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The Shifting Relationship between Vocational and Higher Education in France and Germany: towards convergence?
Author(s) -
Powell Justin J. W.,
Graf Lukas,
Bernhard Nadine,
Coutrot Laurence,
Kieffer Annick
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
european journal of education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.577
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1465-3435
pISSN - 0141-8211
DOI - 10.1111/j.1465-3435.2012.01534.x
Subject(s) - europeanisation , vocational education , institutionalisation , nexus (standard) , higher education , convergence (economics) , political science , institutional change , economic growth , public administration , economics , politics , computer science , law , embedded system
In Europe, the Bologna and Copenhagen Processes in higher education (HE) and vocational education and training (VET) are on the agenda, aiming to create a European educational area. Acknowledging important differences between countries, we compare the evolving relationship between HE and VET. We ask whether and how these two distinct organisational fields in France and Germany have changed in recent decades. Comparing institutional shifts, the article analyses whether long‐standing differences in postsecondary education and training systems and the education/economy nexus in these two countries have remained stable. We argue that these countries’ skill formation systems have begun to converge, departing from their original institutionalisation paths. Thus, while the traditional typologies that contrast France and Germany have served as useful heuristic devices, they require revision to adequately represent incremental institutional change in these skill formation systems resulting from endogenous reforms and exogenous pressures due to Europeanisation.