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"Students"

This paper examines how working-class vocational students in Turkey perceive their stigmatisation and relative failure within the education system. The findings reveal that these students experience deep disorientation, anxiety, and humiliation. While they exhibit partial awareness of structural constraints, they often internalise beliefs in individual agency and personal responsibility to explain their circumstances. Drawing on Ramsay’s concept of temporal displacement–originally developed in the context of forced migration–the study reinterprets educational marginalisation through a temporal and affective lens. It argues that Turkey’s integration into global capitalism, through economic liberalisation, labour deregulation, the privatisation of education, and the valorisation of individual responsibility, produces new forms of displacement and dispossession. These processes limit students’ prospects for social mobility and thrust them into a condition of uncertainty. At the same time, they erode collective moral frameworks and solidarities, replacing them with neoliberal ideals of grit, resilience, and self-blame. By illustrating how global capitalist transformations are lived and internalised in national and educational contexts, the study contributes to critical debates on vocational education and offers insights with relevance beyond the Turkish case. © 2025 The Vocational Aspect of Education Ltd.

Background: The integration of the 6E instructional model into STEM education, focusing on Health and Well-Being, has gained attention for its potential to enhance students’ computational thinking and self-efficacy. However, limited research exists on how this approach addresses gender-specific needs in vocational education, particularly in terms of reducing gender disparities in STEM skills. Purpose: This study aimed to examine the impact of integrating ‘6E-oriented STEM instruction on Health and Well-Being’ into an IT course on vocational high school students’ computational thinking abilities and self-efficacy. The research also investigated whether the curriculum differentially impacted male and female students, focusing on gender-related differences in these outcomes. Sample: The study involved 67 second-year vocational high school students in Taiwan. Design and Methods: A quasi-experimental design with pretest-post-test control groups was used. Data collection included computational thinking tests and self-efficacy questionnaires administered before and after the intervention. Statistical analysis, utilizing paired t-tests and ANCOVA, was conducted to assess the effectiveness of the intervention and examine gender differences. Results: Findings indicate that the ‘6E-oriented STEM instruction on Health and Well-Being’ significantly enhanced students’ computational thinking abilities and self-efficacy. The curriculum’s human care themes had a particularly positive effect on female students’ computational thinking and self-efficacy. Additionally, gender differences were observed, with female students benefiting more from the curriculum’s focus on real-world health issues. Conclusion: The study demonstrates the potential of the 6E instructional model to improve computational thinking and self-efficacy, particularly among female students. Future research should explore the long-term effects of this approach and its applicability in diverse educational contexts, as well as investigate how curriculum design can further address gender differences in STEM education. © 2025 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

students with learning disabilities (SLDs) aspire to work after they completed their secondary school education and many of them do not know what to expect which leads to inability to be employed in the employment. The aim of this study was to explore and develop work aspiration of SLDs in Malaysia through a series of 10 workshops by developing skills, interests, preferences and support needed for their prospective workplaces. Data was collected through online workshops for 32 SLDs with the support from their parents at home, teachers and practitioners. Qualitative research was conducted to explore the work aspiration in SLDs and findings were triangulated with observations, focus group interviews and documents analysis by the participants, parents and special education practitioners. Research questions highlighted the importance and the impact of developing work aspirations in SLDs. Findings indicated that intentional conversations about work and personalised teaching and learning materials have contributed to the development of work aspirations in SLDs. SLDs displayed increased knowledge about work and enhanced self-determination skills throughout the programme. This study implies the importance of maximising the learning opportunity and collaboration between special education teachers, practitioners and families in providing support for SLDs to aspire for work which has provided a glimpse of hope for the families. This study has impacted the lives of SLDs who are commonly marginalised and unheard of by instilling the aspiration for work as mental readiness for employment. It contributes to the education ecosystem and the disabled community in bridging the unemployment gap. © Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia, 2025.

Immersive technologies like Virtual Reality (VR) are gaining recognition as valuable educational tools. VR has been successfully applied in therapy, including treating phobias (Maples-Keller et al., Harv. Rev. Psychiatry, 2017) and pain management (Pourmand et al., Curr. Pain Headache Rep., 2018). It also supports inclusive learning by removing physical barriers and addressing diverse social and emotional needs (Hutson and McGinley, IJTES, 2023). Additionally, VR can teach life skills such as anxiety management, decision-making, and hazard recognition (Roberts-Yates and Silvera-Tawil, Int. J. Spec. Educ. 34, 197–210, 2019). However, its potential to address emotional and social challenges in education and the school-to-work transition remains underexplored (Nuryana, The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Disability, Springer, Cham, pp. 1–8, 2024). This study examines how VR supports social-emotional and motor development and facilitates the transition of students with disabilities from school to employment. Data were collected through VR-based self-awareness workshops at educational sites in Germany, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. Participants included 17 individuals: students (n = 7), special education teachers (n = 7), and vocational training specialists (n = 3). Selected results indicate that VR enhances student motivation and engagement across subjects. Teachers see VR as a powerful tool for adaptive and inclusive teaching aligned with Universal Design for Learning. However, successful implementation requires integrating both technical and pedagogical elements. While VR has great potential for inclusive education, low-threshold applications remain limited. Future efforts should focus on making VR more accessible and ensuring its effective long-term use in educational settings. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025.

A movement towards reduced grading practices has emerged internationally over the past few decades. Reduced grading refers to approaches aimed to limit the use and emphasis of grades in assessment, which has been shown to affect stakeholders differently and introduces unpredicted challenges (Normann et al., 2023). The movement has been embraced in various educational contexts; however, little is known about stakeholders’ perceptions of this shift away from grading. Analysing interviews with nine vocational teachers using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2021a), this study explores dilemmas encountered by teachers when implementing reduced grading. The study conceptualises teachers’ ambivalence towards reduced grading as a dilemma and outlines (1) the dilemma of being faithful or truthful (i.e., adhering to policy vs. ensuring transparency for students) and (2) how navigating the faithful-truthful dilemma was stressful for teachers. The concept of being faithful encompasses teachers’ professional loyalty in the form of adhering to policies, whilst being truthful involves focusing their professional loyalty towards students’ assessment needs. Balancing the dilemma is not an easy task. Grappling with the ideals of being faithful or truthful may create challenges for teachers’ professional loyalty, potentially leading to new sources of stress among teachers of not being able to document students’ learning and defend final grade justifications. A discussion and the implications for research, practice and policy are provided. © The Author(s) 2025.

Two primary factors contributing to disparities in engineering degrees are the low female enrolment and their high dropout rates. Understanding the reasons behind female students’ choices related to engineering and the factors leading to their departure remains critical. This study presents empirical findings on the contrasting factors influencing career choices and dropout intentions among male and female engineering undergraduates. An analysis of data from 602 participants revealed significant differences in career motivations, with males being more self-oriented, whereas females demonstrated a more collectivist approach. Additionally, female students reported higher dropout intentions, correlated with more frequent experiences of discrimination and lower self-esteem. The study also identifies specific contexts within engineering campuses where female students experienced discrimination. By highlighting these differences and underscoring where discrimination occurs, this research enriches the comprehension of the challenges faced by female engineering students. These insights are vital for formulating strategies to boost female engagement and retention in engineering, targeting broader goals of diversity and equality in tertiary education. © (2024), (OmniaScience). All Rights Reserved.

One of the tasks in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is gender equality. Gender equality in education includes fields that are predominantly carried out by men. This study aims to test whether the training method designed using materials typically dominated by men can improve the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) of female students in vocational high schools in semi-urban areas in Central Java province. The method used is a quantitative quasi-experimental design. The research participants consisted of 518 female vocational high school students. All participants completed a questionnaire measuring their ZPD in relation to the training materials. Subsequently, 32 female students were randomly selected from the 518 participants to join the experimental group. Thus, the training involved two groups of female students: There are 32 students in the experimental group and 486 students in the control group. The experimental group gained high-engagement training through hands-on experience with the laser engraver process. Meanwhile, the control group underwent training by watching videos on the laser engraver process. Based on this study, it was found that ZPD scores of the experimental group increased by M= -31.66 points, while the control group only experienced a ZPD increase of M= -20.93 points. Thus, it can be concluded that direct practice using a laser engraver is more effective in improving the zone of proximal development for female vocational students compared to watching videos about laser engraver usage. Hands-on experience resulted in a high level of student engagement. This study also found that female students can have high engagement when using equipment. Research with other tools that are more male-oriented could be conducted to further strengthen the findings of this study. © 2025 Jap Tji Beng et al.; published by UIKTEN. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 License.

The lack of uniformity in the concept of Project-Based Learning (PBL) causes confusion. PBL stimulates learning through real-world projects, central questions, collaboration, and support. This method shifts the focus from traditional instruction to active, student-centered learning. This research focuses on the development of Computational Thinking (CT) skills in Vocational High School (VHS) using PBL. This research involved 116 students who were taking Computer Network and Telecommunications Engineering (CNTE) subjects from the competence of Computer and Network Engineering (CNE) expertise. The students collaborated in groups of 2-3 to create a project in the field of Internet of Things (IoT) using sensors and actuators. The project culminated in a final presentation where each group showcased the project design, implementation, and data analysis results. This study analyzes student responses using descriptive statistics and discusses the findings quantitatively and qualitatively. The results highlight the impact of integrating PBL into VHS, especially in improving students’ CT skills. This research emphasizes the need for teamwork, project management, abstraction skills, algorithmic skills, and generalization skills in the context of PBL. Overall, the implementation of PBL not only improves students’ technical and academic abilities but also equips them with project management skills essential for future challenges in both further education and professional careers. © (2025), (UIKTEN - Association for Information Communication Technology Education and Science). All rights reserved.

This systematic review explores the challenges and facilitators encountered by students with a migrant background in accessing, participating in, and completing Vocational Education and Training programmes across Europe. It synthesises existing research to understand how VET can support the integration and social inclusion of this population. Based on 60 studies from 2003 to 2024, this paper identifies key findings revealing significant challenges in three critical areas: access, participation, and completion. Linguistic difficulties, discrimination, and the complex recognition of foreign qualifications emerge as primary obstacles, persisting despite various policy interventions. Additionally, employer reluctance and regional economic disparities hinder the effective inclusion of these students in VET programmes. Sociocultural and individual factors, such as limited social networks and social capital, exacerbate these educational and vocational challenges. In contrast, the study identifies key facilitators that enhance their participation in VET, including supportive institutional policies, inclusive legal frameworks, and targeted programmes integrating language learning with vocational training. The role of cultural integration, the development of hybrid identities, and the importance of comprehensive academic support, flexible curricula, and personalised guidance emerge as pivotal elements in promoting integration. Although VET holds significant potential to foster integration, the study concludes that more coherent and sustained efforts are required to address the multiple barriers faced by migrant students. These findings are pertinent to a global audience interested in equity and inclusion within educational systems, advocating for an inclusive and holistic approach to VET policies and practices to ensure the successful integration into European societies. © 2025 Educational Review.

Urgent actions are needed both individually and collectively to reach the targets set by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. The complex issues of sustainability and climate change set the need for new skills and competences. Education systems worldwide need to integrate competence development into their agenda to achieve a sustainable transition. Higher education institutions have a crucial role in decreasing the gap between the graduated students' competences and the requirements of the labour market. In the pursuit of a workforce prepared for the complexities of the 21st-century workplace, this paper explores the interplay between European competence frameworks and transversal skills. Using a comparative analysis of four frameworks—DigComp, EntreComp, LifeComp, and GreenComp—we identify distinct features and cross-reference competences with transversal skills. As a result, media and information literacy emerges as a crucial transversal skill across all frameworks. This study offers valuable insights for strategic decision-making in talent development and organizational planning, aligning education with the dynamic demands of today’s society. The findings underscore the key role of transversal skills in preparing individuals for the 21st century labour market. © 2025 Budapest University of Technology and Economics. All rights reserved.