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The purpose of this paper is to ascertain the status of recent Korean four-year college students’ acquisition of vocational qualification certificates (hereinafter “certificates” or “qualifications”), the factors that influence certificate acquisition, and the resulting employment and wage effects.

Regression analysis was conducted on the data from the Graduates Occupational Mobility Survey.

The results showed that females and medicine and education majors had higher rates of vocational qualifications, as did the students in provincial as compared to metropolitan areas and students with high grades. In terms of effects on labor market outcomes, vocational qualifications exert a moderate degree of positive influence on employment rate, wage at the time of initial employment, and current wage (i.e. there is a persistent wage effect).

This study will provide policy implications to decrease youth unemployment in Korea and worldwide as well as to build employment services supporting the acquisition of vocational qualifications across various disciplines.

This paper aims to analyse how learning levels differ within and between degrees and diplomas with specific application to the Bachelor of Applied Business Studies degree and the New Zealand Diploma of Business, which are delivered at a New Zealand polytechnic.

A literature review and content analysis of National Qualifications Frameworks was conducted to analyse how learning levels differ within and between degrees and diplomas with specific application to the Bachelor of Applied Business Studies degree and the New Zealand Diploma of Business which are offered at a New Zealand polytechnic.

A literature review and content analysis of National Qualifications Frameworks reveals that learning levels are differentiated by level of complexity, degree of abstraction, depth in a major subject, research competency, learner autonomy and responsibility, relative demand placed on students and increasing complexity and unpredictability of operational context. This analysis failed to find any difference in learning level between Bachelor of Applied Business Studies and New Zealand Diploma of Business papers nominally at the same level on the New Zealand National Qualifications Framework. The degree comprises a portion of papers at a higher learning level than the diploma and it is at this level that the difference is realised.

Future research should investigate learning level differences between disciplines, qualifications and institutions.

This paper provides a framework on which to base course design, delivery and assessment of the Bachelor of Applied Business Studies degree and the New Zealand Diploma of Business and credit transfer between them.

This case study addresses the increasingly important issue of the compatibility of learning levels between different qualifications. As many economies acknowledge the necessity for increasingly skilled workforces, credit transfer to enable seamless transfer between qualifications is becoming a focus in seeking to facilitate lifelong learning. There are few studies that focus on National Qualifications level descriptors and the implications for different qualification types.

This paper aims to disclose the implications of the 4th Industrial Revolution for vocational and professional qualifications and their systems. It also seeks to enhance more active discussion of experts and researchers about the change of vocational and professional qualifications created by the advent of the 4th Industrial Revolution.

Research is based on the case studies of the design and development of vocational and professional qualifications focused on the skills requirements of the 4th Industrial Revolution. There are analyzed and compared two cases of the international (EU) projects aiming to design and implement new qualifications in the metalworking industry and the case of introduction of additional qualifications in Germany. The main research methods include content analysis of the qualifications descriptors and vocational education and training (VET) curricula, a meta-analysis of the research on the implications of Industry 4.0 for VET.

The choices of the structure and contents of qualifications and VET curricula in the context of the 4th Industrial Revolution are defined by the specific state of technologies and work organizations in the enterprises, limitations of VET providers, individual skills needs of learners, national and sectoral policies in the field of qualifications and curricula. It requires compromises between the concept of solid qualifications based on the holistic orientation to work processes and the trends toward flexible curriculum; between the design of new qualifications and adjustment of the existing ones, as well as between the individualistic and collective approaches to qualifications.

The research is focused on the development of qualifications in the manufacturing sector (metalworking and engineering industry). The paper contributes to the theoretical discussions and research of qualifications, competence, VET and human resource development by suggesting a theoretical framework for the analysis of the development of qualifications in the context of the 4th Industrial Revolution, as well as by stressing the importance of holistic view to this development which should comprise both policies and practices of the design of qualifications, curriculum design, education and training and assessment of learning outcomes.

The paper provides insight into the implications of the 4th Industrial Revolution to the key processes of the national systems of qualifications by referring to the cases of current efforts to adjust qualifications in the metalworking sector and engineering industry. It also suggests possible scenarios for the future development of vocational and professional qualifications in the context of the 4th Industrial Revolution.

This paper aims to explore structural and systemic influences in the development of competence models and qualifications systems at sectoral and national levels across Europe, considering the influences of different socio‐economic models of skill formation on the processes of design and provision of qualifications.

The paper is based on a meta analysis of three European projects that used literature review, documentary analysis and interviews with practitioners and policy makers.

The main methodological and practical challenges posed by varieties of competence and qualifications to inter‐country comparability of qualifications are shown to be related to different socio‐economic models of skill formation.

The research is limited to 13 countries and four sectors but these were carefully selected to maximise coverage of European diversity with respect to competence models, training regimes and approaches to qualifications. There is clearly a need for further research involving more countries and sectors.

The paper offers recommendations for improving the potential of the European Qualifications Framework to promote comparability of qualifications and hence mobility of labour. These recommendations will be of interest to policy makers and practitioners involved in using the EQF and similar instruments.

This is the first systematic attempt to explore the methodological and practical difficulties of establishing comparability between qualifications.

The use of choice-based, matched, and other stratified sample designs is common in auditing research. However, it is not widely appreciated that the data analysis for these studies has to take into account the non-random nature of sample selection in these designs. A choice-based, matched or otherwise stratified sample is a nonrandom sample that must be analyzed using conditional analysis techniques. We review five research streams in the auditing area. These streams include work on determinants of audit litigation, audit fees, auditor reporting in financially distressed firms, audit quality and auditor switches. Cram, Karan, and Stuart (CKS) (2009) demonstrated the accuracy of conditional analysis, compared to unconditional analysis, of nonrandom samples through the use of simulations, replications, and mathematical proofs. Papers since published have continued to rely upon questionable research, however, and it is hard for researchers to identify what is the reliability of a given work. We complement and extend CKS (2009) by identifying audit papers in selected research streams whose results will likely differ if the data gathered are analyzed using conditional analysis techniques. Thus research can be advanced either by replication and reanalysis, or by refocus of new research upon issues that should no longer be viewed as settled.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of instruments defined as artefacts, rules, models or norms, in the articulation between knowing‐in‐practice and knowledge, in learning processes.

The paper focuses on a distributed, knowledge‐intensive and instrumented activity at the core of any collective action: qualification. The particular case of breeding activities in the livestock sector has been studied, where collective practices of animal qualification for collective breeding have been studied. Qualitative data stemming from in‐depth interviews and observation of daily practices have been analysed, combining practice‐based approaches on knowing processes and science philosophers' theories on the use of instruments during action.

The study of instruments used in daily practices allows us to go beyond the dichotomy between opposite types of knowledge, i.e. scientific knowledge seen as a stock, and sensible knowledge seen as purely tacit and equated to non‐instrumented practices. Instruments are not merely mediators in learning processes; they also take an active part in shaping and activating knowledge and learning processes.

Further research is needed on the designing of reflexive instrumentation, which takes knowing and knowledge articulation into account better.

Using instruments as a key concept to analyse knowing‐in‐practice processes has both methodological and managerial implications for identifying those instruments that favour learning processes.

This paper complements more classical practice‐based approaches by proposing a new perspective on instruments in learning processes, which is particularly relevant to the study of pluralistic organisations where power is diffuse.

The paper seeks to disclose the features and implications of the neoliberal VET and employment policy agendas for the social and institutional VET ecosystems and the integration of at-risk youth in the labour market in the Baltic countries.

The research is based on the comparative policy analysis approach with reference to the theories of social and skill formation ecosystems and the historical institutionalism perspective.

The research has revealed three interconnected and alternately/simultaneously applied development pathways in the skill formation and vocational education of at-risk youth in the Baltic countries: (1) the market-oriented approach based on fostering immediate employability based on the momentary skills needs in the economy; (2) the state-assistance approach based on ensuring equal access to the VET and employment services by the state and (3) the approach of systemic support to socially disadvantaged or at-risk young people in developing their capabilities.

The originality of the paper lies in a new, holistic and comparative perspective in analysing the implications of the “Baltic neoliberalism” for the development of skill formation systems, VET and employment of at-risk youth in this region.

The selection of a suitable contractor for a project has a significant impact on project success. In order to avoid the selection of an incapable contractor, the capabilities of contractors must be assessed prior to tendering through pre-qualification. However, the pre-qualification process is characterized by partiality and ambiguity. In view of this, numerous models have been developed to solve the pre-qualification problems. Prior to the development of such models, it is very important to assess how the pre-qualification criteria impact project success criteria so as to aid in the selection of pre-qualification criteria while considering the project and client’s objectives. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to ascertain the relationship between contractors’ pre-qualification criteria and project success criteria.

The study utilized explanatory research design in testing 35 hypotheses. The views of 121 practising quantity surveyors were solicited using a structured questionnaire and analyzed using the partial least square structural equation modeling to validate the hypothesis.

In all, 13 of the 35 hypotheses were not supported. The findings indicated a clear relationship between contractors’ pre-qualification and project success.

Therefore, it is evident that the practice of lowest evaluate bidder is not adequate for providing a satisfactory project outcome. It is, therefore, suggested that more emphasis should be placed on contractor’s technical abilities, health and safety and management capabilities as they have proven to have a significant correlation with the project success.

This study provides insights to the how various pre-qualification criteria can impact the project success criteria and further contributes to the symbiotic that exist in the literature on pre-qualification and project success.

The United States has attempted to remove the comparative disadvantage of people over 40 in the labour market by legislation against any age discrimination in the employment of people aged between 40 and 70, including the prohibition of age qualifications in job advertisements. This paper discusses the main provisions of the American Age Discrimination in Employment Act (1967 and 1973) and then goes on to consider the extent of age discrimination in Britain by analysing a sample of age qualified vacancies notified to the British public employment service.

Relying on a design science paradigm, the purpose of this paper is to describe the development and evaluation of items for an ICT artefact that supports the assessment of transversal professional competences within the validation of prior learning (VPL). To do so, the authors build a conceptual bridge between the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) and the European Qualifications Framework (EQF).

Design science research paradigm, in particular the participatory development of candidate items and their evaluation in a multi-stakeholder approach.

The authors find that a self-assessment of professional competences should be comprised of 160 items in order to cover the breadth and depth of the O*NET in the hierarchical taxonomy. Such quantity of items sufficiently builds a conceptual bridge between the O*NET and the; EQF.

When designing procedures for the VPL, it is imperative to bear in mind the purpose of the validation procedure, in order to determine relevant stakeholders and their needs in advance as well as the; required language proficiency of the assessment instrument.

The innovative value of this approach lies in the combination of an underlying hierarchical taxonomy with assessment items that are developed based on the qualification standards of different Austrian professions. Together with specific verbs that were adapted for each particular item, an innovative self-assessment is proposed. Thereby the authors aim to account for some of the mentioned shortcomings of the EQF.

This paper applies a design science paradigm to develop an ICT artefact that should support the VPL. By reflecting on the design process, the authors introduce a theoretical bridge between the O*NET and the EQF. Thereby the authors aim to account for some of the mentioned shortcomings of the EQF.