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The purpose of this paper is to analyse and summarise the Australian research on the impact of vocational education and training (VET) on transitions to work for young people aged 15 to 24 years.

The methodology involved the compilation of statistics on VET participation by young people and a review of research on the topic of young people and the longer‐term impact of VET on transitions into work. Research included in the review was restricted to Australian research published during or after 2005.

The findings suggest that young people who participate in VET experience better employment outcomes compared to young people who do not participate in post‐school education and training. However, the smoothness of the transition into work varies for young people who participate in VET programs. Programs linked to the workplace provide the most rapid and successful transitions while other VET programs, such as certificate I and II courses, often require further study at a higher level in order for students to achieve their desired job. The paper also shows that school VET programs have a particularly positive effect on transitions into work for early school leavers.

The paper consolidates the knowledge on how VET assists young people's transitions into work. By focusing on longitudinal research, the paper enhances the understanding of the longer‐term impact of VET for young people.

Young men and women dominate different niches of science education in Australia, but how this divide varies between university and post-secondary vocational education and training (VET) is not well understood. Therefore, I compare courses in both sectors to assess if the male–female gap at later stages of education mirrors adolescent career plans and subject choices made in secondary school. Multinomial logistic regressions estimated on data from the Longitudinal Survey of Australian Youth (Y06) illustrate the extent to which the gender divides in secondary and post-secondary education correspond with one another. Y06 started with the 2006 Australian Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Each year until 2013, a nationally representative sample of youth, who were nearly 16 years old in 2006, reported their schooling and work experiences. I find that Australian women rarely specialise in physics, engineering and technology (PET); in contrast, they dominate the life sciences. While post-secondary science is segregated by gender everywhere, the disparity within VET is much deeper due to a large share of PET enrolments. VET students, who come from modest socio-economic backgrounds and have less academic success at school, learn in more segregated environments than their university peers. This analysis suggests that gender divides will be particularly hard to close within post-secondary VET, even if schools succeed in eradicating gender differentials in students’ career aspirations, science performance, self-concept and choices of science subjects.

The aim of this paper is to consider the role played by vocational education and training (VET) for young people in Australia.

The paper is based on an analysis and synthesis of the existing research and literature, including the author's own body of research in the field, regarding VET delivered in schools and in adult sector institutions.

This research presents evidence that VET in Schools (VETiS) constitutes an important and significant curriculum reform in upper secondary schooling, but that it is usually offered at the most basic qualification levels within the subject model paradigm of senior secondary certificates. Its heavy use by young people from disadvantaged backgrounds raises concerns regarding social selection and it suffers from problems of low esteem and variable quality, with its place often questioned within the traditional academic culture of secondary schooling. With respect to adult VET providers, the article argues that the role of TAFE across Australia for 15‐19 year‐olds is relatively limited, with questions raised regarding the quality of programs for younger clients, and that low SES students are more likely to enter post‐school VET destinations.

This article argues that an integrated approach to VET provision, both during and after school, is needed to create quality pathways for students of all backgrounds.

The article presents an integrated view of the role played by VET across different sectors for young people. It is designed to be of value to policy makers and practitioners seeking coordinated policy responses designed to offer curriculum, diversity, and strong pathways into further education and quality full‐time employment.

To provide information and insight into the potential of reforms in full‐time vocational education and training (VET) (practice firms in vocational colleges) in contrast with apprenticeships against the background of training market frictions in Germany.

Structural information on the German VET system; empirical study (2006) within a research project to illustrate the didactical and social benefits of practice firms.

Underlines that vocational colleges and practice firms within them are part of a “preparatory” system which predominantly serves further education needs and the follow‐up intention to undertake an apprenticeship; confirms preceding research which put them in line with the “typical” full‐time VET system.

Limitations are due to the focus on one type of full‐time VET and the specific conditions in the federal state of Baden‐Württemberg.

Provides useful information to understand the nature of VET in a given country; insight into the limitations of full‐time VET can help teachers to rethink co‐operation with companies in general.

Useful contribution to rethinking VET policy and to understanding limitations in the wake of an implementation of new forms of vocational learning against the background of culturally‐rooted tradtions.

This paper seeks to illustrate how interventionist education reforms shape dis/trust-building processes and their impact on teacher professionalism in vocational education and training (VET) across national contexts. Using trust as the object of analysis, we discuss the affective mechanisms of becoming a professional in a standards-based neoliberal environment.

Through an analysis of VET teacher narratives in England and Austria, the paper draws attention to the ways in which policy instrumentalism has created a culture of distrust in VET. Drawing upon foundational work on system trust developed by Niklas Luhmann, we illustrate how conditions for trust sit at symbolic thresholds, which set the conditions for professional recognition within VET.

Our analysis revealed that attempts to standardise VET strategy are fuelled by the need for existential security and predictability, leading to tensions in the cultivation of system trust. Conditions for professional recognition across both contexts were based on practices of documentation and subordination, narrowly defining modes of legitimate self-expression in organisations. This constitutes a crisis of trust in VET teacher professionalism, which undermines pedagogical autonomy and integrity.

We seek to highlight the impact that reduced trust in the governance of VET can have on issues associated with teacher motivation, well-being and retention. The consideration of trust is therefore essential both for policy design and implementation in VET organisations.

The application of trust theory offers a distinctive lens through which to understand the impact of accountability, performativity and governance processes upon teacher subjectivity within VET across national contexts.

The present study aims to reveal common and diverging trends in the development of pedagogical competences of vocational education and training (VET) teachers and trainers in Italy and Lithuania.

A structured survey was administered to Italian and Lithuanian teachers. The collected data were analysed and compared.

Results show that there are many common challenges and problems in the development of pedagogical competencies of the VET teachers in both countries; e.g.: the marginalisation of the VET teacher's work and working conditions, especially the dissatisfying wages and poor career opportunities, and the absent or weak institutionalisation of the VET teacher's qualifications and training.

The emerged results can be useful for directors of VET-centres and VET-schools to manage training and pedagogical growth of teachers both in Italy and in Lithuania. Moreover, the outputs can be considered as a set of suggestions also by the policymakers both at national and European level.

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 aim of the paper is to examine whether there really is a shortage of VET teachers, and if so, whether there are links to the salary offered and to the qualifications required.

The paper uses three main approaches to examine the narrative of a shortage of VET teachers in Australia.

There was no documented evidence of a VET teacher shortage, beyond a general perception of shortage in line with other occupations due to the post-COVID economic recovery. Salaries for VET teachers were found to compare well with other education occupations and other jobs in the economy. There was no evidence of the required qualifications deterring entry. The main concern appears to be whether VET can adequately train workers for other sectors in shortage.

The research did not include empirical survey work and suggests that this needs to be carried out urgently.

The research provides evidence that will challenge current assumptions and help in the recruitment of VET teachers.

It argues for a recognition of the importance of the VET sector beyond its function of serving industry.

It highlights ways to make VET teaching a more attractive proposition and to better promote its advantages.

This paper aims to explore how the competence-based vocational education and training (VET) curricula facilitate shaping of work values of VET students. It discusses methodological and ideological orientations of competence-based VET in teaching work values and discloses the typical characteristics of teaching work values in the VET system of Lithuania.

A quantitative research approach leading to a survey method is adopted to investigate how VET students acquire and apply work-related values and attitudes to work.

The survey of the VET students has disclosed that students are open to accepting different values of work, including cognitive values, social prestige and altruist values. However, orientation of the VET curricula to and provision of instrumental values lead to relatively weak internalization of the work values related to societal and spiritual dimensions.

The paper provides empirical evidence regarding the implications of the competence-based curricula for teaching students work values in the school-based VET.

Using the example of an amalgamated secondary school qualification (International Baccalaureate Career-related Programme – IBCP), in which both vocational education and training (VET) and academic subjects are taught, the paper aims to discuss the use of skills and knowledge gained during the IBCP for post-secondary school activities.

The paper uses mixed method data based on a survey of 57 IBCP graduates and qualitative interviews with 20 IBCP graduates. Findings relate to the role of the IBCP in the careers decision-making process, the skills and competences students gained during their IBCP and its transferability to their current activity.

After their IBCP, more than half of all observed students had entered higher education. Whilst a few students did not engage actively in the career decision-making process, some were pro-active and used different sources to gain information. However, a large group of students used their time during the IBCP to test various occupational ideas and, thus, used their VET to further the careers decision-making process. Most students reported that they could transfer the skills and competencies they had gained during their secondary school to their current activity.

The paper calls for a renunciation of the ambivalent signals an amalgamated secondary school degree can provide. IBCP students signal both an increased productivity because of an increased level of vocational skills and a lower level of academic achievement. These signals, however, allow students to enter a highly diverse higher education system, especially in vocational courses.