People and Policy: A comparative study of apprenticeship across eight national contexts

Learning Ecosystems and Leadership September 23, 2017

This comparative study examines apprenticeship –a globally recognized, work-based model of learning that links on-the-job training with institution-based or off-the-job training– in eight countries: Australia, Denmark, Egypt, England, Finland, Germany, India, and South Africa. The report uses documentary analysis as its central methodological approach, citing, summarizing, synthesizing, analyzing and critically reflecting on existing literature and data produced by international organizations, government agencies, universities, and research institutions. The study combines analysis at the macro, meso, and micro levels to explore and define the incentives and disincentives for learners and employers to engage with apprenticeships, and to re-imagine apprenticeship policy and purpose.  The report includes a focus on the demographics of apprentices, the challenges faced by apprenticeship systems, and the limitations of the research posed by the lack of comparable data on apprenticeship.

Authors

Dr. Maia Chankseliani

Dr. Maia Chankseliani

Associate Professor of Comparative and International Education, Department of Education and Fellow, St Edmund Hall, University of Oxford

Maia Chankseliani is affiliated with The Centre for Comparative and International Education and The Centre on Skills, Knowledge and Organisational Performance (SKOPE), and leads a flagship master’s program at the department, the MSc in Comparative and International Education.

Dr. Ewart Keep

Dr. Ewart Keep

Director of the Centre on Skills, Knowledge and Organisational Performance, Department of Education, Oxford University

Ewart Keep has published extensively on apprenticeships, lifelong learning, higher education policy, the link between skills and economic performance, managerial attitudes towards investment in skill, and how public policy on education and training is created and enacted.

Dr. Stephanie Wilde

Dr. Stephanie Wilde

Research Officer, Department of Education, University of Oxford

Stephanie Wilde completed a PGCE (Modern Languages), MSc (Comparative and International Education) and an ESRC-funded D.Phil at the Department of Education, and has worked as a researcher on a number of projects, including the Nuffield Review of 14-19 Education and Training, and the Vocational Excellence project.

This report has been reviewed by:

  • Prof. Anne Green, Professor of Regional Economic Development, University of Birmingham
  • Prof. Ingrid Schoon, Professor of Human Development and Social Policy at the Institute of Education, University College of London

Research Organization

Oxford