vocational Training in European Regions
Brief description
The development of vocational education and training is closely linked to the development of skilled workers and the fight against youth unemployment. In this context, dual and cooperative approaches to vocational education and training are considered particularly successful in international comparison. At the same time, the immediate effects and longer-term consequences of the coronavirus pandemic show the limits of this approach, as the number of training places on offer in Germany has fallen rapidly in a short space of time. Measures to make dual approaches more flexible are also being discussed in order to encourage more companies to offer training places and more young people and young adults to take up training. Against this background, the university dialog between the Universities of Bergamo (Lombardy) and Osnabrück University (Lower Saxony) will be used to examine and compare the issue of cooperation between companies, vocational schools and inter-company vocational training centers for the provision of vocational training in the respective regions. The political control of this cooperation (macro level), the organizations involved in the cooperation itself (meso level) and the interaction between teachers and trainees (micro level) will be addressed.
An interregional comparison is appropriate because educational issues in Germany are largely negotiated at state level. Italian vocational education and training is also known as a "system of regions". The selection of regions is based on the relatively high proportion of young people in dual training structures as well as a comparable size and economic performance.
The aim of the program at the Universities of Bergamo and Osnabrück University is to initiate a broad dialogue on the different vocational training systems. For this reason, not only professors and research assistants are to be involved in the dialog, but also students who aspire to teach in vocational education or are interested in pursuing a Doctorate in Vocational and Business Education. To this end, in addition to two digital workshops, face-to-face events are also planned at both universities in the form of seminars held by staff from the other university for the students there. All events will be held in English to maximize the number of participants.
In the second year of the project, research papers on the comparison at regional level will be published. This will initially involve students writing their theses as part of the project. In addition to the research work by the project partners involved, which will be produced as part of the dialog, a study on Italy will also be produced in the medium term with the participating academics in the series of the International Handbook of Vocational Education and Training (IHBB; Barbara Budrich Verlag).
Further project information
Funding body
German Academic Exchange Service
Project duration
01.01.2022-31.12.2023
Cooperation partners
Prof. Dr. Francesco Magni, University of Bergamo
Paolo Bertuletti, University of Bergamo
Literature
Bertuletti, Paolo; Schmees, Johannes Karl; Baumann, Fabienne-Agnes; Frommberger, Dietmar; Magni, Francesco (2025) (ed.): Vocational Education in European Regions. Lower Saxony and Lombardy in Comparison. Bielefeld. DOI: 10.3278/9783763976676