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The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the degree apprenticeship of the vocational training institutes (VTIs) enhances the labor market and enables the trainees to detect the knowledge and skills that are acquired during the training. In addition, this study tries to detect through work-based learning whether the workplace function as a learning place and whether the trainees are satisfied by the experience during the degree apprenticeship.

In total, 129 graduates by various VTIs in the wider area of Patras (Western Greece), who completed the degree apprenticeship, participated in the survey.

The findings of this study highlighted the difficulties that the graduates of VTIs face when they look for a job in the economic crisis era that Greece faces. However, this study also highlighted the satisfaction that the trainees denoted about the knowledge and the vocational and social skills that they acquired during the degree apprenticeship. Additionally, the trainees are satisfied by the workplace where the degree apprenticeship took place because it became a learning environment.

This study is evidence of a need for developing the degree apprenticeship programs in Greece as a means of enhancing the transition from training to work.

This research is the first and serious recording of the trainees’ opinions regarding their degree apprenticeship, during their studies in VTIs. The presented professional and social skills could use as guidelines for the implementation of new practices and educational policies in training during the educational process. Additionally, the degree apprenticeship programs will be further linked to the educational institution and the educational community will benefit from the trainees’ experience. These new degree apprenticeship practices will be implemented in the following years in all the VTIs in Greece.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the problems faced by unemployed and underemployed graduate students in a small European country. It focusses on the way young people adjust to unemployment and underemployment and on the specific strategies they use to enhance their employability. Various aspects of these strategies as they relate to student decision making and analysis are discussed. The role of new skills and competencies in managing graduate unemployment is examined.

Qualitative research was conducted with 15 graduate students of the Education Department of the University of Cyprus. In-depth interviews and focus-group interviews were used to collect data.

The results indicate that the main strategy used by respondents in order to enhance their prospects of employment is the acquisition of additional skills and competencies. A secondary strategy is the pursuit of employment opportunities abroad. Student decisions and perspectives appear to be optimistic, partially rational, placed within a short-term horizon and influenced by the belief in the investment value of education.

The findings are qualitative and cannot be considered to be representative of the population. However, they allow an in-depth analysis of the way a group of students experiences and manages unemployment and underemployment.

The way young people deal with unemployment and underemployment has not been investigated in many studies, especially in relation to the degree to which graduates formulate specific strategies in order to manage the transition from the university to the world of work. Students’ and graduates’ perceptions regarding the association between skills and employment can provide the basis for more informed planning and policy making in higher education.

The purpose of this paper is to concentrate on investigating the role of gender on educational leadership in the context of two differing cultures. The focus will be on exploring whether gender appears to impact on the leadership roles in education by examining the extent of female participation in leadership across educational levels in Greece and the UK, highlighting differences and similarities between them.

This paper examines secondary data on a number of issues, like the proportion of women in lower and higher ranking teaching posts across education sectors. Such data are retrieved from official national and international statistics, such as UNESCO, Eurostat, the Office of National Statistics UK and the Higher Education Statistics Agency, UK, as well as previous academic studies.

The results of the analysis reveal that in both countries, fewer women than men reach top rank positions in education, particularly in secondary and higher education.

The investigation will rely on the use of secondary data collected from a number of diverse national and international sources as well as from existing literature. The choice of secondary data is judged to bae appropriate on the basis of this paper and its research aim. Examination of women's presence across educational sectors in the two selected countries required obtaining information about actual and not representative, overall numbers or percentages of women in educational posts. Such information can only be positively retrieved by national or international, official statistics, while even these, the investigation revealed, can show variations between them.

The paper should raise awareness to women's under‐representation in leadership positions in education, especially at the secondary and the tertiary education levels.

Leadership has been acknowledged as a decisive component in education namely due to the improvements it brings in many areas. The complexity and diversity surrounding leadership has turned attention to the effect of a number of factors on the practice of leadership educational context, such as gender and culture. Therefore, the present paper concentrates on an exploration of the effect of gender in leadership in education. Also, the cross‐cultural investigation between Greece and the UK, allows for constructive comparisons to take place where appropriate.