illustration for the drivers of inequality

Driver Category 3.6

Unequal access to careers guidance, vocational and technical training, apprenticeships and internships

This driver category covers vocational and technical skills development and access to learning opportunities within the labour market including how the access to and nature/quality of these training opportunities differ between higher paid and lower paid occupations. All aspects of policy, infrastructure and expenditures in this area are relevant. In addition, the social capital, socio-economic background and people’s time available to take advantage of training and further education opportunities are covered within this driver category.

Guiding Questions

Careers guidance

  • Is careers guidance seen as a social good in your country and generally a publicly funded service within educational institutions or as part of public employment programmes?
  • Does the government’s current careers guidance policy explicitly include social equity objectives alongside learning and employment goals?
  • Does the government seek to provide comprehensive provision linked to lifelong learning and a lifelong guidance system or is public provision relatively limited?
  • Within the careers guidance programme, are any additional targeted services being provided for disadvantaged groups?
  • What is the nature of school based careers guidance in your country?
  • Do secondary schools have a responsibility to provide this service to all students, including the provision of information on technical and vocational education and apprenticeships and other work-based learning opportunities?
  • What budgets are schools provided with to deliver careers guidance programmes and are budgets increasing or decreasing in this area?
  • How are schools using these budgets (e.g. to hire school counsellors, pay for impartial careers guidance advice, hold careers fairs, support meetings with advisors for disadvantaged and vulnerable pupils etc.)?

Technical and vocational education

  • Does the government have a national policy and strategy regarding access to affordable, quality technical and vocational education and training?
  • What is the current mix of provision between public and private providers?
  • Is there evidence of gender and other disparities with regard to access to technical and vocational education?
  • What steps is the government taking to reduce any gender disparities and to ensure equitable access for vulnerable and disadvantaged groups, including people with disabilities?
  • Is there evidence that technical and vocational education opportunities are being made available particularly to out-of-school youth and individuals not in education, employment and training?
  • What is the geographic coverage of training facilities?
  • How does the geographic coverage of public and private training providers compare?
  • Are facilities (infrastructure and equipment) sufficient to meet the needs for quality technical and vocational education?

Technical and vocational education: budget and costs

  • What resources are available for technical and vocational education?
  • How does spending on technical and vocational education compare to spending on tertiary education in the country?
  • Is part of the budget dedicated to enabling more equitable access? Is there a special fund for training of economically and socially disadvantaged groups?
  • Is there a special fund for training of economically and socially disadvantaged groups?
  • Is there separate financing to provide skills training in certain geographic areas?
  • Are any financial incentives provided to employers to enable apprenticeships or in-work training, particularly to disadvantaged groups and those with lower skill sets?
  • Are scholarships or subsidies available to help low-income students attend technical and vocational education, including on a residential basis where necessary for those from remote, rural areas?

Quality of technical and vocational education

  • What are the most urgent quality challenges with technical and vocational education?
  • Is there sufficient investment in the professional development of teaching staff and instructors?
  • Is there a trainer qualification framework and clarity on the special competencies required?
  • Is pre-service and in-service training providing?
  • Does the government have an adequate monitoring system to inspect technical and vocational education facilities, including to deliver quality assurance of private facilities?

Enterprise-based training and apprenticeships

  • Are any arrangements in place to provide enterprises with incentives to expand their in-work training programmes?
  • Does the government offer grants (such as wage subsidies during a specific period) or loans to help enterprises cover the cost of training employees?
  • Are any incentives targeted specifically to stimulate training for workers with low levels of education and skills?
  • Are the incentives on offer evaluated to ensure public funds deliver genuine benefits (and are not just supporting training that enterprises would have offered anyway)?
  • Is there information available on the difference in access to in-work training between employees working at different levels of the business?
  • Do better-educated and better- paid workers, in higher skilled roles, enjoy greater opportunities for in-work training?
  • Is more research needed in this area?
  • Does the government have a national policy and strategy in relation to apprenticeships?
  • How are apprenticeship schemes financed and what do employers contribute to apprenticeship funds?
  • Is there information available on the number and type of apprenticeships being supported?
  • Are efforts being made to attract women into apprenticeships traditionally dominated by men (e.g. engineering and transport sectors)?
  • Are additional funds available to support apprenticeships of disadvantaged groups?

Internships

  • How important are internships in the education-to-employment transition: are they a significant way for young people to gain work experience and eventual entry into certain sectors/professions? /li>
  • Are internships generally paid and unpaid?
  • Are internships opportunities in key professions formally advertised or filled on an informal basis?
  • Is analysis available on the extent of use of unpaid internships, whether this is becoming a more or less common feature of the labour market, and how this benefits graduates from well-off families?
  • Is there a perception that poor families and certain groups are disadvantaged by the scale and nature of unpaid internships and their impact on social mobility?
  • Are new policy options being discussed to make internships more transparent and accessible (including via remuneration) to promote more equal opportunities in the labour market?

Indicators

Potential indicators to monitor the drivers of inequalities in this main driver category

  • Amount of budget invested in careers guidance (national and per region)
  • % of women enrolled in technical and vocational education (disaggregated by age)
  • % of education budget spent on vocational and technical training, and comparison of this to % of education budget spent on tertiary education
  • Amount of technical and vocational education spending per student (national and per institution type)
  • Number of scholarships for economically disadvantaged young people to attend technical and vocational education
  • Ratio of (qualified) instructors to students (in public and private facilities)
  • Number of apprenticeship places (per sector, type/level of job) available each year (disaggregated by relevant characteristics)

Candidate Policies

To see related Candidate Policies in this main driver category please click here.