Collective Skill Formation in the Knowledge Economy

Most scholars argue that collective skill formation systems are a promising way to integrate workers into the employment system. Whether this is also true in a knowledge economy, however, is an open question. Following a market segmentation approach, this chapter argues that risks of insufficient in…

For many youths, a successful transition to upper secondary education is a first and crucial step towards a socially and economically stable life trajectory. With the shift towards a knowledge economy, this transition is growing in importance. In collective skill formation systems, apprentice recrui…

Collective skill formation systems have been long hailed for their capacity to provide high quality vocational training, thereby straddling the twin demands of supplying relevant skills to employers and offering access to stable and relatively well-paid jobs for individuals without university educat…

What leads employers to co-finance and collectively provide transferable skills? This study analyses employer cooperation in four sectors with varying levels of employer cooperation in the provision and financing of transferable (general) skills in post-secondary vocational training. It finds that e…

The knowledge economy challenges the premises of collective skill formation systems. The jobs apprenticeships have traditionally prepared for—mid-level jobs in the industrial sector—disappear. Higher and more general skills become increasingly important, reinforcing cooperation dilemmas. The questio…

Collective skill formation systems remain attractive in the knowledge economy. However, these systems are heavily dependent on the capacity of actors to cooperate, which in turn depends on their ability to find win-win solutions to the challenges these systems confront. This concluding chapter discu…

Is the balance between concerns for efficiency and equality in vocational education and training (VET) institutions sustainable with the rise of the knowledge economy? This chapter studies reform trajectories in two VET systems committed to egalitarianism, the Swedish and the Danish. The chapter sho…

Striking a balance between inclusion and efficiency is a key challenge in collective skill formation systems, and increasingly so in the knowledge economy. Taking into consideration prestige concerns allows for a better understanding and differentiation of vocational education and training (VET) act…

This chapter focuses on the changes in the Swiss VET system triggered by the advancing knowledge economy. Skill profiles change rapidly nowadays and there is an ever-increasing demand for upskilling. As a result, reforms have to be initiated in order to ensure the necessary changes in the training s…

Given rising skill demands on the part of business and the increasing aspirations of young people for higher skills, the relationship between vocational and academic worlds of learning has become a major policy challenge in collective skill formation systems. While the need to enhance institutional …

For a variety of reasons that are closely connected to the rise of the knowledge economy, collective skill formation systems increasingly struggle to deliver on the twin goals of meeting firms’ skill demands and offering access to stable and relatively well-paid jobs for large groups of the populati…

This chapter discusses the conditions for the development of policies for the validation or recognition of prior learning (RPL) in collective skill formation systems, with a focus on Switzerland. It compares the Swiss case with similar reforms in statist skill formation systems (focusing on France a…

Which policies aimed at expanding access to collective skill formation systems receive political support and which ones are likely to be successful? This chapter answers this question by analysing social inclusion policies which were implemented successfully and policies that were proposed, debated …