Berufliche Bildung im Wandel: Institutioneller Wandel von Berufsbildungs- und Hochschulsystemen in Europa
Zusammenfassung der Projektergebnisse
The cross-nationally comparative project "Internationalization of Vocational and Higher Education Systems in Transition" (INVEST) investigated institutional change at the nexus of higher education and vocational training in Europe, especially Germany, and the United States. Reporting on contemporary developments in national postsecondary educational Systems, the project examined institutional persistence and change as these Systems react to international pressures, in particular due to the Bologna and Copenhagen processes that has led to the reform of educational Systems in Europe and beyond. Building on detailed national portraits of structures and pathways in postsecondary education, this project synthesized two rarely combined literatures—on higher education institutions and on vocational education and training Systems—to understand dynamics of change in postsecondary education. The research design linked within-case historical process-tracing and cross-national comparisons of educational Systems as these react to common international pressures. Theoretically, the project combined organizational institutionalism and historical institutionalism to advance comparative-institutional analysis. Distinguishing between the regulative (rules), normative (standards), and cultural-cognitive (ideas) dimensions of institutions facilitated the identification of relevant change processes - and barriers to reform. In terms of methods, we applied systematic process analysis, qualitative and quantitative content analysis, expert interviews, and discourse analysis to identify and examine significant institutional changes at supranational, national, and regional levels. Key results from our comparative and historical analyses include the following: While the institutional divide between VET and HE in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland remains broadly stable, a new—and for each of the countries specific—type of hybrid organizational form has emerged that Spans the boundary between these two organizational fields. The French education system traditionally has provided more linkages between VET and HE than is the case in Germany. However, the degree of permeability is still limited due to normative and cultural barriers within the higher education System. Shared beliefs and scripts still reproduce the traditional hierarchy between HE (and general education) and VET, which hamper reform processes on multiple levels. In many of the now dozens of signatory countries to Bologna and Copenhagen, current Europeanization processes have caused a critical juncture, reconfiguring the relationship between VET and HE. These contemporary reform and supranational coordination processes facilitate the diffusion of this model worldwide. Yet, in what does this emergent European model in skill formation consist? After comprehensive content analysis, we discovered that this model consists of a bricolage of institutional elements from countries long dominant in skill formation, such as Germany, France, Great Britain and the United States. We found not Americanization, but rather strengthened Europeanization. In all the countries analyzed, we observed attempts to learn from others and the effects of European and international models and standardization processes. The aim to increase permeability between vocational training and higher education as one pathway to broadened access is a key goal. While both the Bologna and Copenhagen processes have had considerable influence, the latter remains relatively unknown, even among policy experts and researchers. The INVEST project showed that these parallel and increasingly intertwined international developments must be understood and evaluated collectively more than they had been.
Projektbezogene Publikationen (Auswahl)
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(2009) Applying the Varieties of Capitalism Approach to Higher Education: Comparing the Internationalization of German and British Universities. European Journal of Education, 44(4): 569-585
Graf, L.
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(2010) Analyzing the Nexus of Higher Education and Vocational Training in Europe: A Comparative-Institutional Framework. Studies in Higher Education, 35(6): 705-721
Powell, J. J. W. & Solga, H.
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(2010) Wenn sich Bologna und Kopenhagen treffen. Erhöhte Durchlässigkeit zwischen Berufs- und Hochschulbildung. WZB Mitteilungen, 130:26-29
Bernhard, N., Graf, L. & Powell, J. J. W.
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(2011) Why are Participation Rates in Higher Education in Germany so Low? Institutional Barriers to Higher Education Expansion. Journal of Education and Work, 24(1-2): 49-68
Powell, J. J. W. & Solga, H.
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(2012) Amerikanisierung oder Europäisierung der (Aus-)Bildung? Die Bologna- und Kopenhagen-Prozesse und das neue europäische Modell der Hochschul- und Berufsbildung. Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie. Sonderheft 52 "Soziologische Bildungsforschung", herausgegeben von Becker, R. & Solga, H.: 437-458
Powell, J. J. W., Bernhard, N. & Graf, L.
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(2012) Austrian Corporatism and Gradual Institutional Change in the Relationship between Apprenticeship Training and School-based VET. In Busemeyer, M. R. & Trampusch, C. (Eds.) The Political Economy of Collective Skill Formation. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 150-178
Graf, L., Lassnigg, L. & Powell, J. J. W.
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(2012) Europeanization and the Varying Responses in Collective Skill Systems. In Busemeyer, M. R. & Trampusch, C. (Eds.) The Comparative Political Economy of Collective Skill Systems. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 284-316
Powell, J. J. W. & Trampusch, C.
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(2012) The Emerging European Model in Skill Formation: Comparing Higher Education and Vocational Training in the Bologna and Copenhagen Processes. Sociology of Education, 85(3): 240-258
Powell, J. J. W., Bernhard, N. & Graf, L.
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(2012) The Shifting Relationship between Vocational and Higher Education in France and Germany: Towards Convergence? European Journal of Education, 47(3): 405-423
Powell, J. J. W., Graf, L., Bernhard, N., Coutrot, L. & Kieffer, A.
