european journal train i ng - cedefop.europa.eu

V O C A T I O N A L

T R A I N I N GE u r o p e a n J o u r n a l

No 18September - December1999/IIIISSN 0378-5068

Learningin enterprisesPage 3/14

Pointsfrom EuropePage 21/28/35

Case studyPage 45

CEDEFOP

VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO 18 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

Editor: Steve Bainbridge

Editorial committee:

Chairman:Jean François Germe Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (CNAM),

France

Matéo Alaluf Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), BelgiumTina Bertzeletou CEDEFOPHilary Steedman National Institute of Economic and Social Research,

London, Great BritainGunnar Eliasson The Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), SwedenAlain d’Iribarne Laboratoire d’Economie et de Sociologie du Travail

(LEST-CNRS), FranceArndt Sorge Humboldt-Universität Berlin, GermanyReinhard Zedler Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft Köln, GermanyJordi Planas Universidad Autónoma de BarcelonaManfred Tessaring CEDEFOPSergio Bruno Università di Roma, Italy

CEDEFOPEuropean Centre

for the Developmentof Vocational Training

Europe 123GR-57001 THESSALONIKI

(Pylea)

Postal address:PO Box 22427

GR-55102 THESSALONIKI

Tel. (30-31) 490 111Fax (30-31) 490 020

E-mail: [email protected]:

www.cedefop.grInteractive website:

www.trainingvillage.gr

Interested in writing an article ... see page 76

Published under the responsibility of:Johan van Rens, DirectorStavros Stavrou, Deputy Director

Technical production, coordination:Bernd Möhlmann

Responsible for translation: David Crabbe

Layout: Werbeagentur Zühlke Scholz &Partner GmbH, Berlin

Cover: Rudolf J. Schmitt, Berlin

Technical production on DTP:Axel Hunstock, Berlin

The contributions were received onor before 01.11.1999

Reproduction is authorized, except forcommercial purposes, provided that thesource is indicated

Catalogue number:HX-AA-99-003-EN-C

Printed in Italy, 2000

This publication appears three times ayear in Spanish, German, English andFrench

The opinions expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect theposition of CEDEFOP. The European Vocational Training Journal givesprotagonists the opportunity to present analyses and various, at times,contradictory points of view. The Journal wishes to contribute to criticaldebate on the future of vocational training at a European level.

CEDEFOP assists the EuropeanCommission in encouraging, atCommunity level, the promotionand development of vocationaleducation and training, throughexchanges of information and thecomparison of experience on is-sues of common interest to theMember States.

CEDEFOP is a link between re-search, policy and practice byhelping policy-makers and practi-tioners, at all levels in the Euro-pean Union, to have a clearer un-derstanding of developments invocational education and trainingand so help them draw conclu-sions for future action. It stimu-lates scientists and researchers toidentify trends and future ques-tions.

CEDEFOP’s Management Boardhas agreed a set of medium-termpriorities for the period 1997-2000. They outline three themesthat provide the focus ofCEDEFOP’s activities:

❏ promoting competences andlifelong learning;❏ monitoring developments invocational education and trainingin the Member States; and❏ serving European mobility andexchanges.


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Table of contents

Learning in enterprises

Training, skills, learning: how can new models be developed? ...................... 3Philippe MéhautThe role of enterprise in lifelong learning

The Thin Line. Teamwork - misnomer or innovationin work organisation ...............................................................................................8Holger Bargmann‘If we were to say today that we’ve only been able to exploit 50% of the teams’potential so far, and we are likely to benefit more, then this model has paid foritself in a very short time. In summary we can say that teamwork has had apositive impact in every possible way on the entire section and neighbouringdepartments.’

Points from Europe

EC and EU education and vocational training programmesfrom 1974 to 1999: an attempt at a critical and historical review ................ 17Burkart SellinIf we wish to discuss and assess the numerous EU programmes, past and present,we should call to mind the political and legal framework conditions and thechanges they have undergone in the course of time.

Vocational training in Europe: individualand institutional determinants ............................................................................ 28Steven McIntoshAn analysis of the characteristics of individuals receiving vocational training insix countries shows that a country’s training profile is determined to a certainextent by its education system.

Multilingual School Education as a Key Qualificationin the European Employment Area ..................................................................... 39Peter GrafThe EU principle of ‘free movement’ cannot be implemented by means of avehicular language but requires a thorough knowledge of the language of thecountry in which one wishes to work. This being so, the intention here is to showhow the demanding goals of learning associated with multilingualism can bewidely attained.


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Case Study

Training and links between technical schoolsand industrial assembly plants in northern Mexico ....................................... 47Alfredo Hualde AlfaroGeneral overview of a polarising sector of industry that trains only professionals

Reading

Reading selection .................................................................................................. 61


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Training, skills,learning:how can new modelsbe developed?

Philippe MéhautDirector of Research at theCNRS and Deputy Director ofthe Centre d’études et derecherches sur les qualifica-tions. He is the author of sev-eral works and articles on vo-cational training in Franceand Europe. Together with J.Delcourt, he directed workfor CEDEFOP on the role ofenterprise in the productionof qualifications.

Introduction

Our research, with J. Delcourt, into therole of enterprise in lifelong training(Delcourt, 1995) started from a clear-cutassumption: the ‘new forms of labour or-ganisation being developed in many Eu-ropean countries are likely significantlyto change the ways in which training is-sues are addressed’. We therefore felt thatwe needed to carefully consider what de-velopments and what micro-experi-ments were under way and to try to findout what they had in common.

We were nevertheless aware of the risksthat an approach of this kind entailed:examining cases considered to be ‘exem-plary’ by national observers provides littleinformation on the rate at which such in-novations are spreading or on their po-tential extent. A transverse summary ofnational cases should not lead to univer-salism (Kristensen, 1997). The develop-ment of new forms of labour organisationis linked to ‘societal’ characteristics (ac-cording to the formula of Maurice, Sellierand Silvestre, 1982) resulting from the re-lationships between the specific featuresof education and training systems (whichvary greatly from one country to the next),the ways in which labour is organised andsocial groups are structured and the rulesthat underpin labour markets.

It now seems appropriate to compare theconclusions that we reached in 1995,based on studies conducted during thepreceding two years, with current think-ing and developments in Europe.

The main trends in labour organisationthat J. Delcourt highlighted in his articleseem for the most part to have gainedground and to have become more con-solidated. Most observers now agree thatthere has been a major breakaway fromTaylorist and Fordist models. It shouldnevertheless be stressed that this consoli-dation has not excluded further develop-ment of Taylorism in some industries, andeven in some service activities.

These organisations are setting increas-ing and renewed store by employees’skills. At the time, we pointed out thatthe ‘commercial product’ had become thefocus of work in order to highlight twodimensions. The ‘product’ dimension re-quires better coordination to ensure thequality of this product and an ability onthe part of all those involved with thisproduct to understand how they fit intoand successfully play their part in theoverall process by which this product isproduced. The ‘commercial’ dimension tostress that this product has meaning onlywith respect to an identified market andcustomers. The result was that employ-ees’ work was being pervaded by mana-gerial dimensions, in terms of cost, logis-tics and quality (specified for this or thatinternal or external customer).

This was leading to changes in the rangeand nature of the skills required. Far fromdeclining, the demand for basic occupa-tional skills was growing. This could beseen in particular by the fact that firmswere stepping up their requirementswhen recruiting. Alongside this masteryof basic occupational skills, however,

Following the articles onthe role of enterprises inlifelong training publishedby E. Sauter and J. Delcourtin the Journal (No 16/99),we asked Philippe Méhautfor his opinion on this im-portant issue.


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more attention was also being paid toother skills felt to be crucial for individualand group performance: an ability toadapt provided for instance by broader-ranging skills, team work abilities andall that that supposes in terms of com-munications (oral, written, via the medi-ums of the new information and com-municat ion technologies, etc.) and‘managerial’ abilities both for the organi-sation of one’s own work and for moredirect responsibility for management cri-teria (deadlines, costs).

These changes again raised the questionof learning. The case studies showed,more or less across the board, that theissue of permanent learning linked closelyto work situations was crucial to thesenew organisations. Obviously, not all theskills required were ‘new’ from the pointof view of employees. What was happen-ing was that the knowledge or expertisepossessed by employees that had beendisregarded in former types of organisa-tion was now being recognised. Thesewere skills that had merely been re-acti-vated. Others, however, required training(in the formal sense of the term) or moreinformal learning based on trial and er-ror, experimentation and pooled exper-tise. The ways in which knowledge wasbeing acquired and passed on in theseorganisations were therefore being diver-sified and the pressures on individuals toplay an active part in these processes wasgrowing. Assuming that these new organi-sations were likely to develop (bearingin mind the socio-economic context de-scribed by J. Delcourt, 1999), we there-fore put forward the hypothesis that allknowledge acquisition/development prac-tices (including vocational training) werebeing called into question.

Each of these trends directly calls intoquestion the role of work - and thereforeof enterprise - in knowledge transmissionand acquisition processes. They also callinto question public training policies: onthe one hand, some kind of collectiveregulation needs to be found if the wholeburden is not to be borne by the indi-vidual and, on the other hand, this regu-lation is probably also necessary to avoidany risks of ‘market failure’ generated byenterprises’ under-investment in trainingbecause they fear that employees willquickly move on.

Theory and practice in many Europeancountries seems to have moved in this di-rection. In France, there has been a livelydebate, led in particular by employers,about competence-based approaches andthe ways in which they should and canbe developed in enterprise. This debateis to be found, albeit in different forms,in some northern European countries aswell. Although its causes differed, theoverhaul of certification frameworks in theUnited Kingdom with the introduction ofthe NVQ (National Vocational Qualifica-tion) system also raised the problem ofdeveloping and recognising skills ac-quired and tested in working situations.At Community level, the debate about life-long training has been shaped by two is-sues: the times at which people acquireknowledge (the trend being towardsknowledge acquisition throughout theirworking lives) and the methods by whichthis knowledge can be acquired (combi-nations of conventional training, self-train-ing based on the new information andcommunication technologies and newforms of learning through experience).

The development of training that is moreintegrated into working situations and of‘lifelong’ skill development approachesraise three kinds of question that all haveto be addressed at an individual level (theenterprise/the employee) and at a moresystemic level. The first group of ques-tions relates to the way in which training,work, employment systems and pay canbe structured; the second group relatesto the forms that this integrated trainingcan take and the ways in which it can beimplemented and the third group relatesto the relationships between this inte-grated training and the formal trainingsystem.

Links between training,work, employment sys-tems and pay

For the first group of questions, it is pos-sible to start from a simple model throughwhich the various issues can be visual-ised.

The place that training occupies can belocated through its relationships with thethree components of the employment re-

“The development of train-ing that is more integratedinto working situations andof ‘lifelong’ skill develop-ment approaches raisethree kinds of question thatall have to be addressed atan individual level (the en-terprise/the employee) andat a more systemic level.The first group of questionsrelates to the way in whichtraining, work, employmentsystems and pay can bestructured; the secondgroup relates to the formsthat this integrated train-ing can take and the waysin which it can be imple-mented and the third grouprelates to the relationshipsbetween this integratedtraining and the formaltraining system.”


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lationship, i.e. the organisation (and thecontent) of work, job mobility and payconditions. It is these systemic relation-ships that will promote or prevent thegrowth and viability of the new models.

Integrated training has close links withthe dynamics of work organisation. It canbe developed only if this organisation ofwork provides scope for it. In return, it islikely that it will help to develop this or-ganisation. We mentioned above thatthere were strong trends towards grow-ing skill mobilisation and also towards theconstruction of skills through work. Incontrast to the Taylorist/Fordist model,there are therefore opportunities to stepup the construction of skills through work.This is not, however, a one-way trendsince it can be countered, as stressed bySauter (1999), by contrary elements. Moreintense work may reduce the scope forintegrated training if the obligation toachieve results becomes too strong. Theshort term then gains the upper hand overthe long term, from the point of view ofboth the enterprise and the individual. Therecent debate in France about the 35-hourworking week is a good example of this:if training is not deemed to be timeworked in negotiations to reduce work-ing hours, there will be fewer opportuni-ties for ‘integrated learning’. Countrieswhere young people’s initial training in-cludes a tradition of apprenticeship havean edge here because the need to pro-vide this apprenticeship and cater forapprentices has an impact on organisa-tional choices.

Integrated training has close links withthe nature of employment and with theemployment system in the enterprise.Dealing first with the nature of employ-ment, to some extent, integrated trainingcannot exist or be viable unless there aregroups that act as a support for exchangesand accumulation of knowledge. If thesegroups are unstable (use of temporaryworkers, sequences of part-time workersin the same job), transmission processesbecome more difficult. Similarly, the trendtowards more individual and fragmentedrelationships with employers may have anegative impact. In France, for instance,the policy to develop jobs in the domes-tic sphere has been shaped partly by theself-employment that is being encouragedby measures such as the service cheque.

The fact that these relationships with theemployer household are individual tendsto rule out groupings or exchanges of ex-perience which can be promoted only ifthere is an outside employer. Turning tothe employment system, the new modelsare overturning the old rules governingmobility and careers (Kristensen, op. cit.),whether this involves careers in enterpriseor external mobility: job hierarchies andupward mobility are less clear-cut, lengthof service is becoming less important thanrules based on the assessment of individu-als and the skills that they possess, etc.This may lead in practice to major ten-sions between groups, especially thosethat are most destabilised (for instance theold supervisors trained on the job inFrance). If integrated training is to bedeveloped, collective rules in the enter-prise and beyond need to be drawn upand to set out the rules of the game fromthe point of view of job mobility. Thequestion of the certification of this learn-ing (or more precisely of the knowledgeacquired) is a key problem to which wewill return.

Lastly, the links between integrated train-ing and pay systems are evident and raisea number of questions. For instance, thequestion of the incentives that these sys-tems must include for employees: in ourwork with J. Delcourt, we stressed thatthe involvement demanded, from thepoint of view of both results and self-maintenance and skill development, isgreater. In many of the cases studies, theincentive was essentially negative: the riskof job losses and the fear of unemploy-ment were the ‘prime movers’. This kindof incentive obviously has limits when itis wished to develop skill improvementapproaches in a ‘sustainable’ way. Whatkinds of pay incentive or co-investmentformulas are likely to support this devel-opment? Recognising individual skill im-provements through pay also changesconventional pay systems: less importanceis attached to the type of job, there isgreater individualism, and employees areassessed from the point of view of theirperformance in the job and the develop-ment of their potential.

The development of integrated trainingis therefore at the heart of labour, em-ployment and pay relationships, from thepoint of view of both the enterprise and

“The recent debate inFrance about the 35-hourworking week is a good ex-ample: if training is notdeemed to be time workedin negotiations to reduceworking hours, there willbe fewer opportunities for‘integrated learning’.”


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collective relationships (branch, region).Many European countries have in the pastestablished strong collective rules thathave integrated training to different de-grees: this is particularly true of countrieswith large-scale apprenticeship systemsand countries that have developed or arestarting to develop continuing trainingobligations levied on enterprises and of-ten linked to enterprise or industry nego-tiation. The future of ‘integrated’ learn-ing is very closely linked to the ability tocause these rules to evolve, for instancethe ability to develop methods throughwhich work organisation and training, andthe evaluation and recognition of people’squalities and their performance, can bejointly discussed in enterprise bargaining.

What forms can integratedtraining take and how canit be implemented?

A second group of questions relates morespecifically to the forms that integratedtraining can take. It has to be borne inmind here that we still have relatively lit-tle scientific knowledge of the mentalprocesses that underpin learning at workor of the optimum combinations of expe-rience and its formalisation and more con-ventional forms of training. As Sauter (op.cit.) notes in his work, ‘a wide range ofconcepts are used to describe learning in-tegrated into work’. A number of empiri-cal observations stress for instance the roleof a mediator (whether a tutor chosenfrom among peers or a training mentor).Other observations stress the need to finda way of representing work theoreticallyon the basis of empirical experience. Hereagain, however, the main ‘operatingschemes’ are unlikely to emerge on theirown. They require, for instance, processesof the trial and error type and collectivediscussions of these processes. Some la-bour organisations are apparently moresuited than others to these processes, butit is still difficult to identify clearly whatis likely to pave the way for virtuous cir-cles of learning and how they can be con-structed. Meetings between specialists inwork organisation and cognitive special-ists are still to be organised. A detailedexamination of the most propitious situa-tions remains to be carried out in orderto draw analytical lessons. A simple ex-

change of good practices is not enough.Nothing in this field is natural. On theone hand, spaces and opportunities forlearning need to be constructed, with theawareness that this construction entailscosts for enterprises and individuals. Onthe other hand, we need to be aware thatthe sharing of this knowledge is an issuewithin collective and social groups.

The relationships betweenintegrated training and theformal training system

A third group of questions concerns therelationships between integrated learningand formal training and in particular theproblems raised by the certification ofoccupational expertise.

We stressed above that new skill needsand practices were being developedalongside solid basic vocational trainingacquired through formal methods. Moresystematic work on the development ofvocational training in enterprise and onthe diversification of forms of training (in-cluding formal continuing training andless formal methods) have shown that therelationship is complementary and thatone is not a replacement for the other(Aventur, Möbus, 1999). It has to be bornein mind, however, that this complemen-tary relationship is often badly con-structed. This can be seen in current criti-cisms of the French initial vocational train-ing system relating to its inability to pro-mote collective work experience or topromote project-based learning, with theresult that it is the ability of the formaltraining system to ‘learn to learn’ that isbeing called into question. In the oppo-site direction, criticisms currently beinglevelled against the British NVQ systemrelating to its inability to articulate knowl-edge acquired from work experience andknowledge acquired from more formalsystems of knowledge transmission raisequestions about the feedback that has toexist between these two methods throughwhich learning can be improved.

This leads us directly to the question ofcertification. Most European countrieshave established rules for the certificationof knowledge acquired by individualswhich act to some extent as signals in the


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enterprise itself even though it is oftenspecifically in the enterprise that thislearning is developed. If measurementcriteria are to be legible to both individu-als and enterprises, they need to be sta-ble, for some time at least. Finally, thelegitimacy of the assessing authority is asine qua non for the efficiency of thestandard. Most national systems are notat present, for different reasons, very opento the validation of knowledge acquiredfrom work experience. It may even besaid that they are a brake on its develop-ment. The tendency is then to refer eve-rything back to the enterprise. In this case,however, none of the three criteria is sat-isfied. The other solution is to create, exnihilo, a new system (see the discussionsand controversy surrounding experimentswith individual accreditation initiated bythe European Commission or the NVQsystem). While this may, overall, ensuregenerality, it does not ensure stability andlegitimacy. It is the ability of the actors ineach country to establish a system of vali-dation/certification that takes account ofthe new forms of integrated learning andmeets these three criteria that will in alllikelihood determine the future of thistype of training, and its complementaryrelationships with more formal systems oftraining and qualifications.

Aventur F., Möbus M. (1999): La formationprofessionnelle initiale et continue en Europe,Magnard Vuibert, Paris.

Delcourt J., Méhaut P. (1995): CEDEFOP, Berlin

Delcourt J. (1999): European Journal, No 17/99,CEDEFOP, Thessaloniki

Kristensen P.H. (1997): Agora II: Le rôle del’entreprise dans la formation tout au long de lavie, CEDEFOP, Thessaloniki

Maurice M., Sellier F., Silvestre J.J. (1982):Politique d’éducation et organisation industrielle enFrance et en Allemagne, PUF, Paris

Möbus M., Verdier E. (1997): Les diplômesprofessionnels en France et en Al lemagne ,L’harmattan, Paris

Sauter E. (1999): The risks and opportunities oflearning on the job, European Journal, No 17/99,CEDEFOP, Thessaloniki

Bibliography

labour market. In some countries theserules come more from the internal logicof the training system (France, for in-stance). In others, they have a direct andstructural relationship with labour mar-ket situations (Germany, for instance).They all guarantee a number of collec-tive reference points for both employersand individuals and thus ensure that in-dividual characteristics can be read byeveryone, thereby promoting mobilitywithin and outside the enterprise. Exami-nation of these systems (Möbus, Verdier,1997) shows that their success dependson their ability to satisfy several criteriaat the same time: a criterion of stabilitythat may seem paradoxical in a worldwhere the emphasis is on change, but thatis needed if a standard is actually to ex-ist, a criterion of generality through whicha sufficiently broad space can be providedfor this standard and a criterion of legiti-macy that has to be possessed by the au-thority drawing up the standard and en-suring its implementation. The develop-ment of integrated training raises the prob-lem of identifying and certifying theknowledge acquired from this learning inthese three areas. If European labourmarkets are to become more flexible,there needs to be large enough generalspaces that go beyond the level of the


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The Thin LineTeamwork - misnomer or in-novation in work organisation

Work organisationin transition

For enterprises in developed industrial-ised nations, market demands and com-petition conditions have become muchtougher over the last ten years. Fallingbatch sizes, but an ever broader range ofvariants, falling profits, rising costs, higherquality, and the pressure of meeting evertighter delivery deadlines make it impera-tive to come up with innovative produc-tion solutions. Companies have to be in-creasingly flexible and react faster andfaster to turbulent environments. Theyhave to satisfy these requirements bymeans of internal reorganisation ratherthan by ‘educating’ the customer. The CIMphilosophy of complete automisation andconversion to new technology failed inthe 1980s - these days nobody speaks offactories entirely devoid of workers - andthe potential for flexibility is now seen tolie in human resources. Innovations there-fore increasingly focus on the way workis organised. In one way or another thisinvolves moving away from Tayloristicstructures and towards different forms ofteamwork. How successfully a companycan deal with the demands on its flexibil-ity is becoming a question of survival.Sennett1 was quite right to declare thatflexibility is the magic word in global capi-talism.

Innovation in itself is not new. What isnew about the current changes in workorganisation towards concepts involvingteamwork, is that they rely on coopera-tion with and active support from employ-ees for their implementation, in contrastto the passive tolerance of Tayloristicstructures. In other words: innovations inwork organisation cannot be forced onpersonnel. Consequently, from the out-set, the question is not only which objec-tives a company wishes to pursue; but

also how the wishes of the personnel canbe accommodated in the process. In ad-dition to ensuring competitiveness, thereis also the issue of how jobs can be safe-guarded and working conditions im-proved2 .

The failure of innovativeapproaches

When reforming the structure of workorganisation, enterprises are frequentlyconfronted with problems or difficultieswhich are considerably greater than thoseassociated with the introduction of newproduction technology for example. Inretrospect, many company-led attempts atinnovation fail to live up to expectations.Some fail completely. If we examine whythere are such discrepancies in compa-nies’ experience of teamwork, we haveonly to look at the strategies used in itsintroduction and the typical mistakesmade during its implementation. Althoughnot a complete list, the following are themost important problem areas.

❏ The introduction of teamwork is a for-mality only. A number of employees aredeclared a team, without having first in-troduced effective changes to the workstructures; and without modifying proce-dures, responsibilities or competencies.This would be a typical example of a mis-nomer.

❏ A given model of teamwork is takenlock, stock and barrel from another com-pany and adopted point for point with-out adapting it to the specific operationalconditions of the second company. Team-work, however, can not be brought in ‘offthe peg’ because, in different companies,even apparently identical task descriptionsconceal the most disparate challenges andproblems.

HolgerBargmann

Technology Consult-ing Agency at the

German Federationof Trade Unions

(DGB) Land districtRhineland PalatinateRegional agency for Koblenz

Innovations are increas-ingly focusing on the waywork is organised. In oneway or another this in-volves moving away fromTayloristic structures andtowards forms of team-work. How successfully acompany can deal with thedemands on its flexibility isbecoming a question of sur-vival.

1) Richard Sennett: The Corrosion ofCharacter. The Personal Conse-quences of Work in the New Capital-ism. Berlin 1998

2) This decisive point is overlookedby Sennett in his otherwise brilliantessay. Of all places, in his chapter onwork ethics, he presents team organi-sation as a crafty management trickto conceal its own interests and wig-gle its way out of responsibility andavoid friction. He takes many pagesto suggest that, from the point of viewof the employee, authoritarian man-agement structures are preferable,only to reject this impression thenwithout going into further detail. Noteven between the lines does Sennettimply that there must be discerniblebenefit to employees if the manage-ment is to achieve its objectives us-ing teamwork.


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“If we examine why thereare such discrepancies incompanies’ experience ofteamwork, we have only tolook at the strategies usedin its introduction and thetypical mistakes made dur-ing its implementation. Al-though not a complete list,(...) the following are themost important problemareas:

– The introduction of team-work is a formality only.(…)

– A given model of team-work is taken lock, stockand barrel from anothercompany and adoptedpoint for point (...)

– Teamwork is introduced(...) ‘at breakneck speed’.(…)

– Those most affected bythe introduction of team-work are either consultedtoo late in the day, or giveninsufficient opportunity tomake a significant input tothe process. (…)

– The acquisition of socialand organisational skills isoften regarded as unneces-sary ballast, (...)

– Pay itself becomes acritical issue, (...)

– The problem of supervi-sors is not normally giventhe attention it demands.(…)

– The company’s frame-work conditions must beadapted to comply withteamwork requirements.”

❏ Due to the constant pressure of time,teamwork is introduced ‘at breakneckspeed’. Under acute production pressure,and without careful advance planning oranticipation of problems associated withthe transition, employees are not onlyexpected to cope with the overnightchanges in their circumstances, but alsoto meet all the new demands made onthem effortlessly and, if possible, raiseproductivity at the same time.

❏ Those most affected by the introduc-tion of teamwork are either consulted toolate in the day, or given insufficient op-portunity to make a significant input tothe process. Even if the works council isinvolved in the process, that alone is notenough. It is absolutely absurd to expectinitiative, intuition, creativity, responsibleaction, flexibility, etc. from employees onorder. This is a paradox comparable withthe imperative: ‘Be spontaneous’!

❏ The importance of skills acquisition, inthe context of teamwork, is seldom dis-puted. In most cases, however, the termskills is reduced to specialised, technicalaspects. The acquisition of social and or-ganisational skills is often regarded asunnecessary ballast and either does notoccur, or is limited to the spokespersonof a team. Training courses are not de-vised with specific target groups in mind.They are frequently postponed and theirscale restricted due to time constraints.On the whole it is apparent that skillsacquisition is almost exclusively consid-ered to be an additional expense, and sel-dom an investment with tangible - albeitperhaps not immediate - benefits. Whobothers to calculate the break-even-pointof a training course? The argument focuseson concern that employees will becomeover-qualified. Allied to this issue is thesubsequent problem of pay.

❏ Pay itself becomes a critical issue, interms of both the rate of pay and the formin which payment is made. Some pay ar-rangements may promote teamwork,whilst others may be detrimental to it.Which arrangements will have what ef-fect is very much dependent on the con-crete concept of teamwork. Justifiably,employees will accept a discrepancy be-tween desired behaviour and rewardedbehaviour for a short time only. Until newpay-performance relationships are de-

fined, full performance potential will re-main unclear. This is understandable be-cause otherwise, surreptitiously, new linesof reference could be established. In otherwords: if I change my level of perform-ance from the beginning, I can assumethat this will subsequently become thenew criterion for a later premium wage.

❏ Basic issues of principle need to beaddressed by the unions and employers’associations with issues relating to pay.Wage agreements necessarily tend to begeared towards traditional Tayloristicworking structures. The job descriptionsin the wage bracket lists not only reflecta high division of labour, rigid and re-petitive tasks, but also reinforce them. Theskills and behavioural patterns needed forteamwork do not fit into these categoriesand are not therefore useful for calculat-ing wages.

❏ The problem of supervisors is not nor-mally given the attention it demands. Ifthe teams take over planning and man-agement tasks, and are given greaterscope for action and decision-making, thishas a direct bearing on the team supervi-sors. Other areas closely involved withproduction, such as those in operationand process planning, are also affected.Since this interferes with the companyhierarchy, it is an extremely sensitive is-sue. Teamwork can therefore never beconsidered for one, isolated area of pro-duction. The knock-on effects - and ifthere are none, then it cannot be regardedas proper teamwork - must be consideredbeforehand and, here too, resolved witha strong emphasis on participation. Shouldthis not occur, it can be assumed that therewill be some who try to throw a spannerin the works, or slow down the wheelsof change. Nobody should lose out as aresult of the innovation.

❏ The company’s framework conditionsmust be adapted to comply with team-work requirements. This may soundtrivial, but in reality appears to be one ofthe hardest problems to overcome. Aboveall, this refers to the following points: a)the objectives defined for each area ofthe enterprise must be transferred into acoherent and above all consistent system;b) operational structures and proceduresmust be geared towards the new objec-tives; c) team spirit and customer satis-


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faction (including internal customers)must be embedded as overriding princi-ples (key words here: corporate culture);d) the company controlling systems mustbe re-defined (from controlling, to wagesand the criteria for in-house promotion).

Starting with these typical problem areas,the Technology Consulting Agency (TBS)at the German Federation of Trade Un-ions (DGB), Land district Rhineland Pa-latinate, devised a procedural model forthe introduction of teamwork. This wasintended to demonstrate that teamworkwhich caters both for corporate strategiesand employee interests can be imple-mented successfully. For the purpose ofan empirical test, a base model with themost difficult starting conditions was de-liberately chosen, hence the choice of theautomotive component supply industry.The enterprises in this sector are underextreme pressure in terms of adaptabil-ity, flexibility, and cost reduction. Employ-ees in these companies are also the firstto be hit, and usually hit hardest, by struc-tural change. The aim of the project wasto introduce teamwork into two affiliatedcompanies simultaneously, to accompanythem through all phases of the introduc-tion, and help in their restructuring. Theintention throughout this process was toenhance the inventiveness and competi-tiveness of the participating companies,and to bring about substantial improve-ments in the working conditions andemployability of their workers.

The essential features at the project’s con-ception were: careful planning of the im-plementation process, development oftailor-made solutions, the participation ofall affected sections of the workforce,comprehensive planning and implemen-tation of the required training courses.

Training for Teamwork

The project was carried out between Oc-tober 1995 and May 1997, in conjunctionwith two firms: Tectro KunststofftechnikGmbH of Saarburg (plastics technologies),and Metzeler Gimetall AG of Höhr-Grenzhausen. Support was provided bysubsidies from the European Social Fundand the Land Rhineland-Palatinate, andthe participating companies themselves3 .

Tectro manufactures a range of about 3500technical plastic parts, using injectionmoulding. These are for use in varioussectors (‘white industry’, mechanical en-gineering, medical technology, automo-tive industries). At the start of the project,the company had 226 employees, ofwhom 196 were involved in the trade sec-tion. These employees were predomi-nantly semi-skilled workers with a lowaverage age. The male to female ratio wasabout 60:40 and the proportion of foreignworkers was minimal.

Metzeler Gimetall AG belonged to theBritish concern British Tyre and Rubber(BTR) and, at the launch of the project,had four sites in Germany. MetzelerGimetall AG was purely a supplier of au-tomotive components, whose main busi-ness was the manufacture of anti-vibra-tion systems. The site in Höhr-Grenz-hausen produced conventional (motor)bearings, hydraulic bearings and hydrau-lic bushes. 80% of the parts manufacturedthere were supplied to two customers.At the start of the project the companyemployed 399 people, of whom 264worked in the trade section. The propor-tion of female employees was consider-ably lower than at Tectro, whereas theproportion of foreign workers was con-siderably higher.

The first phase of the project, the plan-ning phase, was characterised by provid-ing the personnel with detailed informa-t ion4 , developing a participation andproject infrastructure, refining specificproject objectives, choosing the sectionswhich should pilot the scheme, and de-veloping teamwork models tailored toeach company.

Refining the project objectives to beachieved through teamwork is one of thefirst and most crucial steps in the processof every innovation in work organisation.As banal as this sounds, it is seldom givensufficient thought and seldom undertaken.These objectives must be established withthe consensus of all the parties involved- the management, works council, em-ployees, and specialist departments - butmust also be formulated at the ‘right’ ag-gregation level. The two things are veryclosely related. The more abstract the for-mulation of an objective, the easier it isto reach a consensus or, to put it another

“The essential features atthe project’s conceptionwere: careful planning ofthe implementation proc-ess, development of tailor-made solutions, the partici-pation of all affected sec-tions of the workforce, com-prehensive planning andimplementation of the re-quired training courses.”

3) Subsidisation was granted in ac-cordance with Objective 4: ‘Tacklingchange through the development ofthe workforce’. More specific docu-mentation about the project can befound in: Holger Bargmann/ChristianeGlatzel: Einführung von Gruppen-arbeit in der Automobilzuliefer-industrie. [The introduction of team-work in the automotive componentsupply industry], Koblenz 1997.

4) Every change also triggers insecu-rity and concerns about what is newand uncertain. The nature and scaleof the effect on the individual are notyet clearly recognisable. In such asituation, serious reservations anddefensive reactions can be expected.So, when preparing employees forteamwork, it is very important to pro-vide detailed information as a matterof policy. In addition to the usualproject presentations, at company anddepartment levels, we held a day-longinformation session in each of thecompanies. These were specificallyfor those branches of the workforcewhich would be most affected, andtook place on a voluntary basis, out-side the company environment, on aSaturday. To encourage open andfrank discussion, supervisors andmanagement representatives were notallowed to attend. Attendance figuresamongst shop-floor employees wereclose to 100% in each case, and thediscussions were extraordinari lylively. These events provided an im-portant basis on which confidence inthe external project supervisors coulddevelop.


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way: it is the details which cause the big-gest problems. By the same token, themore general an objective is worded, theless instructive it is5 . In the case of popu-lar phrases used to describe objectives,such as ‘improving the competitivenessof the company’ and ‘contributing towardsthe humanisation of the work’, there islikely to be general agreement. Absolutepriorities such as these must be brokendown and made operational in a seriesof steps. With regard to ‘cost cutting’, it isimportant to specify exactly which costsare meant and by what means the cutswill be effected. (The likelihood of a con-flict developing is much greater in the caseof cuts in staffing costs than costs forkeeping parts in stock). It is also impor-tant to clarify who is to be responsiblefor the particular financial cutbacks toaffect the desired targets. If teamwork isto have no impact on these objectives,then it is doomed to failure right fromthe start. Objectives are also subject toconstraints with regard to their content.They must comply with at least two crite-ria: they must target the company’s mostserious problems, (‘What do we need todo to ensure that we are still on the mar-ket five years from now?’; ‘What is theone thing that we offer that our competi-tors do not?’) and they need to lead totangible improvements in conditions forthe employees. Although it cannot beachieved en passant, the result of discuss-ing company objectives in such a way isto establish a starting point and a yard-stick for a series of subsequent decisions.

How to shape the teamwork concept it-self is one of the foremost of these sub-sequent decisions. The concept consistsof several individual components. Thefirst step is to decide which organisa-tional principle the teamwork should bebased on (should it be orientated towardscustomers, products, or processes...);which criteria should be used to deter-mine how the teams are formed; whatshould be their future tasks, responsibili-ties, rights and obligations; and in whichpractical and chronological sequenceshould this transition take place. Theanswers to these questions will providea clearer picture of skills needed plustraining plans6 .

The project took an extended definitionof qualifications into account which

❏ is based on systematic understandingrather than mechanical learning of se-quences of actions, without awareness oftheir rationale, context, difficulties andconsequences;

❏ includes social, communicative and or-ganisational dimensions as integral com-ponents in addition to catering for theskills which have a direct, specialised,technical relevance. Often, the former areregarded as pointless and expensive bal-last7 ;

❏ is not regarded as a derivation of tech-nical or organisational changes, but ratheras a productive resource for coping withthe demands of a changing market.

The training concept provided for the fol-lowing elements: juxtaposition of collec-tive and individual training programmes;comprehensive specialised, technical, so-cial communicative and organisationaltraining; the development and implemen-tation of training for various target groups(team members, team spokespersons,works councils); implementation of com-pany-specific training programmes of aspecialised, technical nature in-house,using in-house staff, and external, train-ing programmes for specific target groups,orientated towards social and organisa-tional skills, in the form of joint seminarsfor both companies run by the Technol-ogy Consulting Agency (TBS); involve-ment of employees in assessing wherethere is a need for training, and in thetransfer of skills (with reference to theirpersonal training interests, and their ownactivities as trainers for co-workers).

Despite the limited number of membersin each group (at Tectro there were 24people divided into three groups, atMetzeler there were 32 in two groups),the training input needed was consider-able. Specific training plans were drawnup in the individual groups. The planswere to strike a balance between personalpreferences and the interests of the com-pany. A matrix was used to help accom-plish this. On one of its axes, all the jobswhich arose from group discussion (inparticular, those new duties which hadbeen added) were noted. The membersof the team were listed on the other axis.The first step was to sort out which ofthe jobs could be categorised as covered

5) The fate of many corporate phi-losophies is based on this fact. Nobleprinciples, which meet with sponta-neous and unconditional approvalfrom all who read them, amount tonothing in the hard world of business.They become part of the wall deco-rations in the foyer next to the qual-ity certificates, but are not even asbinding as these.

6) There is insufficient space here togo into further detail about specificpoints. It is logical, however, that themore concrete the objectives and cor-porate framework conditions, themore varied the individual solutionscan and must become. Therefore, byway of an organising principle, Tectroopted for a customer bias (‘Bosch Is-land’), whereas Metzeler chose aproduct bias (‘hydraulic bearings’)since they delivered an identical prod-uct to different customers. At Tectro,this led to a complete reorganisationof the way staff were grouped to-gether (through in-company notices),whilst at Metzeler the existing depart-mental structures were used. Thesedecisions in turn have an impact onsocial processes within the teams, therange of new tasks, the capping ofresponsibilities previously held bysupervisors, and the agreements gov-erning interplay with internal serviceareas, etc.

7) We were not interested in a gen-eral reference to key qualifications,embellishment, or an attempt tostimulate demand to meet an existingsupply. The training in social skillswas targeted directly at an under-standing of the social processes atwork within teams and enhancing theparticipants’ ability to fit into a teamenvironment; with a view to workingwith and in teams charged withachieving particular objectives. Thishas little to do with a romantic socialtouch. For example: as cohesionwithin the teams increases (which isdesirable), it is met with correspond-ing isolation from, and competitionwith other teams and other depart-ments (which is undesirable). This hasdysfunctional consequences for thecross-group process orientation. Themeasures for organisational trainingwere geared towards supporting newplanning tasks (production control,resources planning, the team coordi-nating its own activities), which aregenerally recognised as playing a sig-nificant role in overcoming or phas-ing out Taylorism. Accordingly, it isless about techniques of writing cards,and more about project management.


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by existing skills and, by way of a sec-ond step, particular training interests werenoted. In a table such as this it becomesimmediately apparent where there arebottlenecks, not only in terms of skillsshortages, but also where there is an ex-cessive concentration of skills8 . Eachgroup then managed to strike a balancebetween personal interests and the com-pany’s requirements, in a clear procedurewhich was regarded by everyone as fairand just. All parties committed themselvesto the resulting training plans. These cov-ered the following points: a list of all thosepeople who were to receive training, whatthe training would cover, the desired train-ers, and a binding deadline (which wascoordinated with the anticipated produc-tion requirements). Regular checks weremade to ensure that training plans wereadhered to and implemented.

A number of further collective measureswere introduced alongside these specifictraining programmes. Metzeler was par-ticularly active in this respect. The col-lective measures were on more generaltopics of importance to each and everymember of the teams. To this end, vari-ous in-house ‘consultants’9 were called in,and specially prepared for the task. Thetopics included: tidiness and cleanlinessin the workplace (which, aside from theconnotations of being secondary virtues,have a definite bearing on logistics andsafety at work), preparing a weekly sched-ule, material flow, quality, the reductionof the charge off rate/factory overheads,planning the assignment of personnel,machine running time and maintenanceschedules, the control of assembly parts,the use of supplies and expendables, etc.

The seminars relating to the acquisitionof social and organisational skills, run bythe TBS, took place outside the compa-nies in the form of two-day seminarblocks. Each seminar group consisted ofan equal number of participants from bothMetzeler and Tectro. Due to the numberof participants, each seminar block hadto be repeated a total of four times. Theidea of bringing the two companies to-gether in one group, outside the normalwork environment, proved to be extraor-dinarily successful. Not only was it possi-ble to coordinate the seminars better interms of organisation, taking productionpressures into account, it also provided

the participants with a variety of learningexperiences. It enabled them to see be-yond the corporate blinkers, to recognisethe similarities and the differences in thecompanies, and to acquire proven solu-tions to problems from other areas. Thesefactors and the diverse social contactsproved very beneficial, a fact which thosewho took part have continually empha-sised. In the space of one calendar year,the TBS held 43 days of seminars, with539 participant days.

The fact that the individual training meas-ures were not stand-alone entities, buthighly inter-related, proved to be ex-tremely fruitful, as did the fact that theywere orientated towards specific corpo-rate conditions as well as the commonobjectives of the teamwork. In addition,the permanent on-site supervision andsupport provided by the TBS, was oneof the crucial factors in the success ofthe project. It helped to ensure the con-tinuity and implementation of what waslearnt.

The project was regarded as a successwithin both companies and by all thegroups of people who took part, al-though the different perspectives high-lighted different areas of particular ben-efit10 . For team members, work has gen-erally become more interesting and var-ied. They emphasise that the work hasbecome more enjoyable, but add that, atthe same time, more demands are placedon them. Everybody appreciates thegreater scope for taking action and thehigher degree of personal responsibilityhave been important steps, and no-onewould like to return to the earlier situa-tion. Assessment of the training pro-grammes is very positive. The TBS semi-nars in particular received the rating‘good’ or ‘very good’ throughout. Theseratings applied just as much to the top-ics, consultants, and methods, as to theopportunity to get to know workers fromthe other company. More than two-thirdsof those surveyed went so far as to saythat they had ‘a lot of fun in the courseof the training programme’ and - in spiteof the intensity of the training - theywished they could have received evenmore. Reciprocal on-the-job training wasalso praised very highly, in contrast tothe training provided by in-house train-ers. The lack of time and a systematic

8) A training matrix of this nature caneasily cause sparks to fly. It containspersonal and comparative data whiche.g. could be used to compare wagegroup descriptions or to check paylevels. This could well be the casewhere the internal wage structurescome under strong fire (a more or lessubiqui tous phenomenon) . Careshould therefore be taken when de-ciding which documents should bemade available to whom and in whatform. Within each team, however,these differences and disparities willshow up anyway. Assessing one’sown position within the team, in termsof mastery of skills, has to be justi-fied. In doubt, evidence must be pro-duced (since one could be assignedto tasks correspondingly). On theother hand, if one claims to have mas-tered a particular skill, then one canobviously not express an interest inreceiving training for this particularskill.

9) These people were occasionallyunclear about their roles because intheir capacity as head of departmentfor production scheduling, for exam-ple, they had regular contact with theteams and subsequently felt underpressure to prove themselves.

10) It is only possible to provide acursory description of individual as-pects here. The full assessment of theproject by the various people whotook part can be found in Bargmann/Glatzel, loc. cit. pp. 162-184. The ac-count is based on standardised inter-v iews wi th team members andspokespersons, non-standardised in-terviews with the works councils,written surveys carried out with su-pervisors and management, alongwith figures and data provided by thecompanies.


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“If we were to say todaythat we’ve only been able toexploit 50% of the teams’potential so far, and we arelikely to benefit more, thenthis model has paid for it-self in a very short time. Insummary we can say thatteamwork has had a posi-tive impact in every possi-ble way on the entire sec-tion and neighbouring de-partments.”

training programme (neither companyhad a full-time trainer on board) werecriticised.

The project was also pronounced a suc-cess from the business point of view. Af-ter a close look at the figures and an at-tempt to assess the cost-benefit ratio, theplant manager from Metzeler drew the fol-lowing conclusion: ‘If we were to say to-day that we’ve only been able to exploit50% of the teams’ potential so far, andwe are likely to benefit more, then thismodel has paid for itself in a very shorttime. In summary we can say that team-work has had a positive impact in everypossible way on the entire section andneighbouring departments’11 . Teamworkproved to have a particularly strong im-pact on improving quality and on reduc-ing production overheads and absentee-ism. At Tectro, the immediate economiceffects did not receive quite the samedegree of praise from the management.In their case the ‘secondary factors’ wereconsidered particularly beneficial. Theyfound that qualifications in specialist ar-eas had improved and the degree of flex-ibility and self-sufficiency of the staff hadgrown. The ability to plan working pro-cedures had improved noticeably, andthere was a greater readiness to acceptresponsibility. Conflicts could also be set-tled more easily, which everybody whotook part in the survey regarded as ‘veryimportant’. Tectro also emphasised thatemployee motivation and quality aware-ness had grown enormously, as had iden-tification with the company. In spite ofthe considerable time and effort whichwent into the training, all those ques-tioned emphasised that the overall amountof time available for training was inad-equate, and that too few seminars wereheld. It was striking that works councilassessments tallied almost completely withthose of the corresponding management.

During the final phase of the project, theHead Office of Metzeler Gimetall AG an-nounced that it had decided to shut downoperations at the Höhr-Grenzhausen site,not because the plant was making lossesor bringing in insufficient revenues (incomparison with the other plants, Höhr-Grenzhausen was actually scoring well inthese respects). The explanation was thatthe company needed to centralise its op-erations to reduce overheads. Understand-

ably this undermined motivation amongstthe team members (which had consider-able knock-on effects for the company:machine down-time rose, as did absen-teeism, quality deteriorated, etc.). It madea mockery of the project aim of safeguard-ing jobs. The project, however, could donothing to alter the decision. On the otherhand, the project was sponsored in ac-cordance with Objective 4 of the Euro-pean Social Fund: ‘Tackling changethrough the development of the work-force’. The possibility of job losses hadbecome a very definite threat. For theteam members from Metzeler the ques-tion was whether their experience withteamwork and the training programme forit would benefit them on the labour mar-ket?

Two years later

Following the introduction of teamworkand the dynamics it triggers, enterprises,processes and the people involvedchange. That is basically intended, ofcourse, but it is never possible to predictaccurately what changes will occur, andto what extent. The breakdown and dis-tribution of desirable and undesirable,anticipated and unanticipated effects is,by the same token, also impossible toforecast.

In order to learn more about these fac-tors, we carried out a follow-up studyfrom September 1998 to February 1999.This study was also subsidised by theEuropean Social Fund and the Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of Labour in accord-ance with Objective 4. The questions wereformulated differently for each company.In Tectro’s case, we were particularly in-terested in finding out whether they hadcontinued to use teamwork. If so, wewanted to establish the extent to whichlabour policies had been withdrawn orexpanded, and to receive feedback fromthose involved on their feelings aboutteamwork, approximately two years afterthe pilot project had ended. In the caseof Metzeler, labour market policy issueswere of greater importance.

We discovered that Tectro had not onlycontinued to use teamwork in the sec-tions which had piloted the scheme, but

11) A memo from the plant managera t Metze ler Gimeta l l AG dated12.03.1997; quoted according toBargmann/Glatzel, loc. cit. pp. 166.


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had developed it to such an extent thatthe entire company had been subdividedinto smaller teams or ‘islands’, retainingthe procedural model from the originalproject. According to statements made bythe management, the company’s businessfigures have been positively influenced,turnover and productivity have risen andquality has also improved. They particu-larly emphasised the enormous growthin flexibility, not only in material terms(through the training programmes), butalso in temporal terms (motivation, en-thusiasm, and identification with thecompany). It is hard to attribute theseresults to a single factor, since variousmeasures were introduced at the sametime. Teamwork, however, would cer-tainly have made a considerable contri-bution to the overall improvement in thesituation. The positive trend at Tectro hasalso led to new jobs, especially in thearea of the Bosch Island, and workerson temporary contracts have become partof the permanent workforce. These in-dicators certainly imply an increase injob security.

The management is convinced there canbe no turning back from the present sta-tus12 , and that working well in a team isa trait high on their priority list when re-cruiting new staff. The managing directorputs it this way: ‘Traditional sloggers areof no use to us, aside from which, theywould immediately beam themselvesaway from here.’

The phenomenon of teamwork projectsstagnating or reverting to the status quoante13 , at the end of the public subsid-isation period and/or supervision by ex-ternal groups, could not be substantiatedat Tectro.

From the perspective of employee inter-ests, development in working conditionswas the most important issue. The fol-lowing statements on changes in work-ing conditions are based exclusively onsubjective assessments by members of theteams and the spokespersons for theteams. They refer in particular to thosesubdivisions in which, for the purposesof teamwork, specific changes were made,i.e. changes to the types of tasks, the hori-zontal and vertical integration of tasks,task rotation, assuming new responsibili-ties in the sense of greater scope for ac-

tion and decision-making, and flexible as-signments, etc. In all the subdivisionsmentioned the concept of teamwork it-self stabilised and developed. Both teammembers and their spokespersons agreethat the number of tasks has increased,employees have assumed new responsi-bilities, and systematic rotation has beenpreserved and expanded. Assessment ofthis is also conclusively and consistentlypositive. Nobody is prepared to return tothe way things were. These changes inworking conditions and the way work isexperienced have also clearly altered theattitudes and personalities of the work-ers. The most apparent and most com-monly witnessed change in character is adramatic growth in self-confidence amongthe team members. This is something theysee themselves and which has also beenconfirmed by supervisors and workscouncil, and which applies to bothMetzeler and Tectro. The first changesbecame apparent at a very early stage ofthe project, and they were dramatic. Thevivid way in which these changes aredescribed, especially by the managementand works council at Metzeler, reveal theextent of the changes. According to theformer plant manager: ‘A jolt went throughthe team’; whilst the works council spokeof a ‘wind of change’. As a result, therewas an increase in accountability. Theneed to justify decisions became a mael-strom bringing about a change in deal-ings between supervisors and workers, ina form which can scarcely be reversed.Management behaviour based on instruc-tion and control is no longer sustainableand would only lead to criticism and op-position. The workers are showing a newdegree of willingness to take on new tasksand new responsibilities of a type andscope which their contracts would notcompel them to do. Correspondingly, thewithdrawal attitude displayed by many intraditional, Tayloristic working structures(‘I’m not paid to do that’; ‘it’s not my re-sponsibility’; ‘it’s got nothing to do withme’, etc.) is being dropped voluntarily,but only if a corresponding willingnessto change is evident on the manager’spart: taking workers seriously and ac-knowledging good work, and providinga plausible reason for any orders anddemands, etc.

The priority for the employees of Metzeler(the majority of whom have no formally

“The management is con-vinced there can be no turn-ing back from the presentstatus, and that workingwell in a team is a trait highon their priority list whenrecruiting new staff. Themanaging director puts itthis way: ‘Traditional slog-gers are of no use to us,aside from which, theywould immediately beamthemselves away fromhere.”

“The workers are showinga new degree of willingnessto take on new tasks andnew responsibilities of atype and scope which theircontracts would not compelthem to do. Correspond-ingly, the withdrawal atti-tude displayed by many intraditional, Tayloristicworking structures (...) isbeing dropped voluntarily,but only if a correspondingwillingness to change is evi-dent on the manager’s part:taking workers seriouslyand acknowledging goodwork, and providing aplausible reason for anyorders and demands, etc.”

12) On the contrary , achievingprogress through teamwork has, overtime, become regarded as a matter ofcourse. Consequently, there has beenan implicit shift in the standards ex-pected, more precisely: expectationshave risen, as the managing directorpointed out.

13) This happens quite often withoutintent due to everyday time con-straints and falling back into old hab-its: everyone does what they can dobest (i.e. fastest), and thus takes thefirst and decisive step towards a re-lapse into the old, highly specialised,division-of-labour system, which then- almost surreptitiously - leads to thenext steps.


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“In summary, we can saythat the project was verysuccessful, in terms of bothcorporate and employeeobjectives, and that thepositive effects have beenstabilised.”

“The new - and economic -imperative could be: Learnto be innovative!”

recognised vocational qualification) wasto find a new job in a regional job marketwhich, being a predominantly rural area,is under strain. All those involved in theproject received an ‘internal certificate’confirming their participation in the train-ing programme with an additional sheetdescribing the content of the course ingreater detail. In addition, participationin the project was documented in theirofficial references.

According to Metzeler’s personnel man-ager, the participants had a definite bo-nus on the labour market. They had be-come more aware and self-confident, andpresented themselves in a better light;even their job applications differed enor-mously from those normally received fromunskilled workers. Most of the workershad found good jobs fast: the exceptionswere those with language difficulties andolder workers14 . Companies made theirdecisions largely on the basis of fewerabsences, and greater commitment and re-liability. Teamwork itself does not playan explicit part in this; it is more its con-notations. There were also enquiries fromcompanies in the neighbouring regions,the tenor of which were: ‘Have you got afew more of them?’ The new firms, someof which took on several of Metzeler’sformer employees, could be congratulatedon recruiting such well-trained team work-ers who would show such personal re-sponsibility and such commitment to thejob.

Although the competent labour officeclerks were of course unable to revealdetails about individual cases for dataprotection reasons, they summarised asfollows:

‘Some of those affected were proactive,taking the initiative right from the start,and a few had something in the pipelinealmost immediately. Several were wel-comed by other companies ‘with openarms’; the good people were snapped upstraight away. Others are still on the filestoday. The ones who are left are mostlyTurkish women with language difficulties(‘they can just about manage to write theirown names’), mobility problems, or theolder ones. The others had hardly anyproblems at all. As soon as it becameknown that Metzeler would be closingdown, firms began to ring in. The grape-

vine functions very well here; peopleknow each other.’

Only eight team members had been un-able to find new work at the time of thesurvey. Five of these were still employedby Metzeler, and therefore not unem-ployed. The majority of those questionedwere job-hunting for less than one month:a few required 2-3 months. Most of themfound jobs through personal connections,either through friends and acquaintances,or through the supervisors or the workscouncil at Metzeler. The number of ap-plications for jobs advertised or arrangedby the employment office was negligible.From the perspective of those affected,participating in the project and the train-ing course played only a very subordi-nate role in their success at finding a newjob.

In summary, we can say that the projectwas very successful, in terms of both cor-porate and employee objectives, and thatthe positive effects have been stabilised.Given the chance, all the intervieweesin both companies would take part inthe project again. In the eyes of Tectro’smanager, teamwork is ‘a dynamic proc-ess which can no longer be halted; theseare things which cannot be reversed’. Theproduction manager adds: ‘There is noalternative for the future,’ while thespokesperson for the Tectro’s workscouncil summarises his experience in asingle sentence: ‘Teamwork helps tomake the work much more people-friendly.’

Learning to be innovative

The new (and economic) imperative couldbe: Learn to be innovative! This is not thesame as ‘learn to organise’ however.Geissler was quite right to point out thatan organisation cannot learn, but only thepeople who work within the organisation.They also have to want to learn, i.e. theynot only have to see the point in it, butalso have to see a personal benefit. Pri-marily, this involves the preservation andsafeguarding of jobs, as well as (in what-ever form this may come) substantial im-provement in working conditions. This iswhere the demand that staff be involvedin innovation processes derives from.

14) In a discussion with experts fromthe responsible regional labour office,the ‘age barrier’ is put at approxi-mately 45 years.


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Innovations in work organisation such asthe introduction and implementation ofteamwork, cannot happen all at once.They are part of a sensitive process sub-ject to disruption, and need a guidinghand until they can stand on their owntwo feet. The following points haveproved useful in this context:

❏ Teamwork needs a mentorGreat demands are made of the personin this function. Whoever takes on thetask, either from within or outside thecompany, must have no history of involve-ment in company disputes or conflicts,and must be considered trustworthy andhonest by the various cooperation part-ners. There should be no overlapping ofthe mentor’s personal interests and theissues to do with the teamwork. The men-tor, as the person in the line of responsi-bility, should not get mixed up in am-biguous roles.

❏ The ‘keep everything together’ princi-pleConceptual development and implemen-tation, on-site training and supervisionshould not be subject to division of labourbut kept in one hand as far as possible.The advantages of this principle are obvi-ous even if, for practical reasons, excep-tions must be made. Systematic deviationfrom this principle is not only impracticalbut can also be damaging, as the follow-ing example shows. A business consultantassisted in the development of a conceptfor teamwork for a medium-sized com-

pany. He was also commissioned to pro-vide training in social skills for the mem-bers and spokesperson of a particular teamon a given number of days. The consult-ant subcontracted these seminars. Pre-pre-pared seminar modules were then run,making no allowances for the specificstructures of the company. While the teach-ing methods may have been adequate fora target group from the original section,they were not suitable for semi-skilled in-dustrial workers. These seminars not onlyfailed to achieve their objective, they sub-sequently led to strong resistance on thepart of the participants whenever anythingeven remotely connected with the words‘seminar’ or ‘training’ arose.

❏ Training the trainersThe circle of trainers expands consider-ably during teamwork and involves notonly full-time initial and continuing train-ing specialists (who in any case are notto be found in many small and medium-sized enterprises), but also a wider circleof personnel who have achieved expertstatus in subjects which might be relevantin connection with innovations in workorganisation. This training must not be re-stricted purely to didactic and methodo-logical questions. Teamwork always in-cludes topics and content beyond the per-sonal vocational experience of those ex-clusively employed in training (e.g. meth-ods of decision making within a team). Itis therefore of utmost importance to re-define the relationship between continu-ing training and organisational change.


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Burkart SellinCEDEFOPEC and EU education

and vocational trainingprogrammes from 1974to 1999: an attempt at acritical and historicalreview

The author is the coordinator of several projects at the European Centre for theDevelopment of Vocational Training and the CEDEFOP network for cooperation inresearch in the field of European trends in occupations and qualifications (Ciretoq).He has been working at CEDEFOP for more than 20 years as project manager andadvises EU institutions and competent bodies in the Member States on issues relat-ing to the development of vocational training. This article was written as a criticalbut constructive contribution to the debate on the re-formulation and especially onthe practical implementation of the new (third) generation of EU education andvocational training programmes, for which CEDEFOP feels partly responsible. TheLeonardo da Vinci programme, in particular, the EU vocational training programme,has been the subject of criticism recently. This is not necessarily due to a lack ofsuccess of its projects, pilot projects or studies, i.e. of the numerous researchersand practitioners who have been involved in the programme. It appears ratherthat the framework conditions are responsible for their only modest success, de-spite the intense efforts of all concerned. This preliminary analysis focuses onthese framework conditions.The author takes sole responsibility for all statements and evaluations expressedin the article, and points out that these opinions are not necessarily shared byCEDEFOP as a whole. However, the article is also intended to support the currentefforts of CEDEFOP and its Management Board – comprising delegates from allMember States (government representatives and spokesmen for the social part-ners’ organisations) and the European Commission – to achieve as broad a con-sensus as possible in view of the challenges facing the development of vocationaltraining in Europe and the debate on medium-term priorities for CEDEFOP andtheir practical implementation in the course of the next few years. The article mightalso be of help in defining the role that CEDEFOP could assume as specialists andresearch consultants monitoring EU programmes in the field of vocational train-ing, since one of the tasks of the Centre is to support the EU and its Member Statesin implementing these programmes. We would greatly appreciate any commentsand suggestions, as well as corrections.

Political and legal frame-work conditions for EUeducation and vocationaltraining programmes

If we wish to discuss and assess the nu-merous EU programmes, past and present,we should call to mind the political andlegal framework conditions and thechanges they have undergone in thecourse of time.

The chronology of these programmesdoes not begin until nearly 20 years afterthe establishment of the EEC in 1957. Inthe mid-1970s the EC, consisting of 9Members at that time, launched the firstyouth, education and vocational trainingprogrammes. At the time, education poli-cies were high on the list of political pri-orities in the Member States. This wasno longer so in the following years, al-though they do appear to have regainedimportance recently, as demonstrated byelection campaign topics and action pro-grammes in the United States in 1996, theUnited Kingdom in 1997, and also inFrance and the Federal Republic of Ger-many since 1998.

Ministers of Education met for the firsttime at EC level in 1974, although therewas no legal basis for the meeting in theTreaty of Rome (treaty establishing theEEC). Thus the meeting was held at theCouncil of Education Ministers, not as

the Council of Education Ministers. Arti-cle 128, which no longer exists, did, how-ever, provide the EC from the beginningwith a relatively clear legal basis for deal-ing with vocational training. It was ex-panded in 1963 to include the generalprinciples for a common vocational train-ing policy. Until the mid-1980s the Minis-ters of Labour and Social Affairs bore soleresponsibility for vocational training.


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They are still mainly responsible, but theMinisters of Education are now consultedmore often.

The 1974 agreement on cooperation ineducation initially covered four topics:

❏ Cooperation among universities withparticular reference to student exchanges

❏ Equal opportunities for girls in second-ary education

❏ The education of second-generationimmigrant children

❏ The transition of young people fromschool to adult and working life

Later, “the European dimension” in theclassroom and cooperation betweenhigher education business and industrywere added to the list.

In order to stimulate the exchange of in-formation between the education minis-tries and school authorities, Eurydice (seebelow) was set up as an information net-work and a centralised, EU-wide educa-tion information service. It still existstoday and is financed by the EuropeanCommission.

These four topics dominated the activi-ties of the EC in the area of educationuntil the mid-1980s, when further topicswere taken up: new technologies; the pro-motion of occupational and managementtraining in small and medium-sized en-terprises and new local employment ini-tiatives; continuing training and alternat-ing training.

At the time there were no special pro-grammes for vocational training with theexception of European Social Fund inter-vention with activities related to furthertraining and retraining in disadvantagedregions of the EC (southern Italy, Ireland,Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales,etc.). These projects were aimed at cer-tain target groups at a disadvantage in thelabour market, but have had hardly anyeffect on the development of the systemitself. Vocational training, especially thetraining of (young) adults as a means ofcombating increasing unemployment, tiedup about 80% of Fund resources. The ECcontributed, sometimes substantially, to

the consolidation and expansion of thevocational training infrastructure in theseregions. Later, complementary financingfrom the Regional Fund, the Mediterra-nean Programme and the Cohesion Fundadded their contributions. Recently thesemeasures have contributed considerablymore and pro-actively to the systemicdevelopment of disadvantaged regionsand Member States. Since Social and Re-gional Fund intervention is usually basedon economic, regional or labour-marketpolicies, it is not the focus of our obser-vations here.

In 1975 the European Centre for the De-velopment of Vocational Training (CEDE-FOP) was founded as a consequence ofthe EC sociopolitical Action Programmeapproved by the heads of state and gov-ernment in the Hague in 1974. It com-menced work the following year in (West)Berlin.The information, documentationand research centre, which has beenbased in Thessaloniki, Greece, since 1995,provides specialised support and guidanceto the EC, now the EU, on its way to acommon vocational training policy. Thecentre was and therefore is a permanentEU institution, and not a temporary pro-gramme. CEDEFOP works hand in handwith the above-mentioned Eurydice in-formation service for cooperation in edu-cation – with the Centre focusing on vo-cational training. The Centre has had onlylittle influence on the preparation andimplementation of EC programmes in thearea of vocational training1, although itspreliminary investigations, studies andsystem comparisons have been an invalu-able aid for debates among policy-mak-ers at the planning stage and for projectorganisers in implementing programmes.In 1994 the European Training Founda-tion in Turin commenced work. TheFoundation supports the EU in its pro-motion of cooperation with central andeastern Europe with regard to vocationaleducation and training and in implement-ing the relevant programmes (Tempus,Tacis and Phare)2.

The sole programme before 1974 whichreally centred on vocational training wasan exchange programme for young work-ers, which was formally prescribed by theTreaty of Rome. This programme was laterintegrated into PETRA and its successorprogramme, “Youth for Europe”.

“The 1974 agreement on co-operation in education ini-tially covered four topics:

– Cooperation among uni-versities with particularreference to student ex-changes

– Equal opportunities forgirls in secondary educa-tion

– The education of second-generation immigrant chil-dren

– The transition of youngpeople from school to adultand working life”

1) With one exception: the study vis-its programme for vocational trainingexperts was and still is coordinatedby CEDEFOP. It was an integral partof the PETRA programme and is nowpart of the Leonardo da Vinci pro-gramme. CEDEFOP cooperates to acertain degree with the latter with re-gard to studies and analyses, espe-cially in the area of qualifications re-search.

2) The appendix gives a summary ofthe various programmes and their ob-jectives.


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“Common to all these pro-grammes was their provi-sion, to varying extents, for

– The exchange of skilledworkers and participants

– The promotion of jointpilot projects, and

– The implementation ofcomparative studies amongthe countries involved.”

“Exchange of some type oranother was the focus of allthe programmes, which iswhy they were often calledEC exchange or mobilityprogrammes as a way ofdescribing the entire rangeof education and vocationaltraining programmes.”

“The programmes launchedin 1995 as a consequence ofthe ratification of theTreaty on European Unionof 1994, Socrates, based onArticle 126, for educationand Leonardo da Vinci,based on Article 127, forvocational training finallyreplaced the education andvocational training pro-grammes listed above. Thenew programmes concen-trated on the main objec-tives of the former and pre-served most of their priori-ties.”

The first education programme of all waslaunched in 1975. It dealt with the tran-sition of young people from school toworking life. It ran for three years andwas extended for a further three, thenbecame part of its successor, PETRA,which was launched in 1985 (Sellin B.,1994). It focused on the political objec-tive of combating rapidly rising unemploy-ment among young people after the oilcrisis and in the mid- and late 1970s. Inview of the above-mentioned generalprinciple, that no young person shouldbe forced to enter working life withoutrecognised vocational training, this objec-tive was emphasised and often reiterated.

PETRA was approved by the Council ofMinisters of Education and Labour at itsfirst meeting, but with a qualified major-ity, and not unanimously as had been usualuntil then. The Federal Republic of Ger-many, in particular, appealed to the Euro-pean Court of Justice on this issue, but thecase was dismissed with the comment thatthe EC general principles on vocationaleducation and training of 1963 formed partof the treaties and the vocational trainingpolicy of the EC was one of its four basicfreedoms: the freedom of movement forgoods, capital, services and persons, whichwere guaranteed by a regulation on thepermissibility of qualified majority deci-sions in the Single European Act.

PETRA was joined in the mid-1980s byprogrammes for student exchange andcooperation in higher education (Eras-mus), the promotion of cooperation be-tween higher education and business andindustry (Comett), the promotion of in-company continuing training (FORCE), thepromotion of qualifications in responseto new technologies (Eurotecnet), thepromotion of equal opportunities forwomen in vocational education and train-ing (IRIS) and of language training(LINGUA). Thus a whole spectrum of pro-grammes developed which gradually cov-ered the entire field of education andvocational training with the exception ofcompulsory schooling. Some of themoverlapped or were even superfluousbecause concurrent initiatives existedwithin the framework of EC Social andRegional Funds (Piehl, Sellin, 1993).

The programmes generally had very am-bitious aims: they did not, however, al-

ways achieve them. The volume of fundsavailable to them, which was very mod-est considering that the EC had grown to12 Member States in the meantime, boreno relationship to their far-reaching po-litical goals.

The student exchange programme ERAS-MUS, which was launched at the end ofthe 1980s, stood out among the other pro-grammes named in respect of numbersof participants and amount of funds avail-able to it. It was also the most successful,even though it did not achieve its objec-tive of about 10% of all students studyingin another European country. In the 1990sthis programme was extended to includestudents from central and eastern Europe,within the framework of the Tempus pro-gramme.

Common to all these programmes wastheir provision, to varying extents, for

❏ the exchange of skilled workers andparticipants

❏ the promotion of joint pilot projects,and

❏ the implementation of comparativestudies among the countries involved.

Exchange of some type or another wasthe focus of all the programmes, which iswhy they were often called EC exchangeor mobility programmes as a way of de-scribing the entire range of education andvocational training programmes.

The programmes launched in 1995 as aconsequence of the ratification of theTreaty on European Union of 1994

❏ Socrates, based on Article 126, for edu-cation

❏ and Leonardo da Vinci, based on Arti-cle 127, for vocational training

finally replaced the education and voca-tional training programmes listed above.The new programmes concentrated on themain objectives of the former and pre-served most of their priorities. “Youth forEurope” was created in the late 1980s foryoung people (cf. Council Decision of 26June 1991 in the Official Journal [EEC] 91/C 208). It was continued as a separate


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programme and carried on the youth in-formation and youth exchange pro-grammes formerly covered by PETRA.

Concurrent to the reform of the StructuralFunds (Social, Regional and AgriculturalFunds), Community Initiatives (specialtransnational support programmes for spe-cific disadvantaged target groups, sectorsand regions) were launched. To a certainextent they overlap with the focal goalsof the Leonardo da Vinci programme, al-though their objectives are geared moretowards employment in specific targetgroups, regions or sectors.

Aspirations and realityof the first-generationprogrammes

Two generations of programmes can bedistinguished in the political and legaldevelopments sketched briefly here.

The first generation was born of the pre-Maastricht legal situation and Article 128in particular, which dealt with vocationaltraining, and by the activities of the edu-cation ministers starting in 1974. The sec-ond generation is based on the post-Maastricht legal situation.

Although we intend to concentrate in thisarticle on assessing the second genera-tion, it is imperative to evaluate the firstgeneration, too, for a true understandingof the former, especially since both theLeonardo da Vinci and Socrates pro-grammes really only took off in 1996, sothat current experience with them allowsonly preliminary conclusions.

Programmes such as PETRA and Force,which target the heart of vocational train-ing, have certainly achieved their objec-tive of promoting the exchange of infor-mation and experience and improvingthe level of knowledge and problem-solving approaches among the partici-pants, the institutions and institutes in-volved. However, the expected and an-ticipated multiplier effects have been farmore modest. In most Member States theyhad little direct impact on the standardsystems of education and training orbrought up little sustained innovation orreforms.

There are various possible reasons for this:

❏ The results were not disseminated ad-equately by the EU and the Member States.

❏ Practitioners and others involved hadlittle or no scientific support in implement-ing them.

❏ Rigid persistence of the standard sys-tems and resistance in the Member Statesto externally proposed reforms and inno-vations.

❏ Particular interests of project practition-ers and others involved in the projects.

❏ No external evaluation of the pro-grammes and projects.

❏ Bureaucratic obstacles at national or EUlevel or hurdles hampering cooperationat the various levels of responsibilitywithin the relevant Member States, in par-ticular in respect of selection and approvalof projects and their funding.

❏ Lack of involvement of policy-makersand practitioners, the “end users” of pilotproject and study results.

From the outset, PETRA aroused expec-tations which could never be fulfilled. Theprogramme was to solve the problem oftoo few school and/or enterprise trainingplaces corresponding to the talents andinclinations of young people on the onehand and providing high-quality voca-tional training leading to a recognised oc-cupation on the other. This target was anillusion from the start, due to lack of po-litical interest on the part of most Mem-ber State governments and especially dueto the state of public budgets. It was anexplicit goal promulgated in the early1960s, first by the EEC, then the EC andnow the EU. However, in recent times ithas no longer been unambiguously propa-gated, especially as since Maastricht the1963 general principles are no longer le-gally binding.

Apart from this, the funding of the pro-gramme and its projects was much toomodest to bring about any real change.Matters were different with the StructuralFund intervention. The problem here wasto obtain the complementary funds fromnational and/or regional or local public


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“The programmes must beintegrated into overall EC,now EU, policies in thefields of education and vo-cational training. They canonly be as good as Euro-pean Integration policies inthese fields”

“Higher education pro-grammes, especially ERAS-MUS and Comett, were moresuccessful as a rule thangeneral education and vo-cational training pro-grammes.(...) Another cru-cial factor might well bethat higher education insti-tutions are far less im-peded by government bu-reaucracy and restrictionsby trade and industry thanvocational schools andtraining centres.(...). Theprogrammes were also usu-ally more successful in theareas of continuing andfurther training and re-training,(...) because theseoffer more scope for inno-vation and the systems arestill in the process of estab-lishing themselves.”

budgets, which might have been anythingup to 50% of the financing.

The first generation of education and vo-cational training programmes did not de-pend on the availability of complemen-tary funding. However, the system wasintroduced for the second generation(Leonardo and Socrates) and here, too, ithas become a considerable problemwhich has deterred many projects fromthe start.

The duration of the programmes – threeto four years – has also been too short tobring about structural reform. This wasparticularly true of the Force programme,which, unlike PETRA, had no forerunnerto precede the transitional programmes.The success of many projects in the Forceand PETRA programmes, and in IRIS andthe Community Initiatives linked to theEuropean Social Fund, which also con-sisted mainly of pilot projects, compara-tive studies and exchange of information,was again called into question when nofollow-up financing was available after theinitial period of funding, e.g. through di-rect funding by agencies in the individualstates.

The lack of continuity in EC and EUproject financing over several years andthe lack of dependable follow-up financ-ing – however successful the project mighthave been – confronted practitioners witha severe challenge. University researchcan survive on this basis, but vocationaltraining consultants and practitioners willhardly be willing to give up normal work-ing conditions just to implement on a full-time basis EU projects for which no reli-able follow-up funding is foreseen. Mostcan therefore only conduct such projectson a part-time basis, which means thatthe projects, and especially their coordi-nation, rest on shaky foundations.

The results of those first-generation pro-grammes which targeted the heart of vo-cational training had hardly any direct im-pact on the standard systems. Even wherethey did, the effect was short-lived. Notonly were these projects not developedfurther, their results were not even pre-served for the following generation ofproject-makers. New applicants often hadto re-invent the wheel time and again, i.e.learn international project management,

establish transnational contacts, overcomeinitial financial problems, collect basic in-formation, etc.

Integration of the pro-grammes into the com-mon (vocational) educa-tion policies of the EU

The programmes must be integrated intooverall EC, now EU, policies in the fieldsof education and vocational training.They can only be as good as EuropeanIntegration policies in these fields.

Therefore any assessment must undertakethe difficult task of evaluating these poli-cies as a whole.

In brief, against the background of expe-rience gained with first-generation pro-grammes of the pre-Maastricht era, we cansummarise as follows: higher educationprogrammes, especially ERASMUS andComett, were more successful as a rulethan general education and vocationaltraining programmes. This fact must beput in relation to the funding they en-joyed, which was much more generousfor the former than the latter. Anothercrucial factor might well be that highereducation institutions are far less impededby government bureaucracy and restric-tions by trade and industry than vocationalschools and training centres. Lack of au-tonomy hampers both innovation andtransnational cooperation considerably.The programmes were also usually moresuccessful in the areas of continuing andfurther training and re-training, whetherin-company or external, because theseoffer more scope for innovation and thesystems are still in the process of estab-lishing themselves. In this field, problemsrelate to the common “might as well doit” effect with in-company training and thefrequent unsatisfactory adherence to qual-ity standards in external continuing train-ing.

If we view the influence of the EU onthis area of policy as a whole, includingthe programmes another viewpoint alto-gether becomes apparent. The impact inmany Member States has been great andshould not be underestimated. The IrishRepublic, for instance, consciously up-


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dated its whole education and vocationaltraining system with the aid of EU fundsand by adopting concepts from otherMember States, not least as a means ofpreparing its school and college-leaversfor geographical mobility to other Euro-pean countries and not only to Ireland’straditional migration countries, like theUnited Kingdom, North America and Aus-tralia. Spain, for instance, introduced im-portant reforms to its education systemafter the dissolution of the Franco regimeand in the course of democratisation andentry into the EC in the 1980s, whichhelped the country adapt to EC member-ship. After an interval these countries werefollowed by Portugal and the Netherlands,and later still by Denmark, which adaptedtheir systems of vocational training withexplicit reference to the EU debate.France, the United Kingdom and Germanyhave been least influenced up to now.These countries appear to be in seriouscompetition with each other and wish topreserve their own “cultures” in respectof education and vocational training.They are only now beginning to show thefirst signs of change. They are meanwhilein the process of adapting certain detailsof their systems, but with indirect ratherthan direct reference to EU debates, reso-lutions, recommendations or decisions.

The programmes themselves had only lit-tle sustained influence in these countries.Social Fund interventions, the debate onthe adaptation of legislation on recognis-ing diplomas and comparative studies byCEDEFOP among others – e.g. in connec-tion with the implementation of the 1985Council Decision on the “Comparabilityof Vocational Training Qualifications be-tween the Member States of the EC”, andthe debate on structuring the standard oftraining in the EC (cf. Appendix 1 of thesame Council Decision) – had, and indeedstill have, a more decisive influence (Sellin1996). From the 1960s and up to thepresent, EC and EU efforts to achieveprogress on the recognition of vocationalqualifications in compliance with Article57, by harmonising legislation on accessto occupations (cf. the relevant guidelines)have had a big impact.

These influences were already noticeableeven in the late 1960s in the EEC of theSix. As a result of the debate on recogni-tion, in particular with regard to engi-

neers, Germany, e.g., was obliged to raisethe former upper specialised and engi-neering schools to the level of special-ised institutions of higher education, in-troduce the certificate of aptitude forspecialised short-course higher educationand thus integrate them into the highereducation sector.

Within Europe the different education sys-tems have always been in competition, atleast since the French Revolution, whichto a certain extent replaced the heredi-tary aristocracy with an academic or edu-cational aristocracy. The EU is attempt-ing to steer this competition among thesystems in the direction of promotion ofreciprocal convergence or rapprochement,or even harmonisation (cf. also the 1963general principles or the 1975 Regulationestablishing CEDEFOP). The new Socra-tes and Leonardo da Vinci programmes,which have been running since 1995, areintended to make the different systems atleast more compatible with each other,by promoting innovation in conjunctionwith transnational cooperation. The au-tonomy of the various systems is not tobe undermined, however, as was some-times attempted in the pre-Maastricht eraby Brussels.

The centralist approach has brought aboutsome results. It has not failed, as manymaintain, but has been successful on anumber of counts. A federal, or bottom-up, approach has only recently becomediscernible. If such an approach is to besuccessful, however, it will have to be ac-companied by clear stipulations. Thismeans: central stipulations must concurwith local initiatives and projects or theymust relate and adapt to each other. Ifthis is achieved, both the programmes asa whole and specific projects can be verysuccessful. It was rarely achieved in theimplementation of the first generation ofprogrammes, however, which was dis-couraging for both programme organis-ers and project makers on the one handand of policy makers and vocational train-ing practitioners on the other. A lot ofenthusiasm and commitment has unfor-tunately been squandered, although allthe effort was certainly not entirely invain.

In the meantime, the new, second-gen-erat ion EU programmes (Socrates ,

“In the meantime, the new,second-generation EU pro-grammes (Socrates, Leo-nardo da Vinci and Youthfor Europe) have learned anumber of important les-sons, although the funda-mental problems describedhere still exist in a slightlyaltered form.”


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Leonardo da Vinci and Youth for Europe)have learned a number of important les-sons, although the fundamental problemsdescribed here still exist in a slightly al-tered form.

The second-generationprogrammes andthe Leonardo da Vincivocational trainingprogramme

There are three second-generation, post-Maastricht programmes: Socrates, the edu-cation programme, Leonardo da Vinci, thevocational training programme, and theYouth for Europe programme. Socrates isbased on Article 126 of the MaastrichtTreaty, while Leonardo is based on theguidelines of Article 127. It brings to-gether most of the preceding vocationaleducation and training programmes men-tioned in the previous section, in particu-lar PETRA, Force and Lingua. It aims topromote vocational training in the Mem-ber States comprehensively and encour-age innovation while at the same timeimproving European cohesion. However,it must be borne in mind that these aimscan only be achieved by complementingand supplementing the policies of theMember States, whose autonomy on edu-cation and vocational training issues mustnot be infringed upon.

While the financial resources for the 4-year period from 1995 to 1999 are some-what higher than the sum at the disposalof the preceding programmes, it must stillbe regarded as relatively modest for theprogrammes’ objectives and the growingproblems of vocational training in theMember States. This is particularly truewhen compared with the financial re-sources of the Structural Funds or evenwith the related Community Initiatives(Youthstart, Adapt, Now, etc.) related tothem (Sellin 1994).

There is therefore still a wide gap betweenaspirations and reality, although the dis-crepancy is not quite as glaring as in themost important predecessor programme,PETRA.

The improvements in comparison with thepreceding programmes are:

❏ the Member States and their compe-tent bodies are more involved in projectselection and application of the unani-mously defined criteria;

❏ public tenders have made the selec-tion criteria, which are adjusted annually,more transparent and it has been possi-ble to take more new organisations andprojects into consideration;

❏ the social partners and the expertsnominated by them were involved in thereview of applications and the applica-tion of the criteria by the offices of theCommission;

❏ half of the projects were pre-selectedby the countries themselves, the other halfbeing selected primarily by the Commis-sion;

❏ a clearer distinction is made betweenexchange and pilot projects on the onehand, and studies and analyses on theother.

Thus the decision-making process hasbeen rendered reasonably transparent.Nonetheless, due to these procedures thepath from application to approval is longand sometimes tortuous. Decisions areoften made on grounds of balance, ratherthan for objective reasons. Results can-not keep pace with the programme’s pri-orities, which change faster and fasterfrom year to year. Most projects are de-signed to run for two years, but cannotkeep their deadlines since it takes nearlya year before the money starts to comein. If the project organisers have no meansof pre-financing their projects, which isoften the case, they have to ask for anextension. Complementary funds are alsoa problem in many cases, since the EUonly refunds up to about 75% of the over-all expenditure.

The travel, interpreting and conferencesexpenses ensuing from national and EU-wide coordination processes; the officeswhich support the administration at EUand national levels, the efforts needed todraw up and disseminate information; thecoordination of transnational cooperationacross the projects and topics are allhighly expensive activities. On the otherhand they expedite the exchange of in-formation and experience among the ad-


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ministrative officials and the social part-ners, but on the other hand, they seem toproduce few concrete results. The projectorganisers themselves are beginning tocomplain of a lack of support in imple-menting planned innovations, studies andanalyses. Their results are filed away ei-ther centrally at national level or at EUlevel in offices as was the case with theforerunner programmes. Whether they aremade accessible to other users, publishedor kept available for new projects is anopen question at present. This is the in-tention, but it remains to be seen whetherthe necessary money and personnel areactually at hand.

In order to learn lessons from the currentprojects, lessons which go beyond theprojects themselves, they need to be col-lated according to subject and method.Some attempts have been made to do thisin the hope of producing synergetic ef-fects and ensuring complementarity. TheCommission has formed such thematicclusters and issued invitations to a numberof conferences. Further conferences arebeing planned for 1999 and 2000 in closecooperation with the Member States, toevaluate and disseminate results.

In view of the diversity of the project sub-jects, methods and areas of applicationand target groups, the selected themes or“clusters” were still not specific enoughto be of real help to the projects, how-ever. It also remains to be seen whetherand to what extent the projects can de-liver transferable lessons for innovationin the vocational training systems of spe-cific countries, or at least for some as-pects of their systems. Again, it is too earlyfor a conclusive evaluation.

There are some indications that the as-sessment of the second generation of pro-grammes will prove to be similar to thatof the first-generation programmes, inspite of significant improvements in de-tail.

❏ Leonardo da Vinci (and probably Soc-rates, too) is undertaking too much atonce, i.e. is overloaded with objectives;

❏ The project makers find it difficult touse the funds as they should and in com-pliance with objectives within the setschedule to ensure project continuity anda stable personnel framework.

❏ The Member States involved are notobliged in any way to draw conclusionsfor their own policies, however success-ful the projects may be.

The success of the projects may be facili-tated by the improved framework condi-tions and the involvement of decisionmakers at the relevant levels, but is stillin question due to the aforementionedpoints, just as their predecessors’ was.There is also a risk that studies and analy-ses will fall short of their objectives ofaffiliating with pilot projects and/or help-ing them to become part of the perma-nent system, because the political andinstitutional framework conditions areoften against them. As separate activitieswithin a programme, however, studies andanalyses seem to fulfil other importantfunctions which would not be fulfilled atall in their absence: preparing and fol-lowing-up of projects, bridging the gapsbetween policy and practice, research andapplication, improving scientific bases/terminologies and methods for trans-national comparison or cooperation,documenting successes and failures forposterity, etc.

The importance of studies and analysesas a separate axis should thus be empha-sised. Innovation is essentially inspired bystudies and analyses, and only secondar-ily by pilot projects. Exchange withoutdocumentation of participants’ and pro-viders’ experience, without concentratingon current topics and subjects relevant tothe context make little sense, as demon-strated by the vocational training experts’study visit programme coordinated byCEDEFOP. A combination of expert re-searchers, teachers and trainers, manag-ers and administrative officials, practition-ers from trade unions and enterprises isalways necessary to make the complexi-ties of vocational education and trainingtransparent and to make progress,whether at individual project or systemlevel, in the face of severe challenges.

Review

Questions – including questions at theEuropean level – remain unanswered:

How can more effective progress be madetowards the Europeanisation of vocational

“In order to learn lessonsfrom the current projects,lessons which go beyondthe projects themselves,they need to be collated ac-cording to subject andmethod.”

“A combination of expertresearchers, teachers andtrainers, managers and ad-ministrative officials, prac-titioners from trade unionsand enterprises is alwaysnecessary to make the com-plexities of vocational edu-cation and training trans-parent and to makeprogress, whether at indi-vidual project or systemlevel, in the face of severechallenges”

3) Cf. The school experiment and theestablishment of bilingual “StateEuropa Schools Berlin”, in which thepartner language concept was devel-oped and bilingual features in a com-bination of German with English,French, Russian, Polish, Turkish, Ital-ian, Portuguese or Greek was verysuccessfully introduced from pre-school level on.


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training in support of common social,employment and education policies?

How can exchange programmes be or-ganised to combine l inguis t ic andintercultural competence more effectivelywith the acquisition of occupational com-petencies?

How can experience in neighbouringcountries be guaranteed and appropriatelyrecognised through the acquisition ofparticular training modules?

What support prospects do projects needin order to encourage permanent partner-ships among training centres?

Should bilateral cooperation be given pri-ority over cooperation between three ormore countries, and how can such coop-eration be strengthened and its continu-ity assured?

Training in foreign and partner languages,in particular, is neglected in programmesand projects. Foreign languages shouldincreasingly be taught by native speakersand instruction in the first foreign or part-ner language should start early. In popu-lation centres, bilingual training for chil-dren from a bilingual environment couldbegin in nursery school and be on offerup to vocational school and the end ofupper secondary education3. This possi-bility would seem to be an important pre-requisite for the implementation of thepolitical goal of language diversificationin initial vocational training (EuropeanCommission 1995, White Paper). Thisshould have positive repercussions for theprojects and programmes, which shouldbe spread over several countries if possi-ble and not favour English, German andFrench-speaking countries.

The majority of studies and analyseswithin the framework of the Leonardo daVinci programme should be designed toa greater extent as a scientific supervi-sion of innovations and pilot projects.They should be in the nature of actionresearch and thus contribute to evaluat-ing, disseminating and multiplying results.At present, only isolated studies andanalysis projects meet these requirements.

The competent bodies of the MemberStates should formally undertake to act

on the conclusions of successful projects,possibly with the support of the EU Struc-tural Funds, at the appropriate levels ofintervention, in the vocational trainingfields, regions or sectors and to restruc-ture or expand the standard educationand vocational training on offer. Theirvocational training and continuing train-ing legislation should be adapted accord-ingly.

Twenty-five years of flourishing trans-national and Europe-wide cooperation inthe education and vocational training sec-tors have made a real contribution to thedevelopment of the European Dimensionand Integration. We are still, however, along way from a European Education andVocational Training Policy which meritsthe name. In May 1999, with reference tothe chapter on employment in the Treatyof Amsterdam, objectives were approvedat the highest level within the frameworkof the European Employment Pact to de-velop a European Labour Market whilesimultaneously combating disadvantagesand discrimination in education and vo-cational training, ensuring equal oppor-tunities, effectively combating long-termunemployment and unemploymentamong young people, improving accessto vocational training and continuingtraining, etc. Before these objectives canbe successfully achieved we shall needclear guidelines, indicators for the suc-cess or failure of national measures andprogrammes and also for EU programmesand EU fund intervention. Top downshould meet bottom up and vice versa. Wecannot afford to do away with top alto-gether. It is imperative to agree promptlyon clearly defined criteria for the successand failure of activities in this connection,or, in the short or long term, this policyrisks losing its credibility.

The increased participation of the Euro-pean Parliament in decision-makingprocesses, in accordance with the Treatyof Amsterdam, and the expansion of pos-sibilities for qualified majorities at Coun-cil level, especially in the areas of voca-tional training and employment, shouldsubstantially improve the situation in thenext few years. There is, however, stillmuch to be done at all levels if we reallywant to make progress in modernisingthe systems and adapting the institutionsresponsible for the implementation of


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education, vocational training and em-ployment policies to meet the new chal-lenges and achieve European Integrationin these extremely important fields. A

social and citizen-friendly Europe will notcome about on its own. The Europeanswill have to demand it more stronglyfrom their politicians.

Council Decision of 26 June 1991 in: Official Jour-nal (EEC) 91/C 208

European Commission (1995): White Paper “Teach-ing and Learning – Towards the Learning Society”,Brussels/Luxembourg

Piehl E., Sellin B. (1993): Initial and continuingvocational training in Europe, CEDEFOP, Berlin 1993

Sellin B. (1994): Recent developments in the youthpolicy field, a summary of the new programmes’ con-tent and objectives, pp. 10 and 16, CEDEFOP, Ber-lin

Sellin B. (1996): Do joint European vocational train-ing standards stand a chance? Recognition andTransparency of qual i f ica t ions , CEDEFOP,Thessaloniki 1996

Bibliography


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Resolution of the Ministers of Educationmeeting within the Council of 6 June 1974on cooperation in the field of education,OJ C 98 20.8.1974

Resolution of the Council and of the Min-isters for Education meeting within theCouncil of 13 December 1976 concern-ing measures to be taken to improve thepreparation of young people for work andto facilitate their transition from educa-tion to working life OJ C 308, 30.12.1976(amended by Resolutions of 15 January1980, OJ C 23, 30.1.1980, and of the 12July 1982, OJ C 193, 28.7.1982).

European Commission Recommendationof 6 July 1977 on vocational preparation,OJ L 180, 20.7.1977.

Council Directive of 25 July 1977 on theeducation of children of migrant workers(77/486(EEC), OJ L 199, 6.8.1977.

Council Decision of 16 July 1979 estab-lishing a second joint programme to en-courage the exchange of young workerswithin the Community (79/642/EEC), OJL 185, 21.7.1979.

Council Resolution of 18 December 1979on linked work and training for work ex-perience, OJ C 1, 3.1.1980.

Resolution of the Council and of the Min-isters for Education meeting within theCouncil of 3 June 1985 containing an ac-tion programme on equal opportunitiesfor girls and boys in education, OJ C 166,5.7.1985.

The Comet I programme (1986-89) oncooperation between universities and en-terprises regarding training in the field ofnew technology had a budget of ECU 45million. It financed some 1 300 projectsand established 125 university-enterprisetraining partnerships. The second phaseof the programme, Comett II (1990-94)had a budget of ECU 200 million (includ-ing the EFTA contribution).

The Erasmus programme (1987-95), set-ting up the European Community actionscheme for the mobility of university stu-dents, had a budget of ECU 500 million.

Annex

Vocational training action programmes, 1974-1999

ing, raise the profile of training forwomen, expand such training and estab-lish and strengthen links throughout Eu-rope. It had a budget of ECU 4 million.

Council Decision of 6 December 1994establishing an action programme for theimplementation of a European Commu-nity vocational training policy (94/819/EC), OJ L 340, 29.12.1994. (Leonardo I)

Decision of the European Parliament andof the Council of 14 March 1995 estab-lishing the Community programme Soc-rates (819/95/EC), OJ L 87, 20.4.1995.

Council Decision of 26 April 1999 estab-lishing the second phase of the Commu-nity vocational training action programmeLeonardo da Vinci (99/382/EC), OJ L 146,11.6.1999.

The Petra programme (1987-91) for thevocational training of young people andtheir preparation for adult and workinglife had a budget of ECU 40 million. Ap-proximately 75 000 young people ben-efited directly from the programme, alongwith more than 10 000 teachers and train-ers. Petra II (1992-94) had a budget ofECU 104.2 million.

The Lingua programme (1990-94) to pro-mote foreign language competence in theEuropean Community had a budget ofECU 153 million. More than 7 000 lan-guage teachers received in-service train-ing and 33 000 teachers participated inexchanges.

Force (1991-94) focused on the qualityand quantity of continuing vocationaltraining (CVT). It had a budget of ECU 88million and financed 720 projects involvedin the transfer of expertise and innova-tion in continuing vocational training.

The Eurotecnet programme (1990-94) topromote innovation in the field of voca-tional training resulting from technologi-cal change in the European Communityhad a budget of ECU 9.2 million. It pro-vided funding for the networking of in-novative projects in vocational trainingand for transnational research on specificthemes linked to vocational training.

Helios (1988-91), and Helios II (1993-96)promoted the social integration and in-dependent lifestyles of people with dis-abilities.

Helios II had a budget of ECU 37 millionand enabled 1 150 organisations workingfor the disabled to take part on an ongo-ing basis in discussions and exchangeswith similar organisations in other Mem-ber States.

IRIS (1988-93) was to increase women’sawareness by making known training op-portunities and to promote their trainingby helping to develop strategies and meth-ods. It financed over 300 programmesthroughout the Member States.

IRIS II (1994-98) continued to promoteequality of opportunity in vocational train-


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Vocational trainingin Europe: individualand institutionaldeterminants1

StevenMcIntosh

Centre for EconomicPerformance

London School ofEconomics

1) Acknowledgements: This articlewas originally produced as part of theNEWSKILLS project, financed byDGXII of the European Commission.The project forms part of the TargetedSocio-Economic Research (TSER) areaof Framework Programme IV for Re-search and Technological Develop-ment (RTD). I have benefited fromdiscussions with Hilary Steedman, andparticipants at the EEEG seminar atthe UK’s Department for Educationand Employment (DFEE).

Using data from the 1995European Labour Force Sur-vey for six European Coun-tries: France, Germany, theNetherlands, Portugal, Swe-den and the UK, the deter-minants of receiving voca-tional training, both on-and off-the-job, are ana-lysed. This article arguesthat the training profile ofeach country considered isshown to be determined toa certain extent by its edu-cation system. In Germanyfor example, apprentice-ship schemes are favouredand the typical trainee isyoung, not well qualified,and in a manual industryand occupation. In con-trast, Sweden’s vocationaltraining takes place in theformal educational system,and so the firm-providedtraining is typically of mid-dle-aged, well-qualified pro-fessionals. In the UK, train-ing is not provided by theformal educational system,but the degree of vocationaltraining provision does notseem to reach the levels thatit does in, for example, Ger-many.

Introduction

The merits of vocational training for thefuture growth of western economies con-tinue to be advocated by researchers andpoliticians alike. As competition from thedeveloping world increases, mass produc-tion of standardised products is not seenas the optimum response. Rather, it isthought that firms in advanced countriesmust concentrate on hi-tech goods andservices, providing for the specialist needsof their customers. To do this however,a skilled workforce is required, both touse the increasingly advanced technologybeing implemented, and to create the flex-ibility in the labour input that allows theprovision of specialist goods and services.Vocational training is an important meansof generating such a skilled workforce.While state run schemes can be impor-tant for the development of skills, par-ticularly of very low-skilled individualssuch as school leavers with no qualifica-tions, it is the firms that know their skillneeds, and so are best placed to offer thetraining described above.

This article analyses the characteristics ofthe individuals receiving such vocationaltraining. For example, is it males or fe-males, the young or the old who are mostlikely to receive vocational training? Cru-cially for the upskilling argument pre-sented above, is it the unskilled who aremost likely to receive some training, or isit those individuals who already have ahigh level of formal skills?

The data to be used is described next,followed by a discussion of the resultson training incidence and training inten-sity. Some conclusions end the article.

The data

The 1995 European Labour Force Survey(ELFS) is used to answer the questionsposed in the introduction for six Euro-pean countries: France, Germany, theNetherlands, Portugal, Sweden and theUK. The question used asks respondentswhether they have received any educa-tion or training during the four weeksprior to the survey. Two of the possibleresponses are: ‘received specific voca-tional training in a working environment(without complementary instruction at aschool or college)’ and ‘received specificvocational training within a system whichprovides both work experience and com-plementary instruction elsewhere (anyform of “dual system” including appren-ticeship)’. These were labelled as on-the-job and off-the job training (although notethat the latter category encompassesboth). An overall training indicator wasalso created, with a value of one if therespondent answered positively to eitherof these options.

The data, as supplied by Eurostat, do notcome in the form of individual observa-tions. For every combination of the vari-ables used in the analysis, the data revealthe number of individuals with those par-ticular characteristics, weighted to the na-tional populations. Since the focus of thearticle is on employees in receipt of vo-cational training, all observations for non-employees are filtered out. The numberof respondents in each of the remainingvariable permutation cells was summed,to give the total number of employees ineach country. Summing the number ofrespondents in each variable permutationcell in which the training indicator took


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“(…) the ELFS does not askany questions about the fi-nancing of the training,making it impossible toidentify those on govern-ment schemes, in order todetermine where they ap-pear in the data. Similarly,we cannot separately iden-tify individuals who pay fortheir own training, and in-dividuals on employer-funded courses.”

2) First the total number of respond-ents in each cell containing, saywomen, could be summed, then thetotal number of respondents in eachcell containing women and traineescould be calculated, and expressed asa percentage of the former numberto reveal the proportion of femaleemployees who receive training.

the value of one, then gave the totalnumber of respondents who receivedtraining. This was expressed as a propor-tion of the total number of employees.This analysis could be repeated for anysingle variable of interest, for examplegender2.

It should be clarified exactly who is in-cluded in this definition of training, butunfortunately this is difficult with theavailable data. The questionnaire is clearthat individuals on an apprenticeshipscheme should be captured by the sec-ond training option, that is training withan off-the-job component, since appren-ticeships are explicitly mentioned in thequestion. Cross-tabulating this variablewith the professional status variable re-veals that respondents who answer yesto this part of the question are also al-most always classified as employees, sowe know that apprentices remain in oursample and are classified as receivingtraining, when the sample is reduced toemployees only. It is less clear whetherindividuals on a government financedtraining scheme are included within thedefinition of training used here. The ques-tionnaire does not explicitly mention suchschemes, and so it is not obvious whichof the education and training optionsavailable would be chosen by such atrainee. Even if they did tick one of thetwo training options being analysed, it isagain not clear whether they would beclassified as employees or in education,and so they might not survive the cuttingdown of the sample to employees only.The root of the problem is that the ELFSdoes not ask any questions about the fi-nancing of the training, making it impos-sible to identify those on governmentschemes, in order to determine wherethey appear in the data. Similarly, wecannot separately identify individuals whopay for their own training, and individu-als on employer-funded courses.

There are some other problems associ-ated with using ELFS data for analysingvocational training (see Felstead et al.,1998). First, the question only asks abouta specific four week period, and so thedata obtained only provide a ‘snapshot’of training incidences at a particular pointin time. We can say nothing about thetotal levels of human capital across dif-ferent individuals. Another drawback, as

mentioned above, is that Eurostat will notprovide the data in the form of individualobservations, but only as grouped data.This makes the multivariate analysis morecomplicated than it would have been withthe availability of individual data. Thus,the unit of observation is a single permu-tation of the explanatory variables, andthe dependent variable is the proportionof individuals with that combination ofcharacteristics who have received train-ing in the four weeks prior to the survey.For the more unusual combinations ofcharacteristics the cell sizes are quitesmall, and so the dependent variable maybe measured with error in some cases.

Another problem with the ELFS is the lackof comparability across countries. Al-though the idea of the ELFS is that all EUcountries ask equivalent questions in theirnational Labour Force Surveys, and sendthe data to Eurostat to construct a dataset containing identical variables in allcountries, this does not always work as itshould. In the case of the training ques-tion outlined above, France and Portugal,of the six countries considered, only counttraining incidences that are actuallyunderway at the time of interview. Addi-tionally, in France, exclusively in-housetraining is not counted.

The issue of proxy respondents also re-duces the reliability of the data. When asampled respondent is unavailable forinterview, a member of that individual’shousehold is often asked to complete thequestionnaire on his or her behalf, to re-move the need for the interviewer to callagain, with the resultant additional costs.Proxy interviews may particularly affectthe analysis of the training questions inthe ELFS. While the person conductingthe proxy interview may well know, forexample, the labour force status of theindividual they are answering for, theymight have less knowledge about inci-dences of training received, particularlyif it was on-the-job and informal. Also itappears that proxy interviews are particu-larly prevalent amongst young respond-ents, and it is this group who are mostlikely to receive training.

Finally, it has been pointed out that thesubstantial revisions to the ELFS question-naire in 1992 make an analysis of trendsacross this date very difficult.


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Despite all of these problems, there arebenefits associated with using the ELFSto analyse the determinants of vocationaltraining. It allows cross-country compari-sons to be made, which is the focus ofthis article. Second, different types oftraining (whether an off-the-job compo-nent is included or not) can be identi-fied. Finally, there are supplementaryquestions that supply information on theamount of time, both weeks per year andhours per week, that is spent training, thusproviding details about the quality, as wellas the quantity, of the training observed.

The incidence of training

Only employees, aged 15-64, are includedin the analysis. The first result to note isthat the incidence of vocational trainingdiffers across the six countries under con-sideration. The rate is highest in Swe-den, where 10% of employees receivedsome form of training in the four weeksprior to the survey. The country with thenext highest rate is the UK on 7.3%, fol-lowed by the Netherlands on 5.3% andGermany on 4.9%. In both France andPortugal, fewer than 1% of employeesreport receiving training, due to the prob-lems with the training question in thosetwo countries, as described above.

These figures represent the average train-ing rates in each country, and they varywith the employee characteristics, whenwe consider cross-tabulations between thetraining variable and each explanatoryvariable in turn. The gender differencesare small in all countries, but there arelarge age differences in training rates. Inevery country except Sweden, the young-est age group has the highest training rate.For example, in Germany two-thirds ofall 15-20 year old employees receivedsome sort of vocational training duringthe period in question, compared to one-quarter in France and the UK, and lessthan 10% in Sweden, the Netherlands andPortugal. 73% of all observed trainingincidences in both Germany and Francego to 15-20 year olds. In Sweden the 41-50 year old age group has the highesttraining rate.

The relationship between training andprior qualification level similarly showsdifferences across countries. In Germanyand France, there is an inverse relation-

ship between these two variables, withabout 70% of all observed trainingincidences being received by those in thelowest ISCED group (individuals whohave, at best, completed the first stage ofsecondary education or equivalent). InGermany, one in four such individualsreceived some training during the fourweeks in question. In the Netherlands,individuals whose highest qualification isin the middle ISCED bracket (up to thecompletion of the second stage of sec-ondary education or equivalent) are themost likely to receive training, while inthe remaining three countries, it is thoseat the highest ISCED level (a universitydegree or equivalent) with the highesttraining rate (reaching almost 15% in Swe-den).

Another group of variables considered thejob being performed. With respect to ten-ure in current employment, there is aninverse relationship between this and theprobability of vocational training receiptin France, Germany and the UK, and apositive relationship in the Netherlands,Portugal and Sweden. With respect tothe temporary or permanent nature of thejob being performed, those with a fixedterm contract are more likely to receive aspell of training in Germany, France andPortugal, and vice versa in Sweden, theNetherlands and the UK. Full-time em-ployees are more likely to undertake train-ing in all countries except France andPortugal, where we know there are prob-lems with the data. Data on establish-ment size suggest, somewhat contrary toprevious research and economic theory,that smaller workplaces are more likelyto train their employees in Germany,France and the UK.

With respect to industry and occupationa definite pattern emerges across the sixcountries. In Germany and France, theindustries and occupations with the high-est training rates are typically manual andtraditionally low-skill, such as construc-tion, wholesale/retail trade and hotels andrestaurants with respect to sector and craftworkers, shop workers and agriculturalworkers in terms of occupation. In theNetherlands and the UK, the same sec-tors and occupations emerge as frequenttrainers, but they are joined by more pro-fessional, high skill industries, such as fi-nance, health/social work and education,

“The relationship betweentraining and prior qualifi-cation level (…) shows dif-ferences across countries.In Germany and France,there is an inverse relation-ship between these twovariables, with about 70%of all observed trainingincidences being receivedby those in the lowestISCED group (individualswho have, at best, com-pleted the first stage of sec-ondary education orequivalent).”

“(…) those with a fixedterm contract are morelikely to receive a spell oftraining in Germany,France and Portugal, andvice versa in Sweden, theNetherlands and the UK.”

“Data on establishment sizesuggest, somewhat con-trary to previous researchand economic theory, thatsmaller workplaces aremore likely to train theiremployees in Germany,France and the UK.”


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Table 1 :

The determinants of vocational training receipt - minimum chi-squared estimates

Variable Germany France Netherlands Portugal Sweden UK

Female -0.135*** -0.232*** -0.098*** -0.199*** 0.211*** 0.101***(0.025) (0.045) (0.034) (0.039) (0.044) (0.021)

Age 15-20 2.448*** 3.053*** 1.476*** 0.040 -0.045 1.393***(0.056) (0.104) (0.083) (0.084) (0.221) (0.046)

age 21-30 1.189*** 1.138*** 0.607*** -0.074 -0.021 0.233***(0.052) (0.100) (0.061) (0.058) (0.061) (0.031)

age 31-40 0.439*** 0.406*** 0.372*** 0.122** 0.094* 0.151***(0.055) (0.101) (0.058) (0.054) (0.051) (0.029)

age 41-50 0.558*** -0.708*** 0.080 -0.057 0.022 0.053*(0.059) (0.109) (0.060) (0.054) (0.049) (0.029)

ISCED high -1.505*** -0.508*** -0.641*** -0.035 0.428*** 0.163***(0.048) (0.085) (0.052) (0.075) (0.059) (0.027)

ISCED medium -1.017*** -1.057*** -0.375*** 0.299*** 0.082 0.104***(0.025) (0.035) (0.038) (0.048) (0.055) (0.023)

tenure +6 years -0.473*** -0.226*** -0.232*** 0.151*** -0.251*** 0.249***(0.037) (0.072) (0.044) (0.042) (0.059) (0.023)

tenure 1-5 years 0.224*** -0.189*** 0.281*** 0.155*** -0.038 0.143***(0.021) (0.032) (0.042) (0.044) (0.064) (0.019)

full-time 1.320*** 0.136*** 0.456*** -0.387*** 0.096* 0.318***(0.052) (0.044) (0.035) (0.068) (0.050) (0.028)

permanent -1.978*** -2.056*** 0.998*** -0.413*** -0.083 -0.272***(0.022) (0.054) (0.083) (0.055) (0.083) (0.044)

11-19 employees -0.046 -0.060 0.479*** 0.350*** - 0.331***(0.035) (0.051) (0.074) (0.062) (0.042)

20-49 employees -0.043 0.110 0.224*** 0.241*** - 0.206***(0.033) (0.415) (0.065) (0.054) (0.035)

50+ employees -0.192*** -0.163 0.355*** 0.196*** - -0.169***(0.027) (0.373) (0.053) (0.047) (0.031)

constant -2.253*** -4.259*** -4.226*** -5.241*** -1.972*** -2.331***(0.083) (0.142) (0.140) (0.120) (0.141) (0.094)

industry dummies yes yes yes yes yes yes

occupation dummies yes yes yes yes no yes

number of 21270 7931 10434 2407 1639 16509observations

R2 0.639 0.772 0.184 0.760 0.223 0.191

Note: Standard errors in parentheses * = significant at 10% level ** = significant at 5% level ***= significant at 1% level

and occupations, such as professionalsand technicians or associate profession-als. In Sweden in particular, and to alesser extent in Portugal, it is the latter,professional industries that dominate interms of their training rates.

The above results are all cross-tabulations,and thus it is important to perform amultivariate analysis of the determinantsof the vocational training received, so thatthe independent effect of each variablecan be evaluated, holding the effects of


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all other variables constant3. The resultsare contained in Table 1. The coefficientsindicate the percentage point rise in theprobability of receiving training if thevariable in question holds, holding theeffects of all other variables constant.Note that the variance of the estimator isinversely proportional to the number ofobservations, as described in Greene(1993), thus explaining the large t-statis-tics in the table.

The results are largely in line with thecross-tabulation results described above.Female employees are significantly lesslikely to receive training than males inGermany, France, the Netherlands andPortugal, although perhaps surprisingly,the reverse is true in Sweden and the UK.None of the estimated effects are verylarge, however.

The age effects, on the other hand, arevery large. In Germany, France, the Neth-erlands and the UK, we see significantdifferences in the probability of trainingbetween the youngest age group and theoldest, rising to over three percentagepoints in France. In Sweden and Portu-gal, however, the only age group with astatistically significant coefficient is the 31-40 year old group, who have a highertraining probability than the over-50s inboth countries.

The coefficients on the education vari-ables show that the often-reported resultthat the more highly educated are morelikely to receive vocational training isfound only in Sweden and the UK. Inaddition, there is a statistically significantpositive coefficient on the medium ISCEDvariable in the Portuguese equation. Inthe other three countries, however, for-mal education is inversely related to thetraining probability, with the effect beingparticularly pronounced in Germanywhere the low ISCED group have a 1 anda 1.5 percentage point higher probabilityof receiving training than the mediumISCED and the high ISCED groups respec-tively.

The grouping of the countries with re-spect to their results varies somewhatwhen job tenure is considered. In thiscase, it is France and Sweden that aregrouped together in being the two coun-tries where employees with less than one

year’s tenure are the most likely to re-ceive training. In Germany and the Neth-erlands, there is an inverted-U relation-ship, whereby the training probability ini-tially rises when we consider 1-5 years oftenure rather than less than one year, butfalls again to a lower level than originallyamongst the employees with the longesttenure. As for Portugal, the probabilityof receiving training rises after one yearon the job, but stays constant after that.Finally in the UK, there is monotonic in-crease in the probability of training as jobtenure rises. None of the tenure effectsare very large, however, with the widestdifference in training probabilities beingjust under one-half a percentage pointbetween the longest and the shortest ten-ure employees in Germany.

The expected result that those who workfull-time are significantly more likely toreceive vocational training than part-timeworkers is found in every country exceptPortugal. More surprisingly, when thepermanent or temporary nature of the jobis considered, the training probability isoften significantly higher amongst thoseon fixed term contracts. Only in the Neth-erlands do permanent employees receivesignificantly more training, while the dif-ference is statistically insignificant in Swe-den.

Finally, the coefficients on the workplacesize dummy variables indicate that largerworkplaces are significantly more likelyto train their employees in the Nether-lands and Portugal, and also in the UKwith the exception of the very largest es-tablishments. In Germany, however, theonly statistically significant workplace sizeeffect is on the largest size category, andis negative. None of the establishmentsize effects are very large, however.

As described above, the ELFS data allowus to distinguish between training that isexclusively on-the-job and training thathas an off-the-job component4. Theformer category dominates in all coun-tries except Germany, where only 8% oftraining incidences are exclusively on-the-job, compared to 61% in the UK, 63% inPortugal, 67% in the Netherlands and 71%in Sweden. When the determinants ofeach is considered in turn, some interest-ing differences emerge. The key differ-ences are highlighted in Table 2.

“Female employees are sig-nificantly less likely to re-ceive training than males inGermany, France, the Neth-erlands and Portugal, al-though perhaps surpris-ingly, the reverse is true inSweden and the UK.”

“The coefficients on theeducation variables showthat the often-reported re-sult that the more highlyeducated are more likely toreceive vocational trainingis found only in Sweden andthe UK.”

3) Because the dependent variable isexpressed as a proportion (that is, theproportion of the employees witheach permutation of characteristicswho receive training, as describedabove) a minimum chi-squared,weighted least squares estimator wasused.


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4) The distinction cannot be made inFrance, because exclusively on-the-job training is not included in the data.

We saw previously that in all countriesexcept Portugal and Sweden, the youngare more likely to receive training. Table2 reveals that this is particularly the casefor training with an off-the-job compo-nent, where the age coefficients are verylarge and suggest that the probability of15-20 year olds receiving training is 2.4-3.7 percentage points higher than forthose over 50 years old. These numbersdwarf the age coefficients in the on-the-job training equations, which only onceexceed 1 percentage point, although theyremain statistically significant in Germanyand the Netherlands.

The other variable to have markedly dif-ferent effects on the two types of training

is prior education. A strong negative ef-fect of this variable on training with anoff-the job component is observed inGermany and the Netherlands, suggest-ing training probabilities for the highlyskilled that are 2 and 3 percentage pointslower than those of the low skilled, re-spectively. This was clearly driving thenegative results for the overall incidenceof training in these two countries (as wellas in France, where all reported traininghas an off-the-job component). When ex-clusively on-the-job training is considered,the more usual positive relationship be-tween prior education and training is ob-served in Germany and the Netherlands.In addition, the positive education effectobserved on the overall level of training

Table 2 :

The determinants of on-the-job and off-the-job training, identified separately -key results, minimum chi-squared estimates

Germany Netherlands Portugal Sweden UKon-the-job

age 15-20 0.790*** 0.941*** 0.009 0.048 -0.094 (0.073) (0.088) (0.074) (0.206) (0.075)

age 21-30 1.118*** 0.389*** -0.059 0.009 0.145*** (0.048) (0.059) (0.052) (0.065) (0.030)

age 31-40 0.528*** 0.216*** 0.038 0.141*** 0.090*** (0.049) (0.055) (0.048) (0.055) (0.028)

age 41-50 0.630*** -0.007 -0.041 -0.001 0.031 (0.052) (0.056) (0.048) (0.053) (0.028)

ISCED high 0.066 0.411*** -0.068 0.331*** 0.223*** (0.052) (0.063) (0.067) (0.062) (0.027)

ISCED medium 0.282*** 0.551*** 0.153*** 0.091 0.217*** (0.042) (0.055) (0.043) (0.058) (0.024)

off-the-job

age 15-20 2.732*** 2.427*** 0.040 -4.231*** 3.741*** (0.058) (0.101) (0.083) (0.525) (0.064)

age 21-30 1.543*** 1.455*** -0.074 -0.231*** 1.850*** (0.055) (0.091) (0.058) (0.079) (0.059)

age 31-40 0.542*** 0.980*** 0.122** 0.308*** 1.135*** (0.060) (0.090) (0.054) (0.065) (0.061)

age 41-50 0.311*** 0.659*** -0.056 0.187*** 0.825*** (0.066) (0.093) (0.054) (0.060) (0.065)

ISCED high -2.033*** -3.049*** -0.034 0.396*** 0.053 (0.052) (0.088) (0.075) (0.076) (0.045)

ISCED medium -1.086*** -0.934*** 0.299*** -0.025 0.042 (0.023) (0.035) (0.048) (0.072) (0.031)

Note: Standard errors in parentheses.***=significant at 1% level, **=significant at 5% level, *==significant at 10% level.Key results only reported. All regressions contain the same explanatory variables as those in Table 1.


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Table 3 :

Time spent in vocational training, if training received in the four weeks priorto survey (%)

Time Germany France N’lands Portugal Sweden UK

all <1 week 29.93 9.28 32.26 0.00 75.88 86.25training 1 week - 1 month 6.78 26.66 22.87 69.52 17.34 7.07

1 month - 3 months 2.08 17.68 9.82 0.00 4.56 2.363 months - 6 months 1.50 14.65 5.92 1.31 1.25 0.856 months - 1 year 2.03 9.81 17.22 18.79 0.34 0.721 year or longer 57.67 21.92 11.91 10.37 0.63 2.75

on-the-job <1 week 46.69 - 34.09 0.00 76.73 89.13training 1 week - 1 month 26.04 - 24.35 72.37 16.57 7.20

1 month - 3 months 4.21 - 11.61 0.00 4.65 2.293 months - 6 months 4.31 - 6.30 0.00 1.13 0.596 months - 1 year 5.33 - 15.11 25.20 0.28 0.351 year or longer 13.41 - 8.54 2.43 0.64 0.43

off-the-job <1 week 26.43 9.28 26.43 0.00 73.73 27.06training 1 week - 1 month 2.76 26.66 18.13 65.04 19.27 4.38

1 month - 3 months 1.64 17.68 4.12 0.00 4.36 3.823 months - 6 months 0.92 14.65 4.70 3.38 1.57 6.126 months - 1 year 1.34 9.81 23.96 8.71 0.46 8.381 year or longer 66.91 21.92 22.66 22.87 0.61 50.23

in the UK is found only to exist in thecase of exclusively on-the-job training. InPortugal and Sweden, the positive influ-ence of education is observed on bothtypes of training, although the estimatedeffects are small.

The intensity of training

The ELFS also provides data on the timespent in training, if a training incident isreported, in terms of the total number ofweeks, and the average number of hoursper week. It would be an easy matter totabulate the responses to these questions.However such a table for the weeks oftraining would be misleading, because thequestion is asking about the four weeksprior to the survey only. A training spellof a year would show up within this pe-riod no matter at what point in the year itbegan. At the other extreme, a spell last-ing under one week would have to begineither during the four week period beingasked about, or in the week before thisperiod, if it was to show up in the data.

Thus, all training spells lasting a year ormore will be included in the data, whileonly a small proportion of those lastingunder a week will be included. In gen-eral, the likelihood of the training spellbeing recorded in the data set will varyin direct proportion to the length of thespell. Therefore a simple tabulation ofthe weeks of training variable would sug-gest that training spells in a country are,on average, longer than they actually are.Thus the responses were re-weighted totake account of this problem, applying aweight to each spell length that was in-versely proportional to the probability ofspells of that length being recorded in anannual survey. Tables 3 and 4 report theresults, for any kind of training, and thenseparately for exclusively on-the-job train-ing and training with an off-the-job com-ponent.

Training is clearly most time intensive inGermany, of the six countries consideredhere. Even when the data are re-weightedto allow for the fact that many short du-


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“Just over one in five train-ing spells in France last forone year or more, with thisfigure being just over one-tenth in the Netherlandsand Portugal.”

Table 4 :

Hours spent in vocational training, if trainingreceived in the four weeks prior to survey (%)

hours Germany France N’lands Portugal Sweden UKall 01-20 23.03 48.81 93.08 41.97 83.57 80.23training 21-40 73.09 39.38 6.92 56.55 16.00 16.08

41-60 1.41 11.02 0.00 1.49 0.36 2.9461-80 0.67 0.79 0.00 0.00 0.07 0.6581+ 1.80 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.11

off-the-job 01-20 60.37 - 92.49 54.11 85.00 82.54training 21-40 37.95 - 7.51 43.46 14.58 14.39

41-60 1.63 - 0.00 2.43 0.34 2.3161-80 0.04 - 0.00 0.00 0.09 0.6581+ 0.00 - 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.12

off-the-job 01-20 15.98 48.81 94.96 22.85 80.02 56.44training 21-40 79.72 39.38 5.04 77.15 19.57 33.44

41-60 1.37 11.02 0.00 0.00 0.40 9.5061-80 0.79 0.79 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.6181+ 2.14 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

ration spells will not be captured by thesurvey, over half of all training incidencesreported in Germany last for at least oneyear. Similarly with respect to hours oftraining per week, over 75% of all train-ing incidences in Germany are full-time,in terms of comprising at least 21 hourstraining per week. No other country’sstatistics can come close to matching thoseof Germany. Just over one in five train-ing spells in France last for one year ormore, with this figure being just over one-tenth in the Netherlands and Portugal.France and Portugal are also quite closein terms of hours per week, with just overone-half of training spells involving an av-erage of over 20 hours per week in bothcountries. However, on this measure, theNetherlands joins the two low-intensitycountries, Sweden and the UK, with over90% of all training incidences falling intothe ‘20 hours per week or fewer’ category.In Sweden, three-quarters of all spells lasta week or less, with a further 17% lastingno longer than a month, while only 16%comprise over 20 hours per week, on av-erage. Finally, the UK appears to havethe lowest intensity, in that 86% of alltraining spells last for one week or less,and 80% are for 20 hours or under perweek.

When the training spells are divided intoexclusively on-the-job training, and train-ing with an off-the-job component, it isclear that the latter type typically lastlonger than the former. In all countries,the majority of on-the-job training spellslast for a month or less, and are for 20hours per week or less. The orderingacross the countries in terms of lengthremains the same as that for the compos-ite training measure. With regards to train-ing with an off-the job component, weobserve two-thirds of all such trainingspells lasting for over a year in Germany,and almost 80% taking up over 20 hoursper week. In terms of weeks Germany isfollowed, perhaps surprisingly, by the UK,where one-half of off-the-job trainingspells are of over one year’s duration, al-though only one-third are for more than20 hours per week. France, the Nether-lands and Portugal all have just over 20%of off-the-training spells lasting longerthan a year, although they vary in termsof hours per week. Portugal has overthree-quarters of its off-the-job trainingspells lasting for more than 20 hours a

week, France has 40%, while in the Neth-erlands we again observe the prevalenceof part-time training, with only 5% of off-the-job spells taking up more than 20hours per week. In Sweden, even whenconsidering off-the-job training, almostthree-quarters of such spells last less thana week. Portugal also has a majority ofoff-the-job spells lasting less than onemonth.

Finally, Table 5 contains some very ap-proximate calculations of the average spelllengths of training in each country. Thecalculations are only approximate, be-cause of the grouped nature of the timevariables. The mid-points of each groupwere calculated (for example, individu-als reporting 6-12 months of training wereassigned 9 months for the purpose of thecalculation). Respondents reporting overone year of training were arbitrarily as-signed one and a half years of training.The number of weeks was then multipliedby the number of hours per week to givea rough estimate of the total number ofhours that each spell lasted. The num-bers were weighted as before, to allowfor the higher probability of observing alonger spell. Across all employees, there-fore including those who receive no train-


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Table 5:

Average length of training spells (hours)

Germany France N’lands Portugal Sweden UK

all individuals 82 1 27 1 12 46all trainees 1360 567 222 354 28 135all on-the-job trainees 381 - 186 331 26 34all off-the-job trainees 1545 567 335 389 33 1220

ing, the average spell length is longest inGermany, at 82 hours. Thus, althoughthe reported incidence rate is low in Ger-many, the total amount of training isclearly higher than in any other country,the average number of hours being al-most twice as high as in the next rankedcountry, the UK. In this row of the table,the UK clearly benefits from its high inci-dence rate, offsetting its low intensity.Similarly, France and Portugal are affectedby their very low incidence rates, whichin turn are the result of data problemsoutlined earlier. The second row consid-ers the average training length, amongstthose who have received training, thusabstracting form the incidence issue andfocussing only on intensity. Germany’sposition as leader is strengthened by do-ing this, the average length of a trainingspell being 1360 hours, with France a longbehind in second place with 567 hours.As the focus is now only on intensity, theUK now slips behind both the Netherlandsand Portugal into fifth place, with an av-erage spell length of 135 hours. Trainingin Sweden is the least intensive, with anaverage spell length of just 28 hours.

Differentiating between the two types oftraining, the result that off-the-job train-ing spells are longer than on-the-job spellsis demonstrated in all countries. With re-spect to on-the-job spells, we see a simi-lar pattern across countries as with thecomposite training measure, althoughPortugal is a lot closer to Germany. Withrespect to off-the-job training we againobserve the relatively strong position ofthe UK, with an average spell length of1220 hours, which trails only the Germanfigure of 1545 hours. Even when onlyoff-the job training is considered, the av-erage spell length is still only 33 hours inSweden.

Conclusion

The results from an analysis of the train-ing data in the European Labour ForceSurvey, as presented above, allow us tobuild a picture of the training in eachcountry. In Germany, the typical traineeis young and has no formal qualificationsbeyond compulsory education. He or sheis in a full-time but temporary position,in an industry and occupation usually clas-sified as manual or low-skilled. The train-ing is intensive, lasting over a year in themajority of cases, and taking up more than20 hours per week on average. This pic-ture is therefore strikingly one of an ap-prenticeship trainee in the German ‘dualsystem.’

The pattern of results appears to be simi-lar in France to that in Germany, in termsof the characteristics of those who receivetraining, although training intensity islower in France. It would, however, beinaccurate to conclude most French train-ees are undertaking an apprenticeship, asappears to be the case in Germany.Casual observation reveals that the ap-prenticeship system is not as developedin France as it is in Germany. The reasonfor the obtained results is therefore likelyto be the problems with the French data,as outlined above. In particular, the train-ing question only asks about training withan off-the-job component, and exclusivelyon-the-job training is excluded. Thus in-dividuals undertaking an apprenticeship(ie an example of training with an off-the-job component) will be over-repre-sented among those receiving training, asmeasured by the ELFS. In all countriesexcept Germany, exclusively on-the-jobtraining dominates in terms of numbers,and if this is also the case in France, thepicture of the typical French trainee couldchange significantly if on-the-job trainingwas included. This is clearly a case wheremore effort is required to make the datacomparable across countries.

At the opposite end of the training spec-trum, amongst the countries consideredhere, is Sweden. The typical Swedishemployee in training is middle-aged andwell-qualified, and is working full-time ina non-manual or professional industry andoccupation. Although Sweden has thehighest incidence rate of training, it also

“In Germany, the typicaltrainee is young and has noformal qualifications be-yond compulsory educa-tion. He or she is in a full-time but temporary posi-tion, in an industry and oc-cupation usually classifiedas manual or low-skilled.”

“The pattern of results ap-pears to be similar inFrance to that in Germany,in terms of the character-istics (…). It would, how-ever, be inaccurate to con-clude most French traineesare undertaking an appren-ticeship (…)”

“The typical Swedish em-ployee in training is middle-aged and well-qualified,and is working full-time ina non-manual or profes-sional industry and occu-pation.”


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“(…) in the UK, the educa-tion group with the highesttraining rate is the highISCED group, while profes-sional industries and occu-pations such as finance,education and health/so-cial work industries, andprofessional and associateprofessional occupations,figure prominently.”

“(…) in the Netherlands,(…) the highly skilled inprofessional industries andoccupations dominate inon-the-job training, whilethe young, less highlyskilled employees inmanual industries and oc-cupations receive a lot oftraining with an off-the-jobcomponent.”

has the lowest intensity rate. Most of thetraining reported in Sweden is for lessthan 20 hours a week, and lasts for oneweek or less. It would seem that mostvocational training in Sweden is short ‘top-up’ courses directed at the already skilled.A possible reason for the prevalence ofsuch training in Sweden could be the ob-served long job tenure in that country,which necessitates upgrading of skillsamongst existing workers in a particularfirm, as the processes used are updated.

Between the two extremes of Germanyon the one hand, and Sweden on theother, lie the remaining countries, whichshare characteristics with countries at bothends of the spectrum. For example, inthe UK, the education group with thehighest training rate is the high ISCEDgroup, while professional industries andoccupations such as finance, educationand health/social work industries, andprofessional and associate professionaloccupations, figure prominently. This isparticularly the case with respect to ex-clusively on-the-job training. On the otherhand, the young are most likely to receivetraining, particularly off-the-job, and con-struction is the sector with the highesttraining rate. With respect to intensity,most courses are of short duration, butthere is also a core of one-half of off-the-job training spells lasting longer than ayear. While most training is of the ‘top-up’ variety in on-the-job training, as seenin Sweden, therefore, the UK also seemsto be making some effort to train itsyoung, low-skilled employees, along thelines of the German model. The patternis similar in the Netherlands, where thehighly skilled in professional industriesand occupations dominate in on-the-jobtraining, while the young, less highlyskilled employees in manual industriesand occupations receive a lot of trainingwith an off-the-job component. Althoughthere are far fewer short duration coursesin Netherlands, relative to the UK andSweden, there is also an absence of manyintensive courses, over 90% being for 20hours per week or less. Finally, the datafor Portugal are not very reliable, but thepattern of training seems to be similar tothat in the Netherlands.

It can therefore be concluded that thepattern of vocational training in a coun-try is largely determined by the system of

education in that country. This was es-sentially the conclusion reached by Beretand Dupray (1998) who stated that ‘Onemay therefore posit that the manner inwhich skills are imparted under the edu-cation system partly determines the ex-tent and level of in-company continuoustraining, which in turn will determine ac-cess to training and its effects’. Thus, forexample in Germany since 1969, mostindividuals who do not go on to highereducation go through an apprenticeshipscheme, so that two-thirds of all labourmarket entrants have an apprenticeshipqualification. Apprentices are given atemporary position in a firm, typically forthree years, and taught the skills neces-sary to work in that occupation or sector.Teaching takes place both on-the-jobwithin firms, and also in classrooms out-side the firm (hence the ‘dual’ system).Through such methods, individuals areprovided with the skills that are requiredto keep the German economy competi-tive and progressive. Therefore, the ap-prenticeship ‘dual system’ bears the bruntof skills formation, rather than formal edu-cation in Germany.

The fact that most of the training we ob-serve in Germany is actually apprentice-ship training is revealed by the age struc-ture of the trainees, the prior skill level(almost always no higher than the end ofcompulsory schooling) and the temporarynature of their employment. Indeed,when 15-20 year olds are excluded fromthe analysis, the profile of the typicalGerman trainee changes somewhat in thatthe differences in training rates acrosscategories of demographic characteristics,particularly ISCED levels, are not so stark.In addition, in response to a question ask-ing about the nature of the training, 92%of respondents in Germany said that theirtraining was initial training. France is theonly other country with a majority of re-spondents undertaking initial training(69%), while in the remaining countries,continuing training clearly dominates.Thus, to a large extent the results pre-sented above for Germany are driven bythe presence of large numbers of appren-tices.

In the UK, vocational skills are in generalnot taught within formal compulsory edu-cation, and therefore it needs to supplysuch skills through vocational training.


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While vocational training has increasedin the recent past through the introduc-tion of the NVQ system and the ModernApprenticeship scheme, the above resultsmake it clear that the UK cannot yet matchGermany. The intensity data show thatmost training in the UK remains of veryshort duration, with few training spellsmatching the year-long, more than 20hours per week model of German train-ing. In addition, the results reveal thatoverall, the employees with the highesttraining rate are those who already pos-sess a degree or an equivalent qualifica-tion. As a result, the UK continues tohave much a larger proportion of its work-ing population at the unskilled level ofISCED 2 or below. It is true that, whenonly off-the-job training is considered,spell lengths are impressively close tothose in Germany, but the problem is thatsuch training courses are a minority ofthe total number of courses.

In the Netherlands, there is a mixed sys-tem, with some individuals receiving ini-tial training within an apprenticeship sys-

tem, while others remain in full-time for-mal education to receive their vocationaleducation. Thus, we observe a mixedpattern amongst the trainees in the Neth-erlands. While those undertaking train-ing with an off-the-job component appearsimilar to the apprentices in Germany,there are a significant number in exclu-sively on-the-job training who are alreadywell-educated and in good jobs.

Finally, the results show that althoughSweden has the highest incidence rate, thetraining is of a very low intensity, and istypically undertaken by middle-aged, well-qualified, professional employees. How-ever, this training profile is again deter-mined by the education system, with vo-cational training being offered within theformal education sector in Sweden. Thus,the reason firms do not train young un-skilled employees is because their work-ers have already emerged from schoolingwith the necessary skills, and so Swedenhas a low proportion of low-skilled indi-viduals within its population, despite thislack of initial workplace training.

Beret P., Dupray A. (1998): ‘Remuneration of Con-tinuing Vocational Training and Skill-Building Un-der the German and French Education Systems,’European Journal of Vocational Training, no. 14,pp 36-46.

Felstead A., Green F., Mayhew K. (1998): ‘Inter-preting Training Statistics in Europe: Issuing a HealthWarning,’ European Journal of Vocational Train-ing, no. 14, pp 62-69.

Greene W.H. (1993): Econometric Analysis ,Prentice-Hall, Inc, New Jersey.

References


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Multilingual SchoolEducationas a Key Qualificationin the EuropeanEmployment Area

The European Union is a unique linguis-tic and cultural area. Nowhere in theworld do so many different cultures andlanguage groups live so closely together.Fifteen states have taken this proximityas the starting point for creating a com-mon union. There is no model for thisunion, which must be given a novel form.Comparable economic and political areashave permitted only one, or in the caseof Canada, two official languages. Indiaand African states resolve the languageissue by introducing an international ve-hicular language through the school sys-tem, so as to draw the different languagegroups closer together. In the EU, neitheris this planned nor does any countrydream of subordinating its cultural andlinguistic independence to a common of-ficial language. The linguistic complexityof the EU is greatly increased by the pres-ence of minorities which have alwayslived in many EU countries. Their lan-guages are indeed being strengthenedrather than weakened by the process ofEuropean integration. In addition, thereare the new minorities that have arrivedas migrants since the 1950s. These circum-stances mean that the majority of the citi-zens of Europe do not live in a monolin-gual environment but encounter foreignlanguages on a daily basis. The presenceof more than one language group is thenorm, especially in larger towns and cit-ies. The EU is thus a language area that isunique world-wide, where all the majorlanguages of the Western world are spo-ken alongside other national languages.Millions of migrants have in additionbrought Turkish and Slavonic languages1 .

The EU has thus become a unique inter-face between the languages and culturesof the world.

Language knowledgeas a factor in integration

In an area marked by such a wide rangeof indigenous cultures and languages, theaim must be to overcome the languagebarriers now that the customs barriers aredown (Finkenstaedt, Schröder 1990). Butlanguages are not barriers that can be re-tained or removed at will. The variouslanguages will always mark off differ-ences: the question is simply whetherlarge numbers of people are to be fluentin more than one language, can recon-cile them cognitively in their heads andevaluate them with understanding. Theonly alternatives are either that the multi-plicity of languages holds up the processof integration, or that it becomes anintercultural network through which peo-ple come to get to know and understandone another. Languages do not commu-nicate with each other. Only multilingualpeople can build bridges of understand-ing and open paths to dialogue.

Against a background of general recog-nition of the relevance of language learn-ing, it is noticeable at the same time thatthe distribution of language knowledgevaries widely in many respects among thepopulation of the EU. In general, knowl-edge of foreign languages is increasingamong younger people in all countries,

The EU principle of ‘freemovement’ cannot be im-plemented by means of avehicular language but re-quires a thorough knowl-edge of the language of thecountry in which onewishes to work. This beingso, the intention here is toshow how the demandinggoals of learning associatedwith multilingualism can bewidely attained.

Peter GrafProfessor ofIntercultural Educa-tion at the Universityof Osnabrück

1) Between 1990 and 1997, over2 325 000 immigrants from Centraland South-East Europe migrated toGermany alone, 75% of them from theformer USSR (Ausländer in Deutsch-land, Vol. 15, No 1 (1999), p. 8).


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but varies greatly from country to coun-try2 . While Luxembourg educates abso-lutely all children in three languages andthe Danes and Dutch possess an excel-lent knowledge of languages, the largercountries remain in the forefront of mono-lingual schooling, in which foreign lan-guages are taught only later. In conse-quence, young Europeans cannot neces-sarily converse in a common languageeven today. The crucial change in thedevelopment of language acquisition overthe last 20 years has merely been thatknowledge of English has grown consid-erably among younger people. While thisskill itself is associated with educationalsuccess, around a third of young peoplestill cannot talk a foreign language, eventhough more than 90% of them have re-ceived foreign language teaching3 . Thewide gulf between education and activelanguage knowledge thus represents awide gulf between nations, and betweensocial groups and minorities who, withfew exceptions, continue to achieve con-siderably lower grades at the end of for-mal education. The relationships betweengroups are in fact not being determinedby the forces of integration, but are in-creasingly being influenced by an empha-sis on ethnic identity, the drawing of eth-nocentric boundaries, and even violenceagainst ‘the others’. Against this back-ground, a knowledge of the languages of‘the others’ acquires outstanding impor-tance for integration and for the politicaland cultural, social and occupational fu-ture of Europe.

Expectations of the worldof work

The positive correlation between highincome levels and a knowledge of lan-guages has been demonstrated through-out Europe4 . This suggests that a knowl-edge of languages is a prerequisite foraccess to a successful career. This con-nection will in future not only relate to aknowledge of English, French and Ger-man but also to the other European lan-guages. It will also relate not only to sen-ior positions but increasingly to middle-level careers. According to Robert Picht,steel companies operating internationallyneed not only managers with languageskills but also trained fitters who both

speak foreign languages and know howto get along with the ‘mentality’ of theirneighbours (Picht 1992). What has largelyapplied up to now in international com-panies will increasingly be expected ofthe service sector as well. Heads of per-sonnel in German banks have, for in-stance, started asking applicants not justfor a knowledge of English, which was arequirement in any case, but also for aknowledge of other European languages.In many branches of the law, insuranceand counselling, in hospitals and city gov-ernment, minority languages are alsocalled for.

Language-specific expectations in theworld of work fall into two areas:

The range of relevant languagesIt is no longer adequate to have learntEnglish as the international vehicular lan-guage. In Germany, there is growing de-mand for languages such as Italian, Span-ish, Russian and Turkish, to which toolittle attention is paid in the teaching offoreign languages.

Active, functional language experi-enceIn addition to a knowledge of languages,the ability to use those languages activelyand functionally is called for: only in thatway do they become relevant to employ-ment. Expectations thus include the abil-ity to interact successfully with membersof the other language community and -additionally - to understand their ‘men-tality’. It is therefore not merely a ques-tion of knowing a language, but of theability to communicate spontaneously andactively and of intercultural skills, whichlanguage teaching cannot adequately con-vey by itself.5

Some years ago, Ernst Piehl (CEDEFOP)was already stressing that a knowledgeof languages was not only a requirementin senior positions but also more gener-ally a passport to new employment op-portunities (Piehl, 1992). Moreover, aknowledge of languages is the key quali-fication for occupational mobility withinthe EU. The EU principle of ‘free move-ment’ cannot be implemented by meansof a vehicular language but requires athorough knowledge of the language ofthe country in which one wishes to work.This being so, the intention here is to

“In general, knowledge offoreign languages is in-creasing among youngerpeople in all countries, butvaries greatly from countryto country. . . In conse-quence, young Europeanscannot necessarily con-verse in a common lan-guage even today.”

“In addition to a knowledgeof languages, the ability touse those languages ac-tively and functionally iscalled for: only in that waydo they become relevant toemployment. Expectationsthus include the ability tointeract successfully withmembers of the other lan-guage community and... tounderstand their _mental-ity_. It is therefore notmerely a question of know-ing a language, but of theability to communicatespontaneously and activelyand of intercultural skills,which language teachingcannot adequately conveyby itself.”

2) European Commission: Key Dataon Education in the EU, Luxembourg1995, p. 68f.

3) Idem, p. 69.

4) Idem, p. 70f.

5) Both areas, a knowledge of Euro-pean languages and intercultural ex-perience, were in the minds of theEuropeans from the outset when theyset up the Lingua programme, subse-quently continued through the Soc-rates and Leonardo programmes.


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“It is not just a matter ofsubject knowledge or ofteaching English andFrench, but of languageswhich determine the social,cultural and economic envi-ronment. To be more pre-cise, it is a matter of rela-tionships with Europeanneighbours, either as part-ner countries or as minori-ties in one’s own environ-ment. These relationshipscall for the capacity fordialogue and interculturalcommunication in order tosee oneself through the mir-ror of what is alien.”

show how the demanding goals of learn-ing associated with multilingualism canbe widely attained.

Structural requirementsfor European languageeducation

A new approach to language educationfor Europe must fulfil requirements whichensure that other important occupationaland social aims in Europe are not im-peded.

The criterion of international com-petitiveness

The education of young Europeans mustbe competitive internationally. This meansthat an expansion in language educationmust not take place at the expense of thelevel of final qualifications obtained or ofthe natural sciences. Both are crucial inthe international education market. To-gether with comparable numbers of yearsspent in education, this requirementmeans that it is no solution to expand lan-guage education at the expense of othersubjects. Similarly, the suggestion madeby Finkenstaedt and Schröder that weshould restrict ourselves to ‘receptivemultilingualism’ is equally invalid. Theyargue that largely passive skills (listeningand reading) should be taught in up tofive languages (Finkenstaedt, Schröder1990, p. 37). This suggestion restricts theteaching of competence in English andoverlooks the active language skillsneeded in employment. In the context ofcompetitiveness, the established systemof foreign language education does nottherefore appear adequate for the teach-ing of the requisite range of languagessince it is associated either with restrictedquality of language teaching or with areduction in the knowledge of other sub-jects.

The criterion of balancing social dif-ferences

Despite numerous initiatives, knowledgeof languages varies widely between coun-tries and social groupings. If this inequal-ity of opportunities is not to be exacer-bated, language teaching cannot concen-trate on higher-level courses, nor does the

solution lie in commercial languagecourses, supplementary private schools orperiods spent abroad, which only certainfamilies can afford. The Erasmus and Soc-rates programme itself has only reacheda small proportion of European students,who have privileged access to opportu-nities to go abroad. European languageteaching should be broad-based andshould therefore be provided in generaleducation. It must start early and teachpupils languages before they are split intodifferent types of school. Language edu-cation that is truly European will, in thefinal analysis, not deserve that name if itexcludes or disadvantages pupils fromlanguage minorities, as has been the caseup to now in monolingual schools. Bilin-gual pupils are the ones who are intro-ducing the languages with which we areconcerned into the schools. Minority lan-guages should be taught in schools likeany other lest they turn into dialect orremain oral family traditions, which areof no account in employment.

The criterion of intercultural skill

It is not just a matter of subject knowl-edge or of teaching English and French,but of languages which determine thesocial, cultural and economic environ-ment. To be more precise, it is a matterof relationships with European neigh-bours, either as partner countries or asminorities in one’s own environment.These relationships call for the capacityfor dialogue and intercultural communi-cation in order to see oneself through themirror of what is alien. Interactive lan-guage teaching treads new paths that notonly involve subject knowledge but alsoset up joint learning processes betweenlanguage groups. Innovation and ‘borderpedagogy’ as ways of coming to termswith frontiers expand people’s own pointsof view (European Commission, 1990, p.19). Early language teaching methods areencapsulated in the slogan ‘Learning yourneighbour’s language’ (Peltz, 1989). Theyare not restricted to collecting words andpractising sentences, but aim at carryingout projects in the neighbouring countrytogether with the pupils at a partnerschool. The ability to transcend linguisticand cultural boundaries through joint ac-tivities is acquired with speakers of theother language. These groups are withinreach: they may even live in one’s own


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Foreigners in the EU: major groups in millions(as of Dec. 1995)Turkey 2.8 mFormer Yugoslavia 1.9 mItaly 1.2 mMorocco 1.1 mPortugal 0.9 mSpain 0.5 mGreece 0.5 m

city. Learning with them requires time, aplace to meet and the practice of jointlearning over a period of years. Anyonewho has experienced this in school willsubsequently react differently to both theforeign ‘mentality’ and his or her own‘identity’.

This is an urgent task at the present timesince the potential of minority languagesis available and national schools need totake new cognisance of the need to pre-pare monolingual pupils for a world ofwork that is no longer structured nation-ally6 . We must therefore show at this junc-ture how a whole new concept of lan-guage teaching, in the form of generaleducation which overcomes both socialand national boundaries, can be achieved.This concept will lay the foundations fora broad process of European integrationin the next generation. It is up to the State-run schools to bring it about. This canadmittedly only be done by groups ofschools, in which the different schools settheir own language priorities, therebyjointly building up a wide-ranging schoollandscape that reflects the language land-scape of the city in question.

Pupils as human capital

Today’s pupils are no longer from onehomogeneous majority, but also fromminorities or mixed families in which theygrow up bilingual. They are at home withnot just one language and culture and arethus truly the European citizens of tomor-row. Schools face the task of developingthis human capital so that social and lin-guistic differences are overcome and bi-lingualism is turned into an employmentopportunity. Schools as an institution arethemselves not a national invention. They

are indeed a European invention, werealways associated with language learningand are thus in a position, to which noother national institution can aspire, toprovide support to young people as theybuild Europe (Graf, 1995). This task is notpossible, however, unless they are opento new languages. Since we are dealingwith young people, with their abilities andexpectations, I shall introduce my argu-ment with some data for specific popu-lations.

Minorities in the European Union

Overall, 4.8% of the total population ofthe EU (369 million) are foreigners or EUcitizens not living in their home countries:17 671 500 persons (Ausländer inDeutschland, No 3, 1997, p. 10). Thisgroup is larger in number than that ofmany Member States.

Millions of people in the EU live in aneighbouring country. Many are bilingualand pass on their languages to their chil-dren. They tend to live in the major citiesand are heavily represented in youngerage groups.

‘Foreigners’ in the Federal Republic ofGermany (as of 31.12.1997)

At the end of 1997, 7 365 833 people with-out German passports were living in Ger-many. This group can be divided by ori-gin into a smallish number of minoritiesspeaking Turkish, Serbo-Croat, Italian,Greek, Portuguese and Spanish7 .

To date, the potential language knowl-edge among these groups has largely lainuntouched, present in a basic form butnot developed formally. National educa-tion systems concentrate on monolingualschools. They offer minorities the alter-native of being educated either in thesecond language or in ‘mother tongue’classes, separated from their age group.Failure to develop the language knowl-edge of bilingual children means an un-imaginable waste of the Europeannesswhich is already present in this schoolgeneration8 . These groups can make their‘own’ contributions to the European en-vironment in the national interest of thecountries of origin if they are fully edu-cated in both their first and their secondlanguage. Their own culture will only be

“Schools as an institutionare themselves not a na-tional invention. They areindeed a European inven-tion, were always associ-ated with language learn-ing and are thus in a posi-tion, to which no other na-tional institution can as-pire, to provide support toyoung people as they buildEurope...”

“Failure to develop the lan-guage knowledge of bilin-gual children means an un-imaginable waste of theEuropeanness which is al-ready present in this schoolgeneration.”

6) Why should a young Frenchmanfrom Alsace not start training to workin banking in a city on the other sideof the Rhine, where youth unemploy-ment is far lower and the banks needstaff who are completely bilingual?Why should a German family notchoose a German-Italian primaryschool for their daughter in which shewill, together with children of Italianparentage, learn a language that isspoken in Germany by no fewer than600 000 people?

7) The Eastern European languagesof returning ethnic Germans need alsoto be taken into account.


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Citizens of the most important recruitment countriesin the Federal Republic (31.12.1997)Turkey 2 107 426Yugoslavia (excl. Slovenia, Macedonia) 721 029Italy 607 868Greece 363 202Bosnia-Hercegovina 281 380Croatia 206 554Portugal 132 314Spain 131 636

Source: Ausländer in Deutschland, No 3, 1998, p. 8.

preserved if it survives contact with theforeign culture and is renewed by it(Karvela, 1993). After a phase of mono-lingual assimilation, a classic country ofimmigration such as Australia did not re-alise the significance of the linguistic di-versity of its immigrant groups until the1980s, but has now started promoting in-tensive bilingual schooling when this ful-fils the criteria of ‘social justice’ and ‘eco-nomic relevance’9 . A new multiplicity oflanguages is thus being developed in thecities which was unthinkable in the ear-lier phase of English-language assimila-tion but which conflicts in no way withthe general teaching of English.

Basic concepts of bilingualschools in Europe

The multilingualism in a city can be re-flected in its schools if the various schoolsin a group set different language priori-ties which accord with their social envi-ronments and which each add anotherpartner language to the language plan ofthe group. This leads through to multilin-gual school-leaving qualifications, sincepupils are taught in primary classes tolearn together in two languages (Graf,Tellmann, 1997). Multilingual school edu-cation that follows the ideas put forwardhere is based not on an expansion in thenumber of languages taught but on bilin-gual primary education, on which estab-lished foreign language teaching can buildat secondary level. What is proposed isthus a new type of educational provisionfor pupils of varying linguistic origins, notlanguage support for specific targetgroups, which has proved a failure(McLaughlin, McLeod, 1997).

Bilingual schools which see themselvesas part of the public school system pro-vide children from language minoritieswith the opportunity of learning the nor-mal curriculum in two languages along-side children from the majority, with thelanguage of the country in question re-maining the main school language. Suchschools thus start from the knowledge ofthe minority children and develop it with-out removing the children from the nor-mal school or curtailing the subsequentforeign language programme. At the sametime, minority families are helped to es-cape the monolingual dead end of hav-

ing their children educated in either thesecond or the first language. On the otherhand, children from the majority are giventhe opportunity of learning a neighbour-ing European language as ‘native speak-ers’ in contact with fellow pupils. Whilemonolingual education is divisive and lan-guage support programmes are exclusive,the bilingual path calls for two languagegroups to be treated differently and forthem to be given the chance to learn lan-guages from one another in natural con-tact with one another.

Three guidelines for the developmentof bilingual schools

❏ Bilingual schools are part of the pub-lic education system: bilingual schools area regular part of the public education sys-tem. They reflect a development in edu-cational policy, opening up schools toEurope. They should remain as much likenormal schools as possible. They areschools with the normal curriculum andtimetable of the general education sys-tem which teach a second language fromthe first year of schooling alongside thenational language. The idea of bilingualschools is not to promote specific groupsof pupils in specific languages, but toprovide continuous channels of educationfor pupils in a town or city who are aim-ing at multilingual school-leaving qualifi-cations.

❏ Bilingual schools are for children froma minority and from the majority: bilin-gual schools take pupils’ skills into ac-count, they acknowledge children’sknowledge of languages and develop it.It is therefore necessary to recruit pupilsfrom the majority and from a languageminority in roughly equal proportions. No

8) The example of the Greek minor-ity in the Federal Republic demon-strates the relevance of this group tofuture interchange between the twocountries within the EU: of around 451100 Greeks living in the EU in 1997,by far the majority were resident inthe Federal Republic (363 202). Bothcountries must have an equal interestin the multilingual education of chil-dren of Greek parentage in the Fed-eral Republic, children who will re-turn home, and children of Germanor German-Greek families in Greece.These children bring linguistic andintercultural experiences with themwhich can only be fully developedthrough school education. If this issuccessful, these Greek-German citi-zens will become trustworthy bridgesfor dialogue and mutual understand-ing between the two countries; theircultural and economic importancecannot be overestimated.

9) Lecture by M. Clyne on ‘LanguageChange in Australia’ at the Universityof Osnabrück on 4.5.99.


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selection criterion should be employedbeyond knowledge of one of the two firstlanguages. These schools are neither forgifted children nor costly provision for anelite. Nor are they remedial schools forminorities, but high-quality generalschools for children of normal ability be-ing taught in two languages. They thusavoid the mistake made in ‘bilingual pro-grams’ in the USA of setting up specialschools for pupils in order to preservetheir first languages (Graf, 1997).

❏ Bilingual education runs throughoutthe school career: bilingual schools arenot marked by intensive language teach-ing, but by joint learning in two lan-guages. They therefore need a pedagogi-cal plan which provides for subject learn-ing and language learning to influenceeach other, coordinates the teaching ofreading and writing in both languages,and matches the use of the first and sec-ond language in teaching to the pupils’level of language knowledge. Such a plancovers the entire primary school stage.Parents have the option of choosing it(Riccò, Sandfuchs, 1997).

Bilingual educationand multilingualism

Bilingual schools always start two lan-guages early, either in pre-school classesor the first grade. If the first four years ofschooling are taught bilingually, the nor-mal foreign language programme can beadded subsequently. The two schemes oflanguage teaching complement each otherand provide a jo int foundat ion ofmultilingualism: through bilingual primaryeducation all pupils will learn three lan-guages. Those reaching courses at higherlevels will learn 4 or 5 languages, as inthe European Schools of the EU.

The new quality of bilingual languagelearning has been proved through the prac-tical experience of European Schools andsimilar school projects (Loser, 1992). Theadvantages can be summed up as follows:

❏ Pupils learn European languages nottaught through the established foreignlanguage programme (Engl ish andFrench).

❏ Pupils learn early on to speak and writetwo languages which they can use at the

secondary stage as functional media ofinstruction.

❏ Pupils generally learn neighbouring Eu-ropean languages without an accent bystarting early and through contact withfellow pupils who are native speakers.

❏ Pupils are multilingual when they fin-ish school. In addition to their first lan-guage, they can use two other languagesin employment (second language + Eng-lish).

Bilingual school projects

The ‘Wolfsburg German-Italian PrimarySchool’ (Deutsch-italienische Grundschule/ Scuola italo-tedesca) is a State primaryschool which was founded in 1993 inWolfsburg. This project demonstrates thatthe criteria set out above can be realisedin a normal school. This school has notonly implemented a language teachingplan, but also become a successfully Eu-ropean-oriented school which parents areby now queuing up to join (Riccò,Sandfuchs, 1997; Riccò, 1997; Graf, 1990,pp. 102-115).

Even if new schools are not set up, bilin-gual education can be brought about bythe establishment of bilingual classes inschool centres, which gradually form, asthey continue, bilingual branches withinnormal schools. I have put forward themodel of ‘European classes’ for this type(Graf, 1996). This approach gives parentsand educators a way of introducing bilin-gual branches into a monolingual schoolif it is not possible to found a bilingualschool.

In Berlin, a European school landscapehas been created through the ‘State Euro-pean Schools of Berlin’ (Staatliche Europa-Schulen Berlin, SESB), founded in 1993,which have been expanding from year toyear. They enable Berlin parents to havetheir children educated alongside nativespeakers from grade 1 in German andEnglish, German and French, German andRussian, German and Spanish, Germanand Italian, German and Turkish, or Ger-man and Greek. To date, parents of over1000 children have opted for this model.According to Barbara John, Commissionerfor Foreigners’ Affairs in the Berlin Sen-ate, it has become a ‘trade mark’ of Ber-

“The new quality of bilin-gual language learning hasbeen proved through thepractical experience of Eu-ropean Schools and similarschool projects... The ad-vantages can be summed upas follows:

– Pupils learn Europeanlanguages not taughtthrough the establishedforeign language pro-gramme (English andFrench).

– Pupils learn early on tospeak and write two lan-guages which they can useat the secondary stage asfunctional media of instruc-tion.

– Pupils generally learnneighbouring Europeanlanguages without an ac-cent by starting early andthrough contact with fellowpupils who are nativespeakers.

– Pupils are multilingualwhen they finish school. Inaddition to their first lan-guage, they can use twoother languages in employ-ment (second language +English).”


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“A knowledge of lan-guages. . . creates skillswhich considerably enlargethe field of occupationalopportunities and permitlifelong mobility and dis-covery. Given the currentchanges in the world ofwork, there are no basicskills that are of compara-ble fundamental impor-tance throughout workinglife. Subject knowledge, in-dividual gifts and interestsmay still be important, butspecialist training by itselfis no longer a sure way ofguaranteeing permanentsuitable employment...”

lin education policy, and it largely coin-cides with the proposals outlined here(John, 1997).

Multilingualismas a key employment skill

The peculiar significance of a knowledgeof languages in working life lies in itsspecific quality. Languages are learnt‘naturally’ in childhood. Foreign languagescan be taught competently from grade 1and used productively throughout life.Furthermore, the learner always regardshis or her performance as provisional. Nospeaker in fact uses the full potential ofhis or her language. Languages therefore,more than other skills, call for lifelonglearning. In addition, foreign languagesopen up opportunities for encounter withothers and exploration of what is alien. Aknowledge of languages thus creates skillswhich considerably enlarge the field ofoccupational opportunities and permitlifelong mobility and discovery. Given thecurrent changes in the world of work,there are no basic skills that are of com-parable fundamental importance through-out working life. Subject knowledge, in-dividual gifts and interests may still beimportant, but specialist training by itselfis no longer a sure way of guaranteeingpermanent suitable employment (Grieß-haber, 1998). The significance of languageskills will increase still further if FritjofBergmann’s forecast that part-time jobswill predominate in the future, provestrue. This will mean that different occu-pations will have to be pursued simulta-neously in very different social contexts(Bergmann, 1999).

Multilingualism is a threefold key skillwhich, if taught and developed early, can

guarantee successful employment in Eu-rope in the long term.

❏ Besides providing subject knowledge,a knowledge of languages also brings com-municative social skills, which develop ofthemselves as languages are actively used.This occurs in contact with people, andforeign languages are used in encounterswith people who avoid others because theyregard them as alien. The deeper one goesinto such exchanges, the more one seeksto find out. J. Vaillant describes the multi-ple layers of this activity as ‘getting to know- understanding – communicating’ (con-naître - comprendre - communiquer) (Vail-lant, 1992).

❏ Beyond the social world, languages alsoopen up new opportunities in the infor-mation society. Media and internationalinformation networks can only be usedproductively with the appropriate languageknowledge. The significance of their po-tential must increase if young people takeadvantage of their opportunities in thefields of participation, continuing educa-tion and exchange across regional borders(European Commission, 1997, p. 13).

❏ A multilingual education includes ex-panded intercultural skills in contactwith another language group. At a timewhen ethnic allegiance is being empha-sised, it is vital that large groups of youngpeople from different cultural back-grounds have the opportunity to enter intodialogue and to live together. Those whohave learnt as pupils alongside a differ-ent language group over a period of yearswill know how to cope with cultural dif-ferences. Only if pupils are given the last-ing ability for dialogue today will theyhave the skill as adults to help to buildnew bridges of understanding betweenthe languages and cultures of Europe.

Bibliography

Bergmann F. (1999): Die neue Definition derArbeitswelt.

Deutsch-Französisches Jugendwerk (Ed.) (1992):Mobilität und Identität. Mobilité et identité, Baden-Baden.

European Commission (Ed.) (1995): Key data oneducation in the EU, Luxembourg.

European Commission (1997): Realising Europethrough general and vocatinal education, Brussels.

Finkenstaedt T., Schröder K. (1990): Sprachen-schranken statt Zollschranken? Grundlegung einerFremdsprachenpolitik für das Europa von morgen,Essen.


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Graf P. (1990): ‘Zweisprachigkeit und Lernen inzwei Sprachen’, in: Istituto Italiano di CulturaSezione di Wolfsburg (Ed.): Begegnungstage derSprachen und Kulturen, Wolfsburg, pp. 102-115.

Graf P. (1995): ‘Europa als Ursprung und Perspek-tive schulischer Bildung’, in: Rainer Künzel (Ed.):Europäische Perspektiven - Perspektiven für Euro-pa, Osnabrück, pp. 125-136.

Graf P. (1996): ‘Sprachbildung und Schulentwick-lung auf dem Weg nach Europa: “Europaklassen”in öffentlichen Schulen’, Deutsch lernen, Vol. 21,No. 3, pp. 218-237.

Graf P. (1997) : ‘Lernen in zwei Sprachen.Konzeptuelle Grundlagen’, Bildung und Erziehung,Vol. 50, No 1, pp. 23-50.

Graf P., Tellmann H. (1997): Vom frühen Fremd-sprachenlernen zum Lernen in zwei Sprachen. Schu-len auf dem Weg nach Europa, Frankfurt a.M., pp.205-281.

Grießhaber C. (1998): Zum Problem der kulturel-len Einigung Europas, Frankfurt a.M., pp. 54.

Institut für Entwicklungsforschung, Wirt-schafts- und Sozialplanung GmbH (Ed.): Auslän-der in Deutschland, Informationsdienst zu aktuel-len Fragen der Ausländerarbeit, Saarbrücken.

John B. (1997): ‘Die Berliner Europaschulen. EinPlädoyer für mehrsprachige Schulbildung’, Bildungund Erziehung, Vol. 50, No. 1, pp. 73 - 78.

Karvela J. (1993): Das Fremde und das Eigene: zumStellenwert des Fremdwortes im Deutschen undGriechischen, Frankfurt a.M., pp. 174.

Loser F. (1992): ‘Die Europäischen Schulen -Schulen für Europa?’, Bildung und Erziehung, Vol.45, No 3, pp. 325-343.

McLaughlin B., McLeod B. (1997): ‘Lernen in einerZweitsprache. Entwicklungen in den USA’, Bildungund Erziehung, Vol. 50, No 1, pp. 9-22.

Pelz M. (1989): Lerne die Sprache des Nachbarn.Grenzüberschreitende Spracharbeit zwischenDeutschland und Frankreich, Frankfurt a.M.

Picht R. (1992): Wie soll Mobilität gesteigertwerden?, in: Deutsch-Französisches Jugendwerk(Ed.): Mobilität und Identität. Mobilité et identité,Baden-Baden, p. 49 and p.67.

Piehl E. (1992): Wie soll Mobilität gesteigertwerden? in: Deutsch-Französisches Jugendwerk(Ed.): Mobilität und Identität. Mobilité et identité,Baden-Baden, p. 67.

Riccò A., Sandfuchs U. (1997): ‘ZweisprachigeErziehung. Konzeption und Erfahrungen derdeutsch-italienischen Grundschule Wolfsburg’,Bildung und Erziehung, Vol. 50, No 1, pp. 51-60.

Riccò A. (1997): ‘Die Beteiligung der ItalienischenRepublik an dem Projekt der deutsch-italienischenGrundschule in Wolfsburg’, Bildung und Erziehung,Vol. 50, No 1, pp. 61-72.

Vaillant J. (1992): ‘Comment faire bouger les esprits’in: Deutsch-Französisches Jugendwerk (Ed.):Mobilität und Identität. Mobilité et identité, Baden-Baden, pp. 135.


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Training and linksbetween technicalschools and industrialassembly plantsin northern Mexico

Development of industrialactivity in the borderregion

Since the beginning of the 1970s the cit-ies on Mexico’s northern border haveundergone a radical transformation ren-dering the region strategically importantfor the country’s economy (González-Aréchiga and Ramírez, 1990). What dur-ing the first half of the century were lei-sure resorts for visitors from the UnitedStates1, from the 1970s onwards have pro-vided a base for crossborder industrialactivity such as the assembly and manu-facture of television sets, automobile com-ponents, clothing, medical instruments,toys and other goods2. By the end of the1990s a million people were employed inwhat has become known as the ‘industriamaquiladora’ 3, some 700 000 of them liv-ing in settlements close to the frontier(INEGI, 1998).The number of those em-ployed rose by 20% in 1997 and by 10%in 1998.

The transformation was the product ofvarious economic and other factors4. Thelate 1960s brought the expiry of the so-called ‘Plan de Braseros’ under which theUnited States used to accept a certainquota of Mexican farmworkers. Cessationof the arrangement triggered an increasein joblessness in the cities close to thefrontier which in 1965 the governmentsought to palliate with a plan for indus-trialisation of the border zone. It thenmade efforts to attract foreign capital into

the zone through legislation granting fa-vourable tariff conditions for foreigngoods entering Mexico for processing andsubsequent re-export to the United States.

As the inward flow of investment in thistype of business expanded, those own-ing land in the Mexican cities began tooffer it for development into industrial es-tates and to accommodate employmentand tax advisory services and the like.

Moderate growth during the 1970s and thefirst part of the 1980s gave way to a spec-tacular surge in assembly activity from themid-1980s onwards. In 1980 the numberof those working in the sector was under120 000; by 1986 the figure had doubledto almost 250 000 and by the late 1990shad topped the million mark. Of this to-tal, more than 200 000 people are locatedin Ciudad Juárez and around 140 000 inTijuana - the two cities with the highestnumber of workers in this sector5. Thelegislative regime and other measures im-plemented by the Mexican governmentfound an appropriate match in the de-centralisation taken in hand firstly byNorth American and subsequently byJapanese companies which migrated to-wards the south-west of the United Statesand the north-west of Mexico (Milkman,1991). Most firms choosing to decentral-ise their activities were in the electrical/electronics, car and ready-made clothingindustries (INEGI, 1998).

What were the factors persuading the USand later Asian firms to invest in the bor-

AlfredoHualdeAlfaroLecturer and re-searcher at Colegiode la Frontera Norte,Tijuana (Mexico)

1) Service activity in the region mainlyinvolved casinos, bars, brothels andrestaurants. Now there is a consider-able diversity of commercial activityincluding pharmacies, clothes shops,perfume and cosmetic stores, etc.

2) Although in some studies it hasbeen calculated that the number ofMexican-owned assembly plants inthe frontier cities such as Tijuana andCiudad Suárez is substantial invest-ment of this kind is unimportant interms of overall employment. Gener-ally these are clothing, furniture fac-tories and others producing traditionaltypes of goods.

3) Originally the word ‘maquila’ re-ferred to the portion of flour givenby peasants to the miller for grindingtheir corn. But later came to be ap-plied to the type of activities withwhich we are concerned here and canbe compared with those in the FreeZones that in English are referred toas ‘assembly plants’.

4) A detailed account of the develop-ment process wi l l be found inFernández Kelly (1983), Carrillo andHernández (1985) and Hualde (1999).

5) Ciudad Juárez is in the state of Chi-huahua and close to El Paso in Texas.Tijuana, which is in the Mexican stateof Baja California, is on the frontierwith California.

The data, duly interpreted,leads to the conclusion thatthe two sectors are not es-tranged or disconnected.Multiple links are forgedunder labour market pres-sure. However, the mecha-nisms are to some extentambiguous. Being highlydependent on personal con-tacts they constitute a frag-ile basis for ensuring conti-nuity of specific links. Evenso, social networking maywell ensure their perma-nence.


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der zone of Mexico? The first, as has beenconstantly repeated in the various studies,was the low cost of wages, which has,moreover, decreased further over the pastfifteen years because of the successive de-valuations of the Mexican peso in the 1980sand 1990s6. In 1998 the average hourlywage outside the agricultural sector in theUnited States was $12.50, whereas that paidto workers in the border zone assemblyplants of Mexico was $2 an hour (ILO,1998)7. The border zone also came off bestin comparisons with the countries of Asia.A 1997 study of assembly plants in CentralAmerica calculated that hourly wage costsfor Costa Rica, which should be more or

less in line with Mexico, were $2, against$4 for Korea and Taiwan and $9.30 for theUnited States (ILO 1997:55).

The advantages, however, did not lie onlyin the wage costs for workers but also, asthe following table based on a survey ofsomewhat over 100 plants in Tijuanashows, in the salaries paid to administra-tive and technical staff.

Table 1Another important factor, especially so faras Tijuana and Ciudad Juárez are con-cerned, was the weakness of the tradeunions coupled with a workforce with lit-tle organisation and no union experience8.The border zone has a number of advan-tages from the geo-economic point ofview, being close to the vast US marketand consequently on a direct trade routebetween North and South America.

The border industry has come under criti-cism from academics, opposition partiesin parliament and activist groups inMexico, Canada and the United States. Themain objections have been:

❏ Low salaries and poor working condi-tions, particularly from the point of viewof health9, and the restrictions on the for-mation of independent unions.

❏ Jobs created are mainly unskilled.

❏ The assembly plants make little use oflocal suppliers.

❏ The damage caused to the environ-ment.

We shall not attempt any detailed assess-ment of these criticisms but merely statethat in our view the most importantchange brought about by the border in-dustry has been to bring in factories com-peting on the world market, with newtypes of work organisation and a steadilyincreasing number of stages of productmanufacture. All this means jobs for agrowing number of Mexican techniciansand engineers who have the chance ofbecoming plant managers. In all therewere 118 000 production technicians in1998, something over 10% of the totalnumber employed (INEGI, 1998)10.

General Motors’ decision to establish aplant in Ciudad Juárez for the design of

Table 1:

Wages according to occupational categoryin Tijuana assembly plantsTijuana Average weekly Multiple of

wage including starting wagefringe benefits for an

(in Mex, pesos), ordinary workerMarch 1998.

Plant manager 14 563 32.70Factory manager 12 226 27.46Engineering manager 8 731 19.61Industrial relations manager 8 500 19.09Information systems manager 8 468 19.02Production manager 8 444 18.96Manager responsible forproduction and materials control 8 115 18.22Training manager 7 964 17.89Quality control manager 7 827 17.58AA engineer 5 157 11.58ISO 9000 coordinator 3 411 7.66Personnel supervisor 3 065 6.88Training supervisor 2 950 6.62Materials planner 2 680 6.02Toolmaker 2 450 5.50C engineer 2 032 4.56A electromechanical technician 1 682 3.78A electronics technician 1 628 3.66Injection moulding mechanic 1 504 3.38A quality control technician 1 390 3.12C electronics technician 1 059 2.38Data typist 835 1.88A machine operative 821 1.84A injection mould operative 597 1.34Fitter with over six months’ experience 551 1.24Experienced fitter 514 1.16Wages of fitter on starting 445.29 1.00

Source: Ruiz-Morales Asociados,Survey of Tijuana assembly plants (1998)

6) The theory carrying greatest weightin explaining these phenomena wasthat of the New International Divisionof Labour (Frobel et al., 1984).

7) The figure for manufacturing in-dustry in the United States is actuallyhigher than the figure given here andincludes wages for those employedin the service sector, where the rateis frequently lower.

8) Although weak unions might be anattraction for employers, this does notmean that there is no conflict betweenmanagement and workforce in theborder assembly plants (Hualde andPérez Sáenz, 1994; Quintero, 1998;Cook, 1996)


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electrical car components is symptomaticof the emergence of a heterogeneouspanorama of high-tech firms of complexorganisation existing alongside otherswhere manual work in improvised work-shops is the rule (Table 2). The more in-novative plants tend to be suppliers ofthe car and electronics industries11.

Table 2

Investigating links:Unknown factorsand research methods

This varied panorama incorporates a largenumber of unknown factors as regards thetraining given to employees in the vari-ous categories. To clarify the situation oneneeds to ascertain the relationship andlinks between the establishments con-cerned particularly with training techni-cal personnel and the assembly plants.Among the questions requiring an answerare:

Is there a close link between the borderindustry and the technical schools in thearea, reflecting a major breakthrough inindustrialisation? Or to put it another way,are the firms led by the nature of theiroperations to develop links with the tech-nical training centres that are quantita-tively and qualitatively different12?

And regardless of the answer:

How is the link achieved and what formdoes it take? Is it mainly formal? Whotakes the initiative in establishing such alink, the schools or the firms? Is thereintensive, regular and wide-ranging col-laboration between the two or are wemerely faced with early, experimental ini-tiatives?

A second set of questions stems from thecreation of new types of training coursesand adjustments being made to the cur-ricula and is concerned with whether thecurricular changes proposed by the train-ing centres bring them into line with ac-tual day-to-day tasks at the workplace.

Thirdly we need to enquire into the ca-reer routes graduates take and their re-sulting occupational identities. Are theymarked by consistent progress with rec-ognition within the firm and in their so-

cial environment? Or are they discontinu-ous and uncertain, offering little in theway of future prospects?

The subject is relevant for two main rea-sons:

❏ The rapid growth in the number em-ployed in the border industry, the size ofplants and their increasing organisationalcomplexity.

❏ The importance given by the Mexicangovernment to policies linking the edu-cation sector and industry in the late 1980sand early 1990s (Casas and Luna (coordi-nators), 1997).

Research conducted in Tijuana and CiudadJuárez, the two strongholds of the borderindustry, focused on three main groupsof subjects - the training centres, the as-sembly plants, and graduates of the train-ing centres employed in the plants. Onthe basis of their interaction we shall lookat a) the societal aspect in the specificcontext of each city, b) the relationshipbetween changes in training courses andcurricula and the tasks and occupationalcategories as they currently exist in theassembly plants, and c) the graduates’ oc-cupational identities.

We considered it appropriate for this studyto utilise a method of triangulation com-bining various theories and investigativetechniques (Jick, 1979; Bericat, 1998;

9) A recent summary of aspects of in-dustrial health and safety will befound in Kouros (1998).

10) The classification is somewhat im-precise since the figure includes tech-nical and engineering workers whocannot be considered administratorsin the sense of general managers andplanners.

11) In Tijuana some 35% of plants arein the electronics sector, which inCiudad Juárez employes 58% of thelocal workforce (Alba, 1998: 236).

12) For further information on thissubject with reference to Mexico andLatin America see De Ibarrola (1993),De Ibarrola and Gallart (1994), Gallart(1992) and Gallart (1995).

Table2:

Production systems in border assembly plants

1) Intensive working. This applies in plants where manual work predominateswith long working days and little organisation. May be considered proto-Taylorist(Novick, awaiting publication).

2) Rationalised working. Introduction of automation; incorporation of factory-type operations; rationalisation of work and just-in-time production, team work-ing, human resource management methods. Combination of flexible working andseries production.

3) Predominance of professional skills. Predominance of engineers, design op-erations, computer-assisted design.

Source: Carrillo y Hualde, 1997, Hualde, 1997


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Bryman 1987; Bryman and Burgess,1994)13.

The research comprised:

❏ Two surveys of the educational andtechnical training centres in the two cit-ies. Interviews were conducted with allthe public teaching establishments in1992 and key aspects were updated in1996. The centres covered were at threelevels: a) technical training centres(CECATIS) that provide training coursesof up to 400 hours in traditional tradessuch as electrician or carpenter, as wellas in basic computer operation, electron-ics and other less traditional occupations,and b) middle- and higher-level trainingcentres (CONALEP) that run courses ofsix semesters leading to a middle-leveltechnician qualification, to qualify forwhich students must have completedtheir secondary education. Some of thesecentres are called technical baccalaure-ate centres (CEBATYS) or baccalaureatecolleges (COBACH)14, and c) centres ofhigher education such as universities andtechnical colleges that award degrees inengineering and the like.

❏ Two surveys were carried out in theindustrial sector, in 1993 and 199415. Thequestionnaires used in each case werevery similar. The first survey involved in-terviews with human resource managersin 18 plants in Tijuana and 13 in CiudadJuárez with which the training centresclaimed to have links. In the first semes-ter of 1994 a second survey was con-ducted covering 51 plants and involvinginterviews with human resource manag-ers in the electronics branch, 20 of themin Tijuana and 31 in Ciudad Juárez16.

❏ Thirdly two surveys of graduates werecarried out in order to ascertain their train-ing and career routes. Each survey cov-ered 100 engineers and 100 techniciansin each city. The questionnaire was de-signed to identify various events in thecourse of their working career with theemphasis on the biographical link be-tween education/training and a person’sworking career. Some authors refer in thisconnection to a ‘succession of positions’to distinguish it from other possible sub-jects for analysis such as a biographicalnarrative or a succession of events in a‘life cycle’17.

❏ Participative research involved attend-ing meetings of the Tijuana Liaison Com-mittee over a period of two years. Thiswas the only body that brought togetherthe majority of training bodies mentionedand representatives of industry.

❏ Semi-structured interviews were con-ducted with 51 engineers and 15 techni-cians in two stages.

The societal aspectof linkage

The societal analysis had a twofold ob-jective, namely to quantify the interactionbetween training centres and firms in or-der to discover which organisations in-tervene most decisively and which playlittle or no part. This enabled us to esti-mate the degree of integration in the twocities being considered. Secondly a seriesof qualitative criteria allowed us to makean initial estimate of the degree of con-solidation and scope of the link. By scopewe understand coverage in the sense ofcourses, practical work, research, etc. Theterm consolidation is used to signify thedegree of continuity observed and thefactors contributing to its enhancement,interruption or alteration.

Links by agreement

Of the training centres covered in thesurvey of training centres 76.9% claimedthat some form of interchange took placebetween them and the assembly plants.Most of these links were created duringthe 1980s (see Tables 3 and 4) and werethus of a fairly recent nature and limitedas regards maturity and consolidation.

However, in addition to the temporal as-pect, one must also take into account thediversification of the centres’ links withthe industrial firms. The 1996 data showsa large number of agreements as exist-ing, with some centres having signed asmany as 30. While this suggests very wide-ranging links on the part of the trainingcentres, it does not necessarily mean thatthey cover the whole of manufacturingindustry, as Tijuana has around 600 as-sembly plants and Ciudad Juárez around250. The survey of firms showed thatthose plants entering into agreements didso with two or three training centres. Oth-

13) In our case using different sourcesof information and methods makes itpossible to arrive at more precise con-clusions for two main reasons. Thefirst is that some survey data can onlybe understood on the basis of inter-views, particularly in the educationsector where the creation of links doesnot necessarily imply their function-ing in practice. Secondly the impos-sibility of conducting studies that werestatistically representative led us toadopt qualitative methods. Finally thesubject of occupational identities callsfor both a qualitative and a quantita-tive perspective.

14) The baccalaureate colleges do notaward formal qualifications. They aresimply schools at which students canstudy for the baccalaureate with op-tional technical subjects

15) The results of the first survey arecontained in a report sent to the LatinAmerican Education and Work Net-work in July 1993 and those of thesecond in a report forwarded to theNational Council for Science andTechnology in October 1994, and alsoin Hualde (1999).

16) Because of the wider scope of thesecond survey and the biases inher-ent in the first we shall use the resultof the second for statistical purposes.The survey carried out in the plantscannot be considered representativesince at that time the number of suchplants in Tijuana was in the region of600 and in Ciudad Juárez over 300.However, we consider it important topoint out that the total number ofpeople employed in the factories wesurveyed was 30 287, representingabout 15% of the total workforce inthe sector in 1994.

17) The ‘succession of positions’ re-lates the posts held in succession bya person with the situations that de-termine his social status. This socio-logical focus give precedence to ana-lysing the positions insofar as theyreveal the functioning of the institu-tional systems. See Coutrot and Dubar(1992).


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erwise it would not be possible to ex-plain how in a survey of 200 assemblyplants conducted by the Tijuana LiaisonCommittee 80% claimed to have no con-tact with local training centres and to haveno knowledge of the courses they pro-vided. In our own survey of assemblyplants in the electronics field more thanhalf were unaware of the training coursesoffered by local centres.

It would therefore seem that Tijuana hasa small nucleus of plants that maintaindefinite links with the education and train-ing system. These are generally largerfirms with a more complex organisationthat employ a substantial number of tech-nical staff. In the case of Ciudad Juárezthe links were more extensive as most ofthe firms there are larger.

Tables 3 and 4Not all agreements actually function inpractice, although the fact that they havebeen signed is in itself proof of strength-ening links between most centres andsome segment of the border industry.

It should also be pointed out that mostagreements aim to secure benefits for stu-dents in the form of work experience op-portunities, and that this, while important,is somewhat limited. Aspects such as re-search and development or technologi-cal project work, for example, are notmentioned.

Finally the agreements change when thetechnicians and engineers employed inthe factories move to another job, espe-cially if they are also instructors. Althoughit is impossible to gain any statistical ideaof the frequency with which this occurs,it was clear from the interviews that thelink is very reliant on personal contacts.

The agreements constitute definite evi-dence of links existing between the twosectors, as does the proportion of gradu-ates who find employment in the assem-bly plants. This is not attributable so muchto their efficient operation or to othermechanisms such as the employment ex-changes run by 22 of the 39 centres as tothe increased number of jobs available.

Links and the labour market

The survey shows that generally speak-ing the assembly plants are an impor-

Table 3

Tijuana training establishments and their links

Establish Created Registered New courses Agreements-ment in students

CONALEP 1980 920 1 Productivity 25Tijuana I 2 Tax accountancy

3 Electrician4 Industrial electronics5 Maintenance of micro-

computers6 Automotive engineer

CONALEP 1982 916 1 IT 22Tijuana II 2 Foreign sales

COBACH 1981 2800 1 General administrativeassistant 36

Tijuana 2 General control assistant3 Industrial quality assistant4 Information technology

assistant

COBACHPlantel 1983 1400 1 General administrative

assistant 36la Mesa 2 General control assistant

3 Industrial quality assistant4 Information technology

assistant

CBTIS 155 1982 1911 1 Accounting technician 22 Office computer systems3 Design of moulds for plastics

materials

CBTIS 116 1978 1134 1 Electrical/mechanical2 Construction3 Tax computer operator4 Production

CETYS UniversityCETYSCECATI # 6 1990 1 Computer technician

UABC 1961 1 Degree in officecomputer systems

2 Degree in communications3 Computer engineer4 Degree in international

business5 Electronics engineer

CECATI # 144 1988 1 Computer technician2 Tourist service technician3 Electrical technician

UNIV. 1 AccountingIBEROAMERICANA 2 Degree in administration

3 Nursing

Source: Hualde Alfredo (1996), Survey of the education sector in Tijuana and Ciudad Juárez


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Table 4

Ciudad Juárez training establishments and their links

Establishment Created Registered New courses Agreementsin students since 1990

(1996-1997)

Cecatis 121 1986 783 Microcomputers and electricity 6– Work scholarships– Visits– Stays– Exchange of information– Donations

Cecatis 87 1983 1525 – Industrial maintenance 13(1995-1996) (1995-1996)

Technological 1964 5958 – Industrial engineer (1991) 33college – Electrical engineer (1991) 30 with firms

– Mechanical engineer (1991) Practical work– Admin. degree (1993) 3 with employer– Specialist environment engineer organisations– Doct. Industrial engineering (1995) Advice and training– Admin.

ITESM 1983 1098 – Degree in international business 15(Monterrey – IS engineerTechnologicalCollege)

Conalep I 1980 823 – Manufacture of articles of plastics materials 6

Conalep II 1985 968 – Technical professional (hotel) 11– Technical professional (nursing) Practical work

Cetis 61 1980 800 – Baccalaureate in office computer systems 6– Computer maintenance technician Practical work

Cebatis 128 1979 1900 – Programming technician

Cebetis 114 1978 1079 – Programming– Automative electronics

Source: idem

tant source of employment for thosegraduating from the training centres cov-ered. Only graduates from five plants hadnot found jobs in the assembly plants inthe year preceding the survey. At theother end of the scale in ten of the cen-tres the percentage of graduates em-ployed in assembly plants varied be-tween 58% and 95%. Graduates from the

middle- and higher-level training centresand from the technical training centres(CECATIS) represent the highest propor-tion of the student body finding employ-ment in the assembly plants. Here linkswith the labour market are formed be-fore students finish their course, as alarge number of them combine studywith work.


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Table 5

Assembly plants and graduates of local training centres

Technical CETYS CECATYS CBTYS Public CONALEP Privatesecondary technological technologicalschools colleges colleges

Tijuana% of plantswithgraduates 30 10 25 15 7 55.0 5.0

CiudadJuárez 59.4 40.6 43.8 40.6 100 62.5 62.5

Source: Hualde, Alfredo: Survey of managers in border assembly plants, 1994

The survey of assembly plants producedvarious items of data that confirm theimportance of the link with the labourmarket:

A high percentage of plants employ stu-dents from certain training centres suchas the public technological colleges andthe public universities. In Ciudad Juárezall the plants covered by the survey haveamong their personnel people who havegraduated from the public technologicalcolleges and 93.8% graduates emanatingfrom the public universities.

A second fact that emerges is that theplants in Ciudad Juárez employ moregraduates than do those in Tijuana, prob-ably owing to their size. This is true forgraduates of secondary school coursesruns by the public CETYS, of graduatesof the CECATYS, the CBTYS, public tech-nological colleges and, though lessclearly, of graduates of the CONALEP. Thegreatest difference is between the privatetechnical institutes, where the figure is62.5% for the plants in Ciudad Juárezagainst 5% for those in Tijuana (see Ta-ble 5).

Table 5Another interesting piece of informationemerging was that the number of gradu-ates of public training centres outstrippedthat of private centres, although in CiudadJuárez one finds a substantial number ofgraduates from private technical institutes.

Taking the average figures for two citiesat four levels of linkage we find:

❏ At the highest level where more than70% of plants claim to have graduatesfrom one training body there is mentiononly of the public technological collegesand universities.

❏ At the second-highest level between50% and 70% recruit from the middle- andhigher- level technical col leges(CONALEP), which train technicians.

❏ Between 30% and 50% of plants recruitfrom the CECATYS (36.5%), the CBTYS(30.8%) and the private technical colleges(40.4%).

❏ At the lowest level are the private tech-nical colleges (25%) and the private uni-versities (26.9%).

The figures above indicate a decreasingdegree of linkage from the high-level in-stitutions downwards to the technicaltraining centres, with the middle- andhigher-level training institutions in themiddle. A second vector, again in decreas-ing order, would seem to be from thepublic to the private centres. How canthis information be reconciled with thetraining centres’ claim that middle- andhigher-level centres such as CONALEP fur-nish the largest proportion of assemblyplant employees? A possible explanationis that the graduates of universities offer-ing a wide variety of courses also offergraduates a wider range of jobs outlets.A second possibility is that the techniciansstart work in the assembly plants but, aswe discovered in the course of our inter-


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views, do not remain there. Finally thediscrepancies between what the centresclaim and what can be concluded fromthe survey of plants may be due to thenature of the plant sample which, aspointed out, was not representative.

Teachers as agents of linkage

Teachers are an important means of link-age because they are employed in botheducation and industry. A third of train-ing centres reported that in 1992 20% ormore of their instructors were also work-ing in assembly plants. In seven centresthe figure was more than half.

Linkage through instructors is, paradoxi-cally, also expressed in the attrition ofteaching personnel in the technical edu-cation centres. In 11 centres out of the 33which maintain links with the border in-dustry the attrition rate for teaching per-sonnel was in excess of 10% in 1992 andin seven of the 11 cases was over 20%.The attrition is primarily attributable tothe higher salaries obtainable in indus-try, whether in the assembly plants orelsewhere; another major factor is that in-structors seek to set up on their own ac-count18.

However, working in both industry andthe education system simultaneously isnot incompatible and many teachers seekto boost their income by doing so.

The headhunting practised among teach-ing staff, particularly in the higher-levelinstitutions, makes it difficult to maintaina teaching body of high quality. Even so,teachers who also work in the border in-dustry are the main channel for commu-nicating plants’ needs at middle and pro-fessional level. The important role theyplay in this regard is reflected in the hir-ing of qualified personnel.

‘I regard the person I first began to workwith as a friend. He is an engineering in-structor; we met because he gave a coursein industrial electronics. He once said tome ‘You are the only person who evergot 10 out of 10 in a course of mine’. Ayear later I rang him and he said ‘Comeover, we’ve got work for you. You cantake on all the projects I haven’t been ableto do myself because I was tied up withother responsibilities.’ (Engineer aged 25).

Thus besides teaching at a training cen-tre, instructors seek out from among thestudents they know those best suited towork in industry. This creates a networkof friends and acquaintances linked by acommon interest in work.

These same instructors help the educa-tion centres by providing courses whichemployers need. However, in the borderzone the courses are another form of link-age that is relatively fragile by virtue ofbeing closely bound up with the specificneeds of employers at a given time.Moreover, larger plants have their ownin-company training schemes to inculcatequality standards and organisational pro-cedures. In matters connected with ma-chinery and equipment they frequentlyhave recourse to their own salesmen astrainers. This puts the training centres ata disadvantage compared with situationsin which training centres make good manyof the shortcomings in terms of trainingand skills in an agglomeration of smalland medium-sized firms19.

Liaison committees

Regular attendance at the meetings of theTijuana Liaison Committee, which was dis-mantled in 1995, provided a means of as-sessing the possibilities for action opento a type of municipal organisation thatwas created in a number of Mexican cit-ies as the result of an initiative on thepart of the Secretariat for Public Educa-tion20.

The Tijuana Liaison Committee includedrepresentatives of all employers’ associa-tions and educational bodies in the city.

During its lifetime the Committee was con-fronted with three basic problems:

❏ A certain lack of initiatives with regardto linkage.

❏ A lack of the funds needed to pursuea suitable strategy.

❏ A lack of real commitment on the partof some institutions.

The lack of initiatives refers not just to alack of proposals as to how to improveliaison, but also to the lack of dynamismin the committee’s operation and to the

18) The persistence of attrition in 1996was confirmed in interviews con-ducted at the centres.

19) This has recently been the casein local systems such as the toy in-dustry in Ibi (Alicante) where we con-ducted interviews with people re-sponsible for relations with firms.

20) The disappearance of this com-mittee does not mean that municipalliaison organisations no longer exist.In 1998 a smaller body, promoted byan employers’ association, was oper-ating in Tijuana and seeking contactssolely with institutes of higher edu-cation. This organisation was aimingto identify the need for skilled work-ers in the city of Tijuana but had nobacking from the Secretariat for Pub-lic Education.


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them ‘Carrying out studies of the needto train personnel for industry and theservice sector in the zone of influenceof Ciudad Juárez’. A second objective was‘To assess existing plans, programmesand training courses and make propos-als regarding necessary changes to bemade by the academic councils of theinstitutions concerned.’ These studieswere used as a basis for updating cur-ricula for a number of occupationalcourses.

In addition the Committee, in collabora-tion with the Border Industry Association,conducted a survey of 92 firms with a totalworkforce of 75 000. This enquired intothe possible skilling needs in fields rang-ing from mechanical engineering and ma-chine tools to electronics (automatic in-sertion), statistical quality control, humanrelations, reading technical drawings andSpanish.

As one representative of the committeeput it in his answer to the questionnaire,despite the greater consistency of its ac-tivities the Ciudad Juárez committee’sexis tence, again, ‘was af fected bychanges of government. The changes inthose responsible at central governmentlevel meant a loss of follow-up and re-activation of the committees’. He sum-marised the principal difficulties as fol-lows:

❏ The lack of consistency in followingup such programmes at central govern-ment level.

❏ The fact that participation of the vari-ous bodies represented on these commit-tees was governed more by political thanentrepreneurial considerations.

❏ The need for a change in attitude atthe various levels within a company wheretraining is still regarded as a cost ratherthan an investment.

The situation of the committees in the twocities was therefore different. The Tijuanacommittee did not take any effective ac-tion to identify industry’s needs in termsof skills or to analyse curricula. In CiudadJuárez one sector of industry and the edu-cational bodies instituted a number of re-forms based on the committee’s propos-als.

representative nature of its members. Edu-cation sector committee members invari-ably stressed that they were present asrepresentatives and delegates of the cen-tres concerned and that their ability totake initiatives and decisions was limited.The employers’ representatives, on theother hand, were few and seemed to bewaiting for the education authorities totake the initiative.

The lack of a definite budget hamperedthe Committee’s activities and it wasforced to rely on the good will of its mem-bers and their economic interest. The mainactivities undertaken were:

❏ Centralising information concerningtraining courses available in the city bypublishing a catalogue.

❏ Coordinating dissemination of informa-tion by the technical training centres.

❏ Organising an Education and Employ-ment Fair with the involvement of educa-tional bodies and some local industrialfirms.

❏ Encouraging personal contacts andsome interaction between various sec-tors.

❏ Negotiating with the federal authori-ties for funds with which to improve theinfrastructure in the training centres wherethis was most needed.

Similarly the Human Resources Sub-comittee conducted an industrial surveywhich yielded little that was new apartfrom manufacturing firms’ ignorance con-cerning activities in the training field.

Finally it was typical that the Committeeceased operations with the structure de-scribed in 1995 with no public explana-tion as to the reason. Some members con-sider that it was due to the lack of federalgovernment support for its activities onthe scale of previous years. In our view itreflects the lack of continuity in supportfor certain bodies at federal level as a re-sult of changes in the political climate thatalmost always went hand in hand witheconomic crises.

In Ciudad Juárez the Committee formallyadopted a series of objectives, among


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Liaison at work:From curriculumto occupational tasks

Creation of new occupational trainingcourses while abolishing others, and modi-fying existing curricula has been the con-stant concern of educational bodies witha view to achieving closer links with in-dustry. Despite the different opinions andattitudes encountered, training courses asthey at present exist in the border zonegenerally speaking match the specialistoccupations in the assembly plants. Thetraining centres have been speedy in cre-ating new courses and making the neces-sary adjustments to those already available.

It is worthwhile examining in outline thetraining courses created since 1990. Theymay be classified as follows:

❏ A series of special courses in the fieldof electricity related to the many plantsin this branch in Tijuana especially.

❏ Special courses concerned with both theproduction of plastics materials (CiudadJuárez) and mould design (Tijuana). Thistakes into account companies which useplastics materials both for manufacturingtoys and medical instruments and thoseproducing car components.

❏ Special courses in information technol-ogy and computer science at various lev-els and with differing emphases: IT as-sistant, IT technician, computer operator,computer engineer, tax computer opera-tor. The proliferation of courses of thistype reflects not only the spreading useof computers in industry but throughoutthe economy in general.

❏ Special courses of a conventional na-ture such as mechanical engineering andelectricity at various levels.

❏ Special courses directly related to pro-duction, ranging from quality assistantsto production technician and productionengineer.

❏ Courses in accounting and office man-agement.

❏ Special courses in the maintenance ofequipment.

❏ Special courses in environmental en-gineering at the Ciudad Juárez Techno-logical Institute.

To a large extent the revision of the oc-cupational training courses shows whichtypes of industry have developed in thetwo cities. There are still no courses avail-able leading to a qualification in indus-trial design or as a quality control engi-neer but generally speaking the abilitydisplayed by the training centres in adapt-ing their courses has been remarkable.

Even so, there is still no single or domi-nant logic underlying the creation of train-ing courses since the way in which theyand the curricula have been modifiedvaries. The creation or cessation ofcourses is influenced by actual demand,the information provided by firms, and aclear tendency to initiate courses in thefield of electronics. Other influencing fac-tors are general educational reforms suchas that which led to a reduction in coursesfor engineers from 55 to 19 in 1993.Moreover, there are other decisions andprocedures that are far less reliable, suchas conducting surveys of students or thefact that a centre’s teaching staff was bet-ter equipped to provide one course ratherthan another.

The diversity of factors contributing to thecreation of courses is also noticeablewhen it comes to adapting curricula. Herewhat is most striking is the constant con-cern to include practical content. This isconsistent with the greater importancebeing attributed to extending work expe-rience or periods of practical work to anever-growing number of students21. Evenso it is typical that instructors, and gradu-ates especially, still continue to view theacquisition of knowledge as a sequentialprocess, with theory learned at school andapplied in practice at the workplace.

Career routesand identities

The link between the education systemand industry is related in a complex man-ner to the career routes taken by gradu-ates in local labour markets. The two sys-tems interact to provide graduates with aseries of job opportunities while at the

21) There is some evidence that olderinterviewees had not been allocatedperiods of practical training.


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same time setting a series of conditionsand limits. However, the limits and op-portunities are modified by the individualand collective strategies of the graduatesthemselves, who from this point of vieware equipped with specific resources andabilities.

The relationship between career routesand the interaction of the two systems maybe approached in two ways:

❏ The pursuit of certain routes by gradu-ates has a bearing on the opinion em-ployers form of the centres and their out-put. We might say that it influences em-ployers at the reflexive level because theirexperience with graduates determineswhether they will strengthen or weakentheir links with certain training centres andtake on more or fewer of their graduatesor those of a different type.

❏ A second influencing factor is more di-rect. Where trainees emanating from cer-tain training centres are successful in gain-ing higher positions of power and deci-sion-making in industry, the linkage pos-sibilities increase. In this sense the gradu-ates play an active role in that they be-come part of the productive system. Thistype of relationship is likely to be clearerin the case of institutions of higher edu-cation, more of whose graduates reachthe positions mentioned. However, thereare also ways of influencing decisionsfrom an intermediate level where one canmobilise personal knowledge in order tostrengthen the link.

Occupational career routes of techniciansand engineers are in general character-ised as follows:

❏ Access to employment is achieved whilestill in training. There is no theoreticalstudy/work sequence as in other cases.Only in three of the training centres cov-ered by the survey were students solelyoccupied in theoretical study. In 22 of thetraining centres 40% or more of studentscombined study with work. In seven ofthem the figure was 70% or more. Theoccupational category attained while stillstudying is lower than that subsequentlyaccredited on completion of the trainingcourse. Technicians may perform the jobsof manual workers while future engineersnormally do the job of a technician.

❏ A substantial proportion gain practicalwork experience in the assembly plants.Our survey showed that 80% of gradu-ates had completed a period of practicaltraining. The survey of plants also con-firmed that practical work is becomingincreasingly generalised. Only six facto-ries of the 52 covered did not accept stu-dents for practical training22.

Engineers and technicians follow differ-ent routes. It is very difficult to find tech-nicians over 30 years of age with five ormore years of work experience. This isdue to a number of factors:

❏ Many technicians who follow a tech-nical course do not enter the labour mar-ket because they decide to do somethingelse or go on studying. Women may optto become housewives.

❏ Some find jobs in sectors unrelated totheir course of study.

The figures confirm these statements. Ofthe engineers interviewed in Tijuana morethan a quarter had been in their currentjob for between two and five years and asomewhat smaller proportion for less than5 years. In Ciudad Juárez 36% of thoseinterviewed had been in their current jobfor more than five years and 30% for be-tween two and five years. The job stabil-ity encountered is underscored by casesof individual graduates who have workedin the same plant for as long as 10, 12and even 20 years.

The technician sample interestingly re-veals a relatively high degree of stabilityin the first job. The average for both cit-ies in over two years. It is difficult to talkof career routes on the basis of the sur-vey, however, because in Tijuana almosthalf those interviewed had only workedin the field for which they had beentrained and 21.4% had had two jobs. In afew cases subjects reported having hadfive or even six jobs. The first difficultywhen talking of careers and occupationalidentities, therefore, is the lack of workexperience.

The case of Ciudad Juárez is indicative ofthe different age structure and, perhaps,of two different levels. One of these, en-compassing some 70% of technicians, didnot report having had more than three

22) Links formed as a result of practi-cal training are generally with publictraining establishments. Less than halfthe assembly plants covered by thesurvey accept trainees from privatecentres, whereas 60% take studentsfor practical training from Conalepand the public universities. More thanhalf take students from CECATIS,CEBETIS and the public technologi-cal colleges.


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jobs while 30% had had more than threeand the remainder as many as 10. Themarked mobility in the latter case is com-parable with that of machine operativesin the assembly plants.

From what can be deduced from the sur-vey and interviews, the career patternsand the technicians’ perception of theiroccupational identity varies considerably.An extreme case would be that of awoman who left her job as a technicianin an assembly plant as soon as she couldfor an office job with the social securityauthorities. Here her training was onlyuseful to her to help her escape fromthe assembly line. Some technicians, onthe other hand, especially mechanics andto a lesser degree electronic technicians,consider themselves to be doing the workof an engineer and earn wages whichare sometimes higher than those ofyoung engineers starting out on theircareer.

The tasks of engineers and technicians

Our field work showed the professionalactivity of engineers to be distinguishedby the variety of tasks involved. In thecase of industrial engineers diversity ofcontent is assumed to be a central fea-ture of their course and in their subse-quent work their versatility is regardedas a quality enabling them to perform avariety of tasks in different job catego-ries. However, it is not only the breadthof the curriculum that makes this versa-tility possible but the variety of jobs thatfirms have to offer. Two other decisivefactors deriving from the development ofthe border industry in recent years arethe considerable organisational complex-ity of plants and the management of thehuman resources, who in this case arehighly skilled. In this sense there is prac-tically no horizontal segmentation of in-dustrial engineers as defined by Sengen-berger (1988). Another important factoris graduates’ own strategies for buildingup their knowledge in the course of theircareer. Educational certificates lead to afairly wide range of functions and catego-ries which are governed by the needs,orientation and characteristics of plants23.

The same cannot be said of technicians.The tasks they perform are closely relatedto the special field for which they were

trained so that they are not required tobe so versatile. However, there are tworelated aspects which may be mentionedin order to understand the type of tasksperformed by someone with a technicianqualification. Firstly technician posts aresometimes occupied by workers who havereceived further training within the firm,by those who have acquired their skillson the job, and by those failing to com-plete an engineering course, as well asby technicians who have graduated frommiddle- and higher-level training centres.Secondly, the kind of work they do andtheir status within the firm are viewed verydifferently by themselves and by the en-gineers. Management and engineers some-times consider them as skilled workers.The technicians, on the other hand, seethemselves differently: Some consider thatthey do work actually that of an engineerwhilst others consider that the greatestbenefit of their training has been to al-low them to escape work on the assem-bly line.

These different and even contradictoryviews of the work done by techniciansare the product of different experience,which is expressed in an organisationaland administrative form of work manage-ment, although for reasons different fromthose explaining what happens with en-gineers (Maurice et al., 1987). Neither per-sonnel policies nor work organisationmake clear provision for technicians, withthe result that there is no segment of thelabour market specifically for technicalpersonnel. The door to the technician cat-egory is open to people with differenteducational credentials, so that any verti-cal segmentation vis-a-vis certain skilledworkers or those who have acquired theirskills on the job is almost non-existent.There is no labour market category basedon educational qualification. At the sametime there is a phenomenon which Abbott(1988) refers to as workforce assimilation,that is the performance of tasks relativeto a given occupation such as that of anengineer by a different group, the techni-cians, who acquire professional skills andknowledge through their practical workwithout receiving effective recognitionfrom either the engineers or the firm it-self. The phenomenon manifests itselfwhenever a technician’s tasks are notdefined clearly and precisely in organisa-tional and social terms.

23) Versatility may also be a require-ment in very simple plants where or-ganisation of production, administra-tion, relations with the parent com-pany etc. are all in the hands of oneor two engineers.


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Different typesof links? Limitedprofessionalisationand growing polarisation

The data concerning the reality of linksin Tijuana and Ciudad Juárez, duly inter-preted, leads to the conclusion that thetwo sectors are not estranged or discon-nected. Multiple links are forged underlabour market pressure. However, themechanisms are to some extent ambigu-ous. Being highly dependent on personalcontacts they constitute a fragile basis forensuring continuity of specific links. Evenso, social networking may well ensure thatthe links are maintained.

The content of links is restricted to peri-ods of practical training with no clear fol-low-up at either training centres or plantlevel. However, trainees get to know thelabour market while they are working.

Certain mechanisms devised by the Sec-retariat for Public Education lack a suffi-cient degree of continuity because theyare subject to the vagaries of policy atboth local and federal level.

In practice linkage results in two models:one which aims to professionalise a seg-ment of middle- and higher-level manag-ers made up of graduate engineers, and asecond far more diffuse one in which linksare subject to the initiative of students,

the policy of the firm concerned and thevarious resources of the training centres.This model of identities that tend to besomewhat discontinuous is that of thetechnicians. If to these we add that manualworkers possess practically no technicaltraining (Hualde, 1994), the general pic-ture is of a polarised sector of industrythat only professionalises the profession-als24

Although it is true that some workers aregiven in-company training up to techni-cian level, the evidence, even that ob-tained in interviews with engineers, pre-cludes talking of a clear occupational ca-reer for the workforce. In the case of tech-nicians an analysis of routes and identi-ties shows that for them the clearestmethod of making progress is to ceasebeing technicians and to become engi-neers. Only engineers have the opportu-nity to enhance their knowledge and re-ceive recognition in salary terms over aperiod of eight or ten years, followed byreclassification into a category whosesummit is management.

This overall picture shows that the bor-der industry is tending rather towards apolarisation of its workforce in whichsome - though not all - engineers acquiregrowing knowledge and recognition fromtheir employers on the basis of continu-ing employment in the sector and in thefirm, generosity in working long hours,switching posts and a willingness to travelin order to gain qualifications.

24) For polarisation see Lope Peña(1997).

Bibliography

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Bericat E. (1998): La integración de los métodoscuantitativo y cualitativo en la investigación social.Significado y medida, Ariel Sociología, Barcelona.

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Bryman A., Burgess R. (ed) (1994):, AnalyzingQualitative Data, Routledge.

Carrillo J. (Comp.) (1988): Reestructuración indus-trial. Maquiladoras en la frontera México-EstadoUnidos. Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes-Colegio de la Frontera Norte, Mexico.

Carrillo J. (coordinator) (1993): Condiciones deempleo y capacitación en la industria maquiladorade exportación, Colef-STyps.

Carrillo J. , Hernández A. (1985) : Mujeresfronterizas en la industria maquiladora, ConsejoNacional para la Cultura y las Artes.

Carrillo J., Hualde A. (1997): ‘Maquiladoras detercera generación. El caso de Delphi-General Mo-tors’, Comercio Exterior, Vol 47, No.9, September,pp. 747-758.

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ración de relaciones, Plaza y Valdés/UNAM, Mexico,346 pp.

CEPAL (1991): Educación y conocimiento: eje dela transformación productiva con equidad, Santiagode Chile.

Cook M. L. (1996):, G. Bensusan y A. Arteaga(cooordinadores), Integración regional y relacionesindustriales en América del Norte, UAM-Iztapalapa/FLACSO.

Coutrot L., Dubar C. (1992): Cheminementsprofesionnels et mobilités sociales, Iresco, La Docu-mentation Française.

De Ibarrola M. (1993): Industria y Escuela Técnica.Dos Experiencias Mexicanas, Lecturas de Educacióny Trabajo, No 1, UNESCO/OREALC/CIID-CENEP,Mexico.

De Ibarrola M., Gallart M-.A. (coordinators)(1994): Democracia y Productividad. Desafíos deuna nueva educación media en América Latina.Lecturas de Educación y Trabajo, No 2, UNESCO/OREALC/CIID-CENEP, Mexico.

Domínguez L., Brown F. (1990): in B. González-Aréchiga and J.C. Ramírez, Subcontratación yempresas transnacionales, (Mexico, COLEF/Fundación Friedrich Ebert).

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Fernández-Kelly M.P. (1983): State University ofNew York Press.

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Gallart M.A. (compiler) (1992): Educación y trabajo.Desafíos y perspectivas de investigación y políticaspara la década de los noventa, Red Latinoamericanade Educación y Trabajo, CIID-CENEP, Cinterfor,Montevideo.

Gallart M.A. (compiler) (1995): La Formación parael Trabajo en el Fin de Siglo: Entre la ReconversiónProductiva y la Exclusión Social, Lecturas deEducación y Trabajo, No 4, UNESCO/OREALC/CIID-CENEP, Mexico.

Gitahy L. (organiser) (1994): Reestructuraciónproductiva, trabajo y educación en América Latina,CIID-CENEP, Red Latinoamericana de Educación yTrabajo, CINTEFOR-OIT, IG-UNICAMP, UNESCO-OREALC, Campinas.

González-Aréchiga B., Ramírez J.C. (comp.)(1990): Subcontratación y empresas transnacionales,(Mexico, COLEF/Fundación Friedrich Ebert).

Hualde A. (1999): Aprendizaje industrial en lafrontera norte de México: la articulación entre els i s tema educat ivo y e l s i s tema product ivo

maquilador, Cuaderno del Trabajo 16 Secretaría delTrabajo y Previsión Social, 217 pp.

Hualde A. (1997): ‘Las maquiladoras en México afin de siglo’, Cuaderno de Trabajo del Seminariosubregional Tripartito sobre aspectos sociales ylaborales de las zonas francas industriales deexportación’, Organización Internacional delTrabajo, San José de Costa Rica, 25 to 28 November1997.

Hualde A. (1994): ‘Capacitación y calificación enla maquiladora fronteriza: Un ensayo de evaluación’,en Daniel Villavicencio (coordinador), Continui-dades y discontinuidades de la capacitación, UAM-X-Fundación Friedrich Ebert, Mexico.

Hualde A., Pérez-Sáinz J.P. (1994): Sociología delTrabajo 22, Siglo XXI, Madrid, Spain.

INEGI(1998): Estadísticas de la industria maquila-dora de exportación.

Jick T. (1979): Qualitative Research.

Kourous G. (1998): ‘La salud y la seguridad laboralen las maquiladoras’, Borderlines 47, Vol. 6, No 6,August. Internet www.zianet.com/irc/bordline.

Lope Peña A. (1996): Innovación tecnológica ycualificación, CES, Madrid.

Maurice M., Sellier F., Silvestre J.-J. (1987):Política de Educación y Organización Industrial enFrancia y Alemania. Aproximación a un AnálisisSocietal, Ministerio del Trabajo y Seguridad Social,Madrid. First edition 1982.

Milkman R. (1991): Japan’s California Factories:Labor Relations and Economic Globalization, Insti-tute of Industrial Relations, University of Califor-nia, Los Angeles, 130 pp.

Novick M.: ‘La transformación de la organizacióndel t rabajo’ In Tratado Lat inoamericano deSociología del Trabajo, Enrique de la Garza (coor-dinator), Ch. IV, 31 pp. (awaiting publication).

OECD (1997): Competitivité regional et qualifica-tions, Paris.

ILO (1997) : La indust r ia de la maqui la enCentroamérica. Informe para el Seminario Sub-regional de Empleadores de Centroamérica yRepublica Dominicana, San José de Costa Rica.

ILO (1998): Informe sobre el empleo en el mundo,1998-1999, Geneva.

Quintero C. (1998): Sindicalismo en las maquila-doras fronterizas. Balance y perspectivas. EstudiosSociológicos. XVI: 46. pp. 89-116.

Sengenberger W. (1988): Lecturas sobre el mercadode trabajo en la República Federal de Alemania,Vol II, Sengenberger (compiler), Ministerio delTrabajo y Seguridad Social, Madrid.


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Reading

Europe International

Rea

din

g se

lect

ion This section has been

prepared by

Anne Waniart,and the DocumentationService with the help ofmembers of the nationaldocumentation network

This section lists the most im-portant and recent publica-tions on developments in train-ing and qualifications at aninternational and Europeanlevel. Giving preference tocomparative works, it also listsnational studies carried out aspart of international and Eu-ropean programmes, analysesof the impact of Communityaction on the Member Statesand national studies seen froman external perspective.

Information,comparative studies

Finanzierung der Berufsbildung inDeutschland: Finanzierungsporträt.HUMMELSHEIM S;TIMMERMANN D;WESTPHALEN S A (ed.)European Centre for the Development ofVocational Training, CEDEFOPUniversi tät Bielefeld - Fakultät fürPädagogikLuxembourg: EUR-OP, 1999,103 p.(Panorama, 94)ISBN: 92-828-6928-8, deFrom EU national sales offices -http://eur-op.eu.int/en/general/s-ad.htmCat.n°.: HX-22-99-046-DE-CDE

At the end of 1997, CEDEFOP launched aproject to produce financing portraits ofthe VET systems within the individualMember States of the European Union.The financial portrait of Germany com-bines a qualitative description of the flowof funding through the VET structures,identifying the funding sources and allo-cation mechanisms, with quantitative dataon expenditure for different training types.The report is structured around initial vo-cational training, continuing vocationaltraining, training for the unemployed andcombined forms of training.

Decent work: International LabourConference, 87th session 1999: Reportof the Director-General.International Labour Office, ILOGeneva: ILO, 1999,79 p.ISSN: 0074-6681ISBN: 92-2-110804-XEN

This report proposes a primary goal forthe ILO in this period of global transition- securing decent work for women andmen everywhere. It is the most wide-spread need, shared by people, familiesand communities in every society, and atall levels of development. Decent workis a global demand today, confronting po-litical and business leadership world-wide.

Much of our common future depends onhow we meet this challenge.http://www.ilo.org/public/english/10ilc/ilc87/rep-i.htm

Vocational education and training inEurope on the threshold of the 21stcentury: final version.International Project on Technical andVocational Education, UNEVOCUnited Nations Educational, Scientific andCultural Organisation, UNESCOBerlin: UNESCO, 1999,113 p.(Document No ED/IUG/018)UNESCO - UNEVOC,Fehrbelliner Platz 3,D-10707 Berlin,e-mail: [email protected]

In September 1998, this UNESCOOEEKSymposium was held in an effort to pro-vide an European perspective on theemerging challenges to technical and vo-cational education in the early 21st cen-tury. Through this report, the contribu-tions are made available to a larger com-munity: VET and new technologies; envi-ronmental education and training; thechanging role of the public and privatesectors in VET, internationalisation of eco-nomic activities and tourism, non-com-mercial exchanges and vocational train-ing.http://www.unevoc.de/publicat/pdf/iug018e.pdf

Innovating schools.Organisation for Economic Cooperationand Development - Centre for EducationResearch and InnovationOECD, CERIParis: OECD, 1999,135 p.(Schooling for tomorrow)ISBN: 92-64-17021-9, enOECD, 2 rue André-Pascal,F-75775 Paris Cedex 16,[email protected] FR

It is now widely agreed that learning ispivotal in the ‘knowledge societies’ of


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today and, still more, of tomorrow. It isalso widely agreed that schools have akey role to play in laying the foundationsfor lifelong learning for all of us. But, howwell are these aims being met? How in-novative are schools as institutions? Andwhat are some of the most promising ex-amples across OECD countries from whichwe can learn? This volume addresses thesequestions, drawing on a major OECD/Ja-pan conference which was held in Hiro-shima and attended by experts from 24countries and a ‘virtual’ conference con-ducted in parallel. It presents key trendsand policy challenges regarding schoolsfor today and tomorrow, from Europeantraditions across to the different perspec-tives of the Asia-Pacific region, with a par-ticular focus on Japan. Alongside expertchapters are the innovative schools them-selves, with examples taken and synthe-sised from many of the countries that at-tended the Hiroshima conference. Thevolume addresses issues of curriculum, in-novation and the achievement of lifelonglearning in the schools of tomorrow.

Overcoming exclusion through adultlearning.Organisation for Economic Cooperationand Development - Centre for EducationResearch and InnovationOECD, CERIParis: OECD, 1999,178 p.ISBN: 92-64-17026-X, enOECD,2 rue André-Pascal,F-75775 Paris Cedex 16,[email protected] FR

The phenomenon of social exclusion hasbecome one of the outstanding problemson the eve of the 21st century. Even withthe long-term trend towards rising gen-eral levels of affluence across OECD coun-tries, large sections of our societies aremissing out and for some prospects aregetting worse. Learning (in formal edu-cation and in a wide range of other com-munity and enterprise settings) representsone of the most important means of over-coming exclusion. While much is knownabout the impact of schooling for youngpeople, the relationships between exclu-sion and adult learning are less well ex-amined. This study seeks to address thisgap, focusing on 19 innovative learning

initiatives that are making the differencein six countries: Belgium (Flemish Com-munity), Mexico, the Netherlands, Nor-way, Portugal, the United Kingdom (Eng-land). How well do these initiatives meetthe learning needs of adults at risk ofexclusion? How are they organised andwhat are their innovative features? Theseare the key questions answered, takinginto account not only the point of viewof the analysts, organisers and adminis-trators, but also that of the adult learnersthemselves.

Fields of Training: manual.ANDERSSON R; OLSSON A-KEuropean Centre for the Development ofVocational Training, CEDEFOPStatistical Office of the European Com-munities, EUROSTATLuxembourg: EUR-OP, 1999, 45 p.(Panorama, 92)ISBN: 92-828-6345-X, enFrom EU national sales officeshttp://eur-op.eu.int/en/general/s-ad.htmCat.n°.: HX-21-99-141-EN-CEN FR DE

At a time when particular importance isattributed to the adequate preparation ofpeople for working life, comprehensive,detailed and comparable information onparticipation in vocational education andtraining is a prerequisite for policy mak-ers in order to successfully develop, moni-tor and evaluate training policies. This istrue for the whole range of vocationaleducation and training, from initial voca-tional training for young people to con-tinuing vocational training for those inemployment. While various data collec-tions have been in place to improve thisinformation base, one aspect of traininghas been systematically ignored in thepast: the information on the subjectslearnt. This neglect originated from a sim-ple, but fundamental fact - the lack of aninternationally comparable classificationon which to found any data collection. Asub-classification to the ISCED classifica-tion by field of education has been cre-ated with the double objective of provid-ing more detail and precision, while si-multaneously maintaining the logic andstructure of ISCED. The new classifica-tion concerns ‘fields of vocational educa-tion and training’. It is a second and cru-cial step to ensure the consistent applica-


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tion of the classification across countries.Thus, it is the aim of this manual to offerclear guidelines on how to apply the clas-sification for fields of vocational training.

Who’s who in distance learning.Bonn: International WHERE+HOW, 1998,624 p.ISBN: 3-925-144-11-0EN

The International Who’s Who in DistanceLearning offers an opportunity for globalnetworking between people and programsdelivered online or at a distance. Con-taining 867 entries from 58 different coun-tries, this reference source provides de-tails of the leading personalities in thefield of online and distance learning, in-cluding addresses, biographical details,education, career information and aca-demic achievements, affiliations, profes-sional experience and publications. Aprominent feature of the book is an in-dex with fields of specialisations, offer-ing a unique way of locating and con-tacting experts in all branches of onlinelearning.

The future of continuing education inEurope: lifelong learning for all, inchanged learning environments.DOHMEN GBundesministerium für Bildung, Wissen-schaft, Forschung und Technologie, BMBFBonn: BMBF, 1998, 90 p.BMBF,Heinemannstr. 2,D-53175 BonnEN

‘Lifelong learning by all’ is a key conceptwith respect to the future of learning andof continuing education in Europe. Oneof the European Union’s major challengesis to make all its citizens aware that learn-ing is a very natural part of their livesand to promote learning and mediatingare essential social activities of the future- with the aim of developing untappedhuman potential for creative solutions andfor intelligent management of acute trans-formation problems. Meeting this chal-lenge will involve mainly: developing thediversity of learning opportunities, creat-ing networks of different learning oppor-tunities, recognising all formal and infor-

mal forms of human learning, develop-ing open, self-directed learning, etc. andintegrating all of these reform approacheswithin a European learning network.

Qualifikation als Standortfaktor:Deutschland, USA, Japan im Vergleich.MÜNCH JHochrhein am Main: Neres, 1999, 197 p.ISBN: 3-9802836-9-0DE

In this publication qualification as alocational factor of the three strongesteconomic powers - Germany, UnitedStates and Japan - is systematically ana-lysed. The educational and vocationalsystem - starting from secondary educa-tion, higher education, vocational train-ing to continuing vocational training - isevaluated and compared. None of theexamined countries is without weak-nesses, but Germany comes off well whencompared with the United States and Ja-pan. Especially the dual system proves tobe superior to the forms of vocationaltraining found in the States and in Japan.

The cost of vocational training.TSANG M CEducation and Training (Bradford) 41(2),1999, 56-62 p.ISSN: 0040-0912MCB University Press,60/62 Toller Lane, Bradford,West Yorkshire, England BD8 9BYEN

This work discusses the methodologicalissues in costing two common types ofvocational training programmes: institu-tional vocational training and enterprise-based vocational training. It points outthat the survey/interview approach shouldbe used to collect data from institutionsinstead of from the government in cost-ing institutional vocational training, andthat more frequent use should be madeof the case-study and survey methods incosting enterprise-based vocational train-ing. Based on empirical studies on bothdeveloped and developing countries, itanalyses the costs of different types ofvocational training programmes. It showsthat training costs are influenced by suchfactors as the technology of training,teacher costs and their determinants, pro-


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gramme length, extent of wastage, extentof under-utilisation, of training inputs andscale of operation. In general, vocational/technical education is more costly thanacademic programmes and pre-employ-ment vocational training is more expen-sive than in-service training. It discussesthe implications of these findings for train-ing policies.

Lifelong learningand the trade unions.Training strategies for tomorrow 1(3),1998, p. 10-13ISSN: 1369-7234, enEN

Increasingly people need lifelong accessto high quality guidance on choices re-lating to their learning and work. Manyemployees look to their work-place fortheir first line of support. The trade un-ions believe that they have the key roleto play both as advocates and as provid-ers of information, advice and guidance.

Of cabbages and key skills: explodingthe mythology of core transferableskills in post-school education.HYLAND T; JOHNSON SJournal of Further and Higher Education(Abingdon) 22(2), 1998, p. 163-172ISSN: 0309-877X, enCarfax Publishing Limited,PO Box 25,Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX143UE, UK,E-mail: [email protected]

The concepts of core, generic or key skillsare now ubiquitous in educational dis-course and an integral part of recommen-dations for education and training pro-grammes from school to university. It isour contention that — in the sense of free-standing, context-independent abilities —such skills are without philosophical orempirical support and are entirely illusory.Although the ideas of integrated core unitsor common learning experiences under-pinning the post-school curriculum havesome educational justification, the pursuitof general transferable core/key skills isa wasteful chimera-hunt and should nowbe abandoned.

Contemporary apprenticeship: per-spectives on learning, teaching, policyand design.FULLER A (ed.);UNWIN L (ed.)Journal of Vocational Education and Train-ing (Wallingford, Oxfordshire) 50(2), 1998,325 p.ISSN: 1363-6820Triangle Journals Ltd,PO Box 65, Wallingford,Oxfordshire OX10 0YG, United Kingdom,E-mail: [email protected]

This fully-refereed international journalpublishes scholarly articles that addressthe development of practice and theoryin work-related education, wherever thateducation occurs. This specific editionaims to stimulate a much needed debateabout the relationship between work andlearning, and the role of apprenticeshipat a time when difficult and complex ques-tions are being asked about the future ofwork, about the ability of organisationsto adapt to change, and about the needsand aspirations of people around theworld for many of whom the world ofwork no longer offers security or com-fort.

Of paradigms, policies and practices:the changing contours of training anddevelopment in five European econo-mies.HERATY N (ed.);MORLEY M (ed.)Journal of European Industrial Training22 (4,5), 1998, 228 p.ISSN: 0309-0590MCB University Press Ltd,62 Toller Lane, Bradford,West Yorkshire, England BD8 9BY

This is an issue about the training changesin five countries: It is divided into fivearticles. The first one seeks to describethe nature of education and training pro-vision in Denmark. The second is a pres-entation of the recent debate in the Neth-erlands, which has raised the question ofwhether the Dutch economy can meet therequirements of the emerging knowledgesociety. The third paper aims to highlightthe main debates in the field of skill de-velopment in a United Kingdom context.The fourth paper is divided into four keysections: 1) an overview of Ireland interms of her labour market, educational


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and vocational infrastructure, 2) a descrip-tion of the evolution of the national sys-tem of training and development in Ire-land, 3) a review of current practices andtrends in training and development at theorganisational level 4) discussion on arange of critical challenges facing Irelandas we approach the new millennium. Fi-nally, the fifth paper examines humanresource development in Sweden, setsdown the characteristics of the nationaleducation and training system and exam-ines recent policy developments.

Lifelong learning and the EuropeanUnion: a critique from a ‘risk society’perspective.HAKE BLLinE: Lifelong Learning in Europe. (Hel-sinki) 1, 1998, p. 54-60ISSN: 1239-6826LLinE, KVS Foundation,Museokatu 18 A 2,00100 Helsinki, FinlandEN

Is biographical competency the one toenable individuals to cope with the risksassociated with transitions and critical lifeevents? The dangers of social exclusionlie in the failure of current EU policies oneducation to recognise the Europeani-sation of labour markets. The biographi-cal work required to learn to survive inthe learning society is a risk situationwhich confronts an ever-growing numberof Europeans. The learning society withan unequal distribution of possibilities tointentional learning is a risk society wheresocial exclusion is the anti-thesis of thepromise of individual development. Thispaper offers a critique of EU policies onlifelong learning in terms of sociologicaltheories of globalisation, reflexive mod-ernisation and risk society.

European Union: policies,programmes, participants

Profile of... Key topics in education:volume 1: financial support for stu-dents in higher education in Europe.Trends and debates.Education Information Network in theEuropean Community; Education Informa-tion

Network in the European Community,EURYDICEBrussels: EURYDICE, 1999, 24 p.ISBN: 2-87116-284-0, enEuropean Unit of EURYDICE,rue d’Arlon 15,B-1050 Brussels,Tel. 32-2-238-30-11,Fax. 32-2-230-65-62,[email protected]: D/1999/40008/8;EN FR

This summary publication refers to thestudy ‘key topics on education’ commis-sioned by DG XXII of the European Com-mission and conducted by EURYDICE. Itdeals with the public financial support tostudents in higher education. Its approachbroadens the statistical perspective so asto analyse the operation of systems (cri-teria for award, bodies responsible for de-cisions on expenditure, the number of stu-dents and pupils concerned, etc.) and situ-ate them in the context of the differentcultures and of their history.

The 1999 employment guidelines:Council Resolution of 22 February1999.Council of the European UnionLuxembourg: EUR-OP, 1999,14 p.(Employment and social affairs)ISBN: 92-828-6375-1, enFrom EU national sales officeshttp://eur-op.eu.int/en/general/s-ad.htmCat.n°.: CE-18-98-542-EN-CEN FR DE DA EL ES FI IT NL PT SV

It is essential that the Employment Guide-lines are transformed into concrete na-tional action plans. The use of commonindicators, based on comparable statistics,is of crucial importance for an effectivemonitoring and evaluation of policies,both at national and at Community level.So far, basic employment performanceindicators have been used in several jointemployment reports and the work onpolicy indicators, referring to the concreteGuidelines, is well under way. It wasagreed at Luxembourg that the ultimateobjective of a coordination of MemberStates’ employment policies is to arriveat a significant increase in the employ-ment rate in Europe on a sustainable ba-sis. In order to produce concrete results,


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Member States: 1) are urged to supportthe process of defining and collectingcomparable data 2) will need to ensurethat adequate and comparable data sys-tems and procedures are available. Inaddition, Member States are invited to setthemselves national targets which couldbe quantified wherever possible and ap-propriate.http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg05/emplesf/empl99/guide_en.htm

Note: Official Journal of the EuropeanCommunities C 069, 1999 LuxembourgImproving the human research poten-tial and the socio-economic knowl-edge base: (1998-2002).European Commission - DG XIIBrussels: EC-DG XII, 1999, various pagi-nationEuropean Commission - DG XII,Rue de la Loi 200,B-1049 BrusselsEN

This document is a compilation of fourpapers. The main one is the Work Pro-gramme for the key action ‘Improving thesocio-economic knowledge base’ whichis part D of the Work Programme for theSpecific Programme ‘Improving the hu-man research potential and the socio-eco-nomic knowledge base’. It describes thecontent of the action lines which are openfor proposals, and includes an indicativetimetable for programme implementation.The second paper is the Call for propos-als and tells which action lines are openand the appropriate deadline for proposalsubmission. The Evaluation Guide de-scribes the criteria which are to be usedin the evaluation of proposals and onecan use this guide as a checklist for thecompleteness of his proposal. The Guide

for Proposers also contains references toother documents, reports, forms and soft-ware tools which are of assistance in thepreparation of proposals.

A Europe for all: for a European strat-egy to combat social exclusion: EAPNcontribution to the European Com-mission Conference of 6-7 May 1999.European Anti-Poverty Network, EAPNBrussels: EAPN, 1999., 10 p.EAPN, rue Belliard 205 -Bte 13 -B-1040 BrusselsTel. 32.2.230.44.55,Fax 32.2.230.97.33e-mail: [email protected]

This document extends the scope ofEAPN’s discussions based on the Resolu-tion adopted at its November 98 OportoGeneral Assembly and constitutes the in-put EAPN wishes to give to the consulta-tion meeting of 6 and 7 May 1999. It willbe amplified in the coming months as thedialogue within EAPN member associa-tions intensifies and the policy dialoguewith the Commission and the other Com-munity institutions moves forward. In theannex to its document, the Commissionpaints a stark picture of the worseningexclusion and inequality gaps of recentyears, and the danger they entail for so-cial cohesion and European integration.The document affirms that completion ofthe single market and the introduction ofthe euro, by strengthening market mecha-nisms, will create ‘winners and losers’. Webelieve that in putting forward a strategybased essentially on the exchange of goodpractice between players, the Commissionfails to draw the full consequences of itsown conclusion.


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Modul für Modul zum Berufs-abschluß: die Modellversuch-

sreihe ‘Berufsbegleitende Nachqualifi-zierung’ zwischen Flexibilisierungund Qualitätssicherung von beruf-licher Bildung.DAVIDS S (ed.)Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung, BIBBBielefeld: Bertelsmann, 1998, 280 p.(Berichte zur beruflichen Bildung, 216)ISBN: 3-7639-0830-7

The contributions in this volume addressthe pilot project series ‘In-service train-ing for qualification while in employment’.They are organised according to the fol-lowing areas: 1. modular in-service train-ing in Germany, 2. learning process con-trol in modular training systems, 3.modularisation and the difference be-tween the German concept of the regu-lated occupation and European educa-tional systems. The articles also considerthe importance of modular training in in-creasing the flexibility of the training sys-tem. An additional focus of the discus-sion is quality standards in the implemen-tation of modularisation. The theoreticalapproach is compared with other Euro-pean modular concepts.

Qualifizierungsanforderungen undQualifikationsvermittlung.KATH FBundesinstitut für Berufsbildung, BIBBBerlin [et al.]: BIBB, 1998,14 p.(Reden und Aufsätze aus dem BIBB)BIBB, Fehrbelliner Platz 3,D-10707 BerlinDE

The author addresses recently criticisedfeatures of the development of the dualsystem of vocational training. He gener-ally accepts the framework of the dualsystem. Among the most heavily debatedpoints are the concept of the regulatedoccupation, issues relating to additionalskills and the flexibility of training regu-lations, the planning of training, coopera-tion between training sites, training sup-ply and education policy issues. The au-thor cites initiatives aimed at modernis-ing dual system training.

Weiterbildung als Lern-, Such- undArbeitsprozeß.SAUTER EBundesinstitut für Berufsbildung, BIBBBerlin [et al.]: BIBB, 1998,8 p.(Reden und Aufsätze aus dem BIBB)BIBB, Fehrbelliner Platz 3,D-10707 BerlinDE

The author considers how in continuingvocational training the concept of learn-ing has been transformed into a process-based notion of lifelong learning. Thecontours of learning have changed in twodimensions. On the one hand further skillsare being acquired directly after training,a circumstance that has created a linkbetween vocational training and continu-ing vocational training (‘vertical’ dimen-sion). On the other hand the ‘horizontal’dimension has strengthened the link be-tween working and learning. New formsof learning and training have arisen tocomplement traditional forms of continu-ing vocational training.

Dansk uddannelses ogerhvervs leksikon.

[Danish educational and vocationaldictionary].Rådet for Uddannelses- og Erhvervsvejled-ningCopenhagen: RUE, 1999, 2 vol,1416 p.ISBN: 87-7773-175-1RUE, Vester Voldgade 123,DK-1552 Copenhagen VDA

DUEL is a book of reference in whicheducational programmes and fields ofwork have been indexed. DUEL consistsof 955 alphabetically arranged articles oneducation and work. The articles containstandardised information about educa-tional programmes and/or fields of work.The articles on education describe theproviders of a programme, rules of ad-mission, form and content of a pro-gramme, economy during studies, possi-bilities of continuing education, relatedprogrammes, further information and im-portant addresses.

From the Member States

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Fremtidens uddannelser: ny strukturog sammenhæng.[Vocational training in the future: newstructure and improved Cooperationbetween VET institutions].BRAAD C (ed.)Dansk Industri, DICopenhagen: DI, 1999,28 p.(Debat)ISBN: 87-7353-293-2DI, 1787 Copenhagen VDA

This publication is part of a debate serieson the Danish education system publishedby the Confederation of Danish Industries(DI). In this issue, DI focuses on voca-tional education and training both in re-gard to structure and programmes. DIproposes that all institutions, which offerVET to the level of bachelor, should bemerged in new institutions called VETAcademy Centres. Furthermore, DI sug-gests that the VET programmes should beimproved in terms of coherence betweenthe programmes. The programmes shouldbe more flexible and the possibilities ofcredit transfer should be improved. Theaim is to ensure the attractiveness of theVET programmes and also to create amore cost-efficient VET system.

Undervisning af 16-25-årige flygtningeog indvandrere: en undersøgelse afsærlige tilbud.[Training of 16-25 years old refugeesand migrants: an investigation of spe-cial offers].LA COUR A et al.Udviklingscenter for undervisning afvoksne indvandrere, UVIUdviklingscentret for undervisning oguddannelse aftosprogede børn og unge,UC2Copenhagen: UVI, 1999., 74 p.(Debat)ISBN: 87-90808-00-2DEL, Rigensgade 13,DK-1316 Copenhagen KDA

Among young refugees and immigrantsin Denmark a substantial part completesbasic schooling and continues in the edu-cation system. However, another substan-tial part falls outside the established edu-cation system and is in danger of socialexclusion. This report describes how

counties and municipalities have handledthis group of young people by creatingspecial educational offers which aim atimproving their chances of entering youtheducation or the labour market. In the re-port, 18 regional and local courses aredescribed. The report furthermore givesa description of the target group: theirnumber, who they are and where theylive.

Videnbaseret konkurrence: udfor-dring for efteruddannelsessystemet.[Knowledge based competition - achallenge for the continuing educa-tion system].WINGE B;BRAAD C (ed.)Dansk Industri, DICopenhagen: DI, 1999, 40 p.(Debat)ISBN: 87-7353-295-9;DI, 1787 Copenhagen VDA

This publication is part of a debate serieson the Danish education system publishedby the Confederation of Danish Industries(DI). In this publication, DI offers its con-tribution on how to improve the continu-ing training and education system in Den-mark. DI suggests that the system has tobe simplified in terms of organisation, ad-ministration and access. DI points out thattechnological development necessitatesupgrading the skills of all employees: un-skilled, skilled as well as employees withfurther and higher education. Further-more, DI points to a better integration ofcontinuing training and education in theeducation system. Overall, DI concludesthat a reform of the continuing trainingand education system is necessary in or-der to ensure the competitiveness of Dan-ish industry.

La formation professionnelle:diagnostics, défis et enjeux: rap-

port de Nicole Péry.[Vocational training: diagnostics, chal-lenges and stakes: a report by NicolePéry].Secrétariat d’Etat aux droits des femmeset à la formation professionnelleParis: Secrétariat d’Etat aux droits desfemmes et à la formation professionnelle,1999,246 p.Secrétariat d’Etat aux droits des femmes

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et à la formation professionnelle,Paris 07 SPFR

After underlining the changes in workingpopulation, the transformation of the la-bour market, the limits of the trainingschemes financed by the companies, therole of the public authorities in trainingfor persons seeking employment and thejob integration of youth, four lines of de-velopment are presented: development ofa guaranteed and transferable individualright, recognition of experience in the pro-fessional career, development of alter-nance training, clarification of the role ofthe different actors. The second partpresents some figures on the following:financing of training by enterprises andthe possibilities for employees to go infor training, inequalities of access to train-ing, the training of persons seeking em-ployment, job integration of youth, certi-fication and validation of acquired quali-fications and experience, Community lawand laws governing training in EuropeanUnion countries.

Recueil d’études sociales n°14: paruesde septembre à décembre 1998.[Collection of social studies No. 14:published from September to Decem-ber 1998].Institut national de la statistique et desétudes économiques, INSEEParis: INSEE, 1999,409 p.ISSN: 1259-4261ISBN: 2-11-067015-0FR

This collection of social studies is a com-pilation of articles published by the fol-lowing French organisations dealing withstudies and statistics: INSEE (Institut Na-tional de la Statistiques et des étudeséconomiques), INED (Institut nationald’études démographiques), CREDOC(Centre de recherche pour l’étude etl’observation des conditions de vie), CEE(Centre d’études de l’emploi), CEREQ(Centre d’études et de recherches sur lesqualifications) and the statistical servicesof the Ministries of Labour, Health, Edu-cation and Justice. The articles aregrouped around five themes: population,training, professional activity, income, life-styles. In the field of training the datapermits an analysis of the sector accord-ing to the following criteria: primary edu-

cation, secondary education, higher edu-cation, vocational education and training,continuing training, education system.http://popinfo.ined.fr/Base/Services/Recueil/Recueil.htm

‘Compensatory Legitima-tion’ in Greek Educa-

tional Policy: an explanation for theabortive educational reforms inGreece in comparison with those inFrance.PERSIANIS PComparative Education (Abingdon) 34 (1),1998, p. 71-84ISSN: 0305-0068Carfax Publishing Ltd,PO Box 25,Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX14 3UE, UK,E-mail: [email protected]

This article examines the political dynam-ics of planning and implementing educa-tional reforms in Greece and makes acomparison with those in France. It ar-gues that the state’s concern for ‘compen-satory legitimation’ of its authority pro-vides a more adequate theoretical tool forexplaining the long series of abortive edu-cational reforms in Greece than the onesemployed so far by Greek sociologists andhistorians of education. Furthermore, bycomparing the strategies for compensa-tory legitimation employed in the twocountries, the article reaches the conclu-sion that in Greece, whilst the invocationof legal and constitutional norms is veryold and common, the use of expertise andthe invocation of a discourse of partici-pation are very recent and limited com-pared with France.

Cross-cultural trainingand education in the Re-

public of Ireland.McPHERSON A; McDONALD SUniversity College Dublin - GraduateSchool of BusinessDublin: The School, 1999, 33 p.(Business research programme workingpaper, 27)Graduate School of Business,University College Dublin,Carysfort Avenue, Blackrock, IRL-Dublin,http://www.ucd.ie/hostmasterEN

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Based on a survey of 140 hi-tech foreign-owned multinationals operating in Irelandin late 1995 and on a study of a cross-cultural business training and educationprogramme, the study examines the in-ternational training and placement prac-tices of large multinational companiesoperating in Ireland and the implicationsfor future competitiveness of internationaltraining. It also looks at the FAS- Trainingand Employment Authority OverseasSponsorship Programme (OSP). The studyfinds that 63 per cent of these companiessent employees abroad for training atother branches. Some 44% of companiesused international training facilities fortechnical professionals and techniciansand 41% sent managerial and administra-tive staff abroad. Only 15% sent manualoperatives away for training and 7% sentclerical staff. Up to 72% of staff involvedin management, including human-re-source management, were sent away bysome companies. The figure for financial,marketing, sales and staff requiring lan-guages skills was 67%, and that for staffinvolved in information and other ad-vanced technology training was 66%. One-third of the companies surveyed were notfamiliar with the FAS OSP scheme. Thestudy finds that ‘while the scheme actedwell in terms of providing cross-culturaleducation and training at an individuallevel, the re-integration of these skillsback into the economy was less than op-timal’.

A problemática da certificaçãoprofissional.

[The problems of vocational certifica-tion].DUARTE AInstituto do Emprego e Formação Profis-sional, IEFPLisbon: IEFP, 1999, 112 p.ISBN: 972-732-397-YInstituto do Emprego e Formação Profis-sional, Av. José Malhoa 11 - Piso 0,P-1070 LisbonPT

This monograph is divided into two parts.The first part describes the problems ofvocational certification: it presents certi-fication as carried out at present and de-picts its possible development on theemployment market in keeping with theeducation and training levels of the work-

ing population. The second part takes alook at the different methodologies forvocational certification.

Job rotation: formação profissionalem rotatividade.[Job rotation: vocational trainingthrough rotation].NUNES L [coord.]Instituto para a Inovação na Formação,INOFORLisbon: INOFOR, 1999, 103 p.(Projecto Metodologias de Formação eDesenvolvimento Curricular)ISBN: 972-97579-3-3INOFOR, Rua Soeiro Pereira Gomes 7 -Edif. América sala 29 - 2º andar,P-1600 LisbonPT

This monograph deals with a form of or-ganisation called ‘job rotation’ which in-volves employed and unemployed work-ers simultaneously and which has an im-pact on the concept of training and itssocial consequences. This work attemptsto deepen knowledge of ‘job rotation’ byhighlighting its innovative dimensions inthe context of the different types of train-ing provision existing in Portugal, and dis-cussing its ability to produce good train-ing practices as part of a strategy to dis-seminate innovation (mainstreaming).

Na rota da pedagogia.[On the teaching route].MÃO-DE-FERRO ALisbon: Edições Colibri, 1999, 283 p.ISBN: 972-772-069-2Edições Colibri, Faculdade de Letras-Alameda da Universidade,P-1699 Lisbon CodexPT

This monograph deals with several as-pects related to the training of trainers.The problems covered are: the functionsof the trainer; trends and teaching meth-ods in the training of trainers; the trainer-learner relationship; training models (dis-tance learning and modular training);teaching objectives; programming andevaluation of training; the new technolo-gies as teaching instruments. The mono-graph also contains some reflections onthe education system and the employ-ment-training relationship.

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Competence accounting:methods for measuring

and valuing key-competencies.LAURELL K;HÖRTE S-ÅLuleå University of Technology, Divisionof Industrial Organization;Luleå: Luleå University of Technology,1999, unpaged.(AR, 99(33))Luleå University of Technology,Division of Industrial Organization,S-971 87 Luleå, SwedenEN

When considering individual and organi-sation competencies in an organisation,methods for measuring and valuing com-petencies need to pay attention to the linkbetween individual and organisationallearning as well as to the risk involvedwith losing key-competencies. The meth-ods investigated in the field of humanresource costing and accounting andknowledge management describe and il-lustrate that the value of human resourcesdecreases and that the companies will loseexperience when employees retire. Themethods used for estimating the losses ofkey-competencies must be complementedby other methods where the learningprocess within companies must also betaken into account.

Konstruktivism i distansutbildning:Studerandes uppfattning om kon-struktivistiskt lärande.[Constructivism in distance education:Students thoughts about constructivis-tic learning].JOHANSSON KUniversity of Umeå, Faculty of social sci-encesUmeå: University of Umeå, 1999, 199 p.(Akademiska avhandlingar vid pedago-giska institutionen Umeå Universitet,99(48))ISSN: 0281-6768ISBN: 91-7191-644-XUmeå Universitet,Pedagogiska Institutionen,S-901 87 Umeå, SwedenSV

The main purpose of this thesis was toclarify wether there would be difficultiesin using constructivistic learning in distanceeducation in which interactive video wasused. Other purposes of the thesis wereto study the quality of learning in distanceeducation compared to conventional edu-cation. All the findings showed that thedifficulties in distance education did notinfluence negatively the possibilities of in-troducing constructivistic learning.

A new way of learning:the UfI network: develop-

ing the University for Industry con-cept.University for Industry, UfISheffield, England: UfI, 1999, 34 p.UfI, The Innovation Centre,217 Portobello, Sheffield S1 4DP, EnglandEN

The University for Industry (UfI) is a ma-jor government sponsored initiative toencourage and facilitate access to lifelonglearning. UfI is a limited company andhas applied for charitable status. Its Chair-man, Vice-Chairman and Directors havebeen appointed by the Secretary of Statefor Education and Employment. This de-velopment plan sets out how UfI plans towork with those involved in lifelong learn-ing - including education and training pro-viders, employers and employees, localauthorities, trade unions, developmentagencies, funding councils and agenciesand awarding bodies - and help them toreach larger audiences. The plan estab-lishes priority target groups - adults withlow basic skills; employees in small en-terprises; employees in the retail, auto-motive component, environmental, andmultimedia industries; and individuals andbusinesses who need to improve theirinformation technology skills. UfI willestablish a website and a Learning Directtelephone helpline supported by informa-tion databases to match the needs oflearners and suppliers. A network oflearning centres will be established andthese will be a focus for delivering UfIlearner support services.

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Members of the documentary information network

CEDEFOP

European Centre for theDevelopment of Vocational TrainingP.O. Box 22427GR-55102 THESSALONIKITel. (30-31) 49 01 11 GeneralTel. (30-31) 49 00 79 SecretariatFax (30-31) 49 01 74 SecretariatMr. Marc WillemHead of Library & DocumentationServiceE-mail: [email protected] Information NetworkSecretariatE-mail: [email protected] Address:http://www.cedefop.grWeb address:http://www.trainingvillage.gr

CEDEFOP

European Centre for theDevelopment of Vocational Training20 avenue d’AuderghemB-1040 BRUSSEL/BRUXELLESTel. (32-2) 230 19 78Fax (32-2) 230 58 24Mr. J. Michael AdamsDirectorE-mail: [email protected]. Marieke ZwaninkE-mail: [email protected]. Marise AlbertsE-mail: [email protected] address:http://www.cedefop.grWeb address:http://www.trainingvillage.gr

FOREM

Office communautaire et régional dela formation professionnelle et del’emploiCIDOCCentre intercommunautaire de docu-mentation pour la formation profes-sionnelleBoulevard Tirou 104B-6000 CHARLEROITel. (32-71) 20 61 73 Ms. S. DieuTel. (32-71) 20 61 74 Ms. F. DenisFax (32-71) 20 61 98Ms. Sigrid DieuChef de ProjetsE-mail: [email protected]. Fabienne DenisSécretaire AssistanteE-mail: [email protected] address: http://www.forem.be

VDAB

Vlaamse Dienst voorArbeidsbemiddeling enBeroepsopleidingICODOCIntercommunautairdocumentatiecentrum voorberoepsopleidingKeizerlaan 11B-1000 BRUSSEL/BRUXELLESTel. (32-2) 506 04 58Tel. (32-2) 506 04 59Fax (32-2) 506 04 28Mr. Reinald Van WeydeveldtDocumentationE-mail: [email protected]. Tomas QuaethovenE-mail: [email protected] address: http://www.vdab.be

DEL

Danmarks ErhvervspaedagogiskeLaereruddannelseThe National Institute forEducational Training of VocationalTeachersRigensgade 13DK-1316 KOBENHAVN KTel. (45-33) 14 41 14 Ext. 317Ms. P. CortTel. (45-33) 14 41 14 Ext. 301Ms. M. HeinsFax (45-33) 14 19 15Fax (45-33) 14 42 14Ms. Pia CortResearch AssistantE-mail: [email protected]. Merete HeinsLibrarianE-mail: [email protected] address: http://www.delud.dk

BIBB

Bundesinstitut für BerufsbildungReferat K4Fehrbelliner Platz 3D-10707 BERLINTel. (49-30) 86 43 22 30Dr. B. ChristopherTel. (49-30) 86 43 24 45Ms. S. BliedungFax (49-30) 86 43 26 07Dr. Bernd ChristopherE-mail: [email protected]. Steffi BliedungE-mail: [email protected] address: http://www.bibb.de

OEEK

Organisation for Vocational Educa-tion and Training1 Ilioupoleos StreetGR-17236 ATHENSTel. (30-1) 976 44 64 GeneralTel. (30-1) 979 33 47 Ms. H. BarkabaFax (30-1) 976 44 64 GeneralFax (30-1) 973 15 93 Ms. H. BarkabaMr. Loukas ZahilasDirectorE-mail: [email protected]. Hermioni BarkabaHead of DocumentationWeb address: http://www.forthnet.gr/oeek/

INEM

Instituto Nacional de EmpleoMinisterio de Trabajo y SeguridadSocialCondesa de Venadito 9E-28027 MADRIDTel. (34-91) 585 95 82 GeneralTel. (34-91) 585 95 80Ms. M. Luz de las Cuevas TorresanoFax (34-91) 377 58 81Fax (34-91) 377 58 87Mr. Bernardo Díez RodriguezDeputy Director General ofTechnical ServicesMs. Maria Luz de las CuevasTorresanoInformation/DocumentationE-mail: [email protected] address: http://www.inem.es

Centre INFFO

Centre pour le développement del’information sur la formation per-manenteTour Europe Cedex 07F-92049 PARIS LA DEFENSETel. (33-1) 41 25 22 22Fax (33-1) 47 73 74 20Mr. Patrick KesselDirectorE-mail: [email protected]. Danièle JoulieuHead of DocumentationE-mail: [email protected]. Stéphane HéroultDocumentation DepartmentE-mail: [email protected] address:http://www.centre-inffo.fr

FAS

The Training and EmploymentAuthorityP.O. Box 45627-33 Upper Baggot StreetDUBLIN 4IrelandTel. (353-1) 607 05 36Fax (353-1) 607 06 34Ms. Margaret CareyHead of Library & Technical Infor-mationE-mail: [email protected]. Jean WrigleyLibrarianWeb address: http://www.fas.ie

ISFOL

Istituto per lo sviluppo dellaformazione professionale deilavoratoriVia Morgagni 33I-00161 ROMATel. (39-06) 44 59 01Fax (39-06) 44 29 18 71Mr. Alfredo TamborliniGeneral DirectorMr. Colombo ContiHead of DocumentationE-mail: [email protected]. Luciano LibertiniE-mail: [email protected] address: http://www.isfol.it

Chambre des métiersdu Grand-Duchéde Luxembourg

2 Circuit de la Foire InternationaleP.O. Box 1604 (Kirchberg)L-1016 LUXEMBOURGTel. (352) 426 76 71Fax (352) 42 67 87

CINOP

Centrum voor Innovatie vanOpleidingenCentre for Innovation of Educationand TrainingPettelaarpark 1Postbus 15855200 BP’s-HERTOGENBOSCHThe NetherlandsTel. (31-73) 680 08 00Tel. (31-73) 680 08 62 Mr. M. JacobsFax (31-73) 612 34 25Mr. Martin JacobsE-mail: [email protected]. Astrid BusserE-mail: [email protected] address: http://www.cinop.nl


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abf-Austria

ArbeitsgemeinschaftBerufsbildungsforschungRainergasse 38A-1050 WIENTel. (43-1) 545 16 71 31Fax (43-1) 545 16 71 22Ms. Susanne KlimmerE-mail: [email protected]. Marlis Milanovich (IBE)E-mail: [email protected] address: http://www.ibw.atWeb address: http://www.ibe.co.at

CIDES

Centro de Informação eDocumentação Económica e SocialMinistério do Trabalho e daSolidariedadePraça de Londres 2-1° AndarP-1091 LISBOA CodexTel. (351-1) 844 12 18Ms. O. Lopes dos SantosTel. (351-1) 844 12 19 Ms. F. HoraFax (351-1) 840 61 71Ms. Odete Lopes dos SantosDirectorE-mail:[email protected]. Fátima HoraDocumentation DepartmentE-mail: [email protected] address:http://www.deppmts.gov.pt

NBE

National Board of EducationHakaniemenkatu 2P.O. Box 380FIN-00531 HELSINKITel. (358-9) 77 47 71 24 Mr. M. KyröTel. (358-9) 77 47 72 43 Ms. A.MannilaFax (358-9) 77 47 78 65Mr. Matti KyröE-mail: [email protected]. Arja MannilaE-mail: [email protected] address: http://www.oph.fi

SEP

Svenska EU ProgramkontoretUtbildning och kompetensutvecklingThe Swedish EU Programme Officefor Education, Training andCompetence DevelopmentBox 7785S-10396 STOCKHOLMTel. (46-8) 453 72 00Fax (46-8) 453 72 01Mr. Fredrik GunnarssonE-mail: [email protected]. Gunilla Spens (NIWL)E-mail: [email protected] address: http://www.eupro.seWeb address: http://www.niwl.se

IPD

Institute of Personnel andDevelopmentIPD House35 Camp RoadLONDONSW19 4UXUnited KingdomTel. (44-181) 971 90 00Ms. J. SchrammFax (44-181) 263 33 33 GeneralFax (44-181) 263 34 00 LibraryMs. Jennifer SchrammE-mail: [email protected]. Cathy DoyleLibrarianE-mail: [email protected] address: http://www.ipd.co.uk/login/splashscreen.asp

NCU

Leonardo NorgeP.O. Box 2608St. HanshaugenN-0131 OSLOTel. (47-22) 86 50 00Fax (47-22) 20 18 01Mr. Halfdan FarstadE-mail: [email protected]. Grethe KjelldahlE-mail: [email protected] address: http://www.teknologisk.no/leonardo/

Associated organisations

EC

European CommissionDGXXIIDirectorate General XXII Education,Training and YouthRue de la Loi 200 (B7, 04/67)B-1049 BRUSSEL/BRUXELLESTel. (32-2) 295 75 62 Ms. E. SpachisTel. (32-2) 295 59 81 Ms. D.MarchalantFax (32-2) 295 57 23Ms. E. SpachisFax (32-2) 296 42 59Ms. D. MarchalantMs. Eleni SpachisE-mail: [email protected]. Dominique MarchalantE-mail:[email protected] address: http://europa.eu.int/en/comm/dg22/dg22.html

EURYDICE

the Education Information Networkin EuropeLe réseau d’information sur l’éduca-tion en Europe15 rue d’ArlonB-1050 BRUSSEL/BRUXELLESTel. (32-2) 238 30 11Fax (32-2) 230 65 62Ms. Patricia Wastiau-SchlüterDirectorE-mail: [email protected] address: http://www.eurydice.org

ETF

European Training FoundationVilla GualinoViale Settimio Severo 65I-10133 TORINOTel. (39-011) 630 22 22Fax (39-011) 630 22 00Ms. Denise LoughranLibrarianE-mail: [email protected] address: http://www.etf.eu.int/etfweb.nsf/

ILO

International Labour OfficeBITBureau International du Travail4 Route des MorillonsCH-1211 GENEVE 22Tel. (41-22) 799 69 55Fax (41-22) 799 76 50Ms. Pierrette DunandEmployment & Training DepartmentDocumentalistE-mail: [email protected] address: http://www.ilo.org

OIT

Centre international de formation deL’OIT125 Corso Unità d’ItaliaI-10127 TORINOTel. (39-011) 693 65 10Fax (39-011) 693 63 51Ms. KrouchDocumentationE-mail: [email protected] address: http://www.itcilo.org

CINTERFOR/OIT

Centro Interamericano deInvestigación y Documentación so-bre Formación ProfesionalAvenida Uruguay 1238Casilla de correo 176111000 MONTEVIDEOURUGUAYTel. (598-2) 92 05 57Tel. (598-2) 92 00 63Fax (598-2) 92 13 05Mr. Pedro Daniel WeinbergDirectorE-mail: [email protected]. Martha PiaggioHead of DocumentationE-mail: [email protected] address: http://www.cinterfor.org.uy

DfEE

Department for Education andEmploymentRoom E3MoorfootSHEFFIELDS1 4PQUnited KingdomTel. (44-114) 259 33 39Fax (44-114) 259 35 64Ms. Julia ReidLibrarianE-mail: [email protected] address: http://www.open.gov.uk/index/..dfee/dfeehome.htm

FVET

Foundation for Vocational Educationand Training ReformLiivalaia 2EE-10118 TALLINNTel. (372) 631 44 20Fax (372) 631 44 21Ms. Lea OrroManaging DirectorE-mail: [email protected]. Tiina EnokE-mail: [email protected] address: http://www.kutseharidus.ee/


CEDEFOP

74

Issues recently

published in

English

No 15/98 Ensuring quality in vocational education and training

Evaluating the evaluations

• Public quality control of vocational training in Germany, France and the UnitedKingdom (Richard Koch, Jochen Reuling)

• Evaluation of quality aspects in vocational training programmes.Results of a meta-analysis in five European countries (Erwin Seyfried)

• Application of ISO 9000 standards to education and training (Wouter Van den Berghe)

Ensuring training quality at the work place

• In-company continuing training: Trends in European enterprises (Thomas Stahl)• Self-assessment. A royal road to quality assurance for continuing training?

(Thomas Stahl)

Case studies

• Accreditation of training organisations.Origin, objectives and methodology of the Portuguese accreditation system(Carlos Capela)

• Quality assurance in continuing vocational training for small and medium-sizedenterprises in the German craft sector - the training activities of the Central Office forContinuing Training in the Crafts Sector (ZWH) (Klaus Jenewein, Beate Kramer)

• Creation of an external quality assurance systemfor higher education - the example of Poland (Maria Wójcicka)

No 16/99 Table of contents

Anticipating and developing competences in enterprises

• Guidelines for determining skill needs in enterprises (Karin Büchter)• Building learning organisations: Putting theory to test - Lessons from European

companies (Barry Nyhan)

Learning through mobility

• Mobility as a learning process (Søren Kristensen)• Foreign language instruction, vocational training and location securing

(Jacob Kornbeck)

A Nordic approach to helping school “drop-outs”

• Returning drop outs to school and work - the Nordic People’s College(Staffan Laestadius, Ingrid Hallman)

Over- and under-education

• Over- and under-education and the relation to vocational training (Joop Hartog)

Debate – Diplomas and the labour market

• Diplomas and the labour market: Results and questions (Louis Mallet)• Shift in skill demand (Christoph F. Buechtemann)• Diplomas versus skills (Hilary Steedman)• Diplomas, labour market signalling and the allocation of competence on jobs

(Gunnar Eliasson)


CEDEFOP

75

Please cut out or copy the order form and send it in a window envelope to CEDEFOP

No 17/99

Learning and work organization

• New pressures for company training (Jacques Delcourt)• The risks and opportunities of learning on the job (Edgar Sauter)

Learning and culture

• The French education system as the expression of a political culture(Alain d’Iribarne; Philippe d’Iribarne)

Systems

• The funding of vocational education and training – an international comparisonof objectives and impact (Folkmar Kath)

• New efforts at reform of the Swiss vocational training system (Philipp Gonon)

Changing skill needs - theory and practice

• Structural characteristics and target categories of holistic vocational training (Bernd Ott)• The importance of the Internet and online systems for the future development

of qualification requirements; hypotheses and the results of experience(Angelika Lippe-Heinrich)

European research in vocational training

• The state of European vocational training research, its functions and its problems(Burkart Sellin; Phillip Grollmann)

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CEDEFOP

76

The European Journalfor Vocational TrainingA call for articlesThe European Journal for Vocational Training journal is looking to publish articlesfrom researchers and specialists in vocational education and training and employ-ment. Researchers and specialists who want to bring the results of high-quality re-search, in particular comparative transnational research, to the attention of a wideaudience of policy-makers, researchers and practitioners in many different countries.

The European Journal is an independent and refereed publication. It is publishedthree times a year in English, French, German and Spanish and enjoys a wide circu-lation throughout Europe both within the Member States of the European Union andbeyond.

The journal is published by CEDEFOP (the European Centre for the Development ofVocational Training) and aims to contribute to debate on the development of voca-tional education and training, in particular by introducing a European perspective.

The journal is looking to publish articles which set out ideas, report on researchresults, and which report on experience at national and European level. It also pub-lishes position papers and reaction statements on issues in the field of vocationaleducation and training.

Articles submitted to the journal must be exact, yet accessible to a wide and diversereadership. They must be clear in order to be understood by readers from differentbackgrounds and cultures, not necessarily familiar with the vocational education andtraining systems of different countries. They should be able to understand clearly thecontext and consider the arguments put forward in the light of their own traditionsand experience.

In addition to being published, extracts of the journal are placed on the Internet.Extracts from past issues can be viewed on http:/www.trainingvillage.gr/etv/edito-rial/journal/journalarc.asp

Articles can be written either in a personal capacity, or as the representative of anorganisation. They should be around 2,500 to 3,000 words in length and can bewritten in either Spanish, Danish, German, Greek, English, French, Italian, Dutch,Norwegian, Portuguese, Finnish or Swedish.

Once written, articles should be sent to CEDEFOP in hard copy and on a disketteformatted for Word or Word Perfect, or as a Word or Word Perfect attachment by e-mail, accompanied by brief biographical details of the author outlining the currentposition held. All articles are reviewed by the Journal’s Editorial Committee whichreserves the right to decide on publication. Authors will be informed of its decision.Articles do not have to reflect the position of CEDEFOP. Rather, the Journal providesthe opportunity to present different analyses and various – even contradictory –points of view.

If you would like to submit an article the editor Steve Bainbridge can be contacted bytelephone on + 30 31 490 111, fax on + 30 31 490 175, or e-mail on: [email protected]

The European journal Vocational Training is published three times a year in fourlanguages (DE, EN, ES, FR). The annual subscription covers all issues of the publi-cation Vocational Training published in the course of the calendar year (January toDecember). Unless notice of cancellation is given by 30 November, the subscrip-tion will be extended automatically for a further calendar year. The publicationVocational Training will be sent to you by the EU Office for Official Publications,Luxembourg. The invoice will be sent to you by the responsible EU distributor.The subscription price does not include VAT. Please do not pay the amount dueuntil you have received the invoice.

Yearly subscription (excl. VAT): (three issues) EUR 15Single copies (excl. VAT): EUR 7

CEDEFOPCEDEFOPEurope 123, GR-57001 THESSALONIKI (Pylea)Postal address:PO Box 22427, GR-55102 THESSALONIKITel. (30-31) 490 111 Fax (30-31) 490 020E-mail: [email protected] Homepage: www.cedefop.gr Interactive: www.trainingvillage.gr

Europe 123, GR-57001 THESSALONIKI (Pylea)Postal address:PO Box 22427, GR-55102 THESSALONIKITel. (30-31) 490 111 Fax (30-31) 490 020E-mail: [email protected] Homepage: www.cedefop.gr Interactive: www.trainingvillage.gr

European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training

european journal train i ng - cedefop.europa.eu

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