EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1 Background
1.1 Purpose
This review of the literature on attitudes to vocational learning was commissioned by the Scottish Government Schools Directorate, Qualifications, Assessment and Skills Division. The purpose is to identify, collate and review the research-based evidence, encompassing attitudes to vocational learning across the lifecourse. The more specific objectives are to:
- report on key findings of the literature on attitudes to vocational learning, by different population and stakeholder groups;
- investigate and report on the range and breadth of literature on attitudes to vocational learning, and the methodologies employed by those studies, with a view to informing future research;
- identify gaps in the Scottish and UK-wide evidence base, and outline potential research options.
1.2 Definition of Vocational Learning
For the purposes of this review, vocational learning is defined broadly as education, training or learning intended to equip persons for a specific vocation and/or that which seeks specifically to develop knowledge and skills in learners in order to operate successfully in the world of work. It does not include professional/ vocational courses in subjects such as medicine or accountancy, entry for which normally requires prior attainment in non-vocational subjects.
1.3 Research design and methodology
Relevant publications and reports, chiefly published since 2000, have been identified through keyword searches of electronic databases, and searches of the websites of relevant stakeholder and research programmes. Analysis of official statistics of pupils' subject choices has also been used to shed light on current levels of pupil interest in vocational learning.
2 Key Findings
2.1 Policy Context: the skills agenda
Vocational learning is central to the skills agenda in Scotland. Skills for Scotland (Scottish Government, 2007a) highlighted the importance of individual development; asserted the goal of achieving "parity of esteem between academic and vocational learning" (p.5); and stressed the value of school-college partnerships in establishing a coherent system to support transition and encourage young people to stay in education and training post-16.
2.2 Policy context: the schools agenda
Scottish schools, through programmes such as Higher Still, Determined to Succeed, Curriculum for Excellence and Skills for Work, are also committed to promoting vocational learning as an opportunity for pupils of all levels of academic ability.
2.3 Subject choices and achievements at school and beyond
Analysis of statistics of participation revealed:
- lower uptake of vocational subjects than of academic subjects
- a strong association between gender, social class and post-compulsory education, with more women entering higher and further education at 18+
- greater numbers of younger males (14-18) studying in further education than young women
- strong gender differences in subject choices at Standard Grade and Highers, which are reflected in subjects pursued in further or higher education and apprenticeships
- that those from more deprived backgrounds take lower level qualifications at stage 4 and stage 5, and take more vocationally oriented subjects.
The detailed analysis also provides useful baseline data for monitoring the future impact of Skills for Work.
2.4 Young people's attitudes to vocational learning in school
Although some earlier schemes to promote vocational learning targeted less academic pupils, and achieved some success, Skills for Work is targeted at all young people, and appears to have been welcomed by pupils of all abilities. Gains are reported, both in preparation for a specific career and also in improving employability skills for the world of work in general. The strength of the data we have lies in the views of young people who have participated recently in such courses; less is known about the attitudes of those who have not participated, and about the longer term impacts, either on participants' qualifications or on their choices at 16. In particular, we need to explore the impact of taking vocational courses on future work and life experiences.
2.5 Choosing vocational or other options
The literature points to a range of factors influencing young people's decision-making, including:
- the availability of opportunities;
- the influence of others: family members, peers, teachers, careers officers;
- interest in the subjects;
- quantity and quality of information available about further education and/or training, and about the careers to which they may lead; and
- personal factors such as self-concept, identity, enjoyment and confidence.
There is still no consensus, however, on how we can use these factors to explain young people's decisions and actions and to guide young people in ways which will assist their future development.
2.6 Attitudes of teachers, careers officers and other staff in schools
Teachers who have been involved in Skills for Work and other vocational learning schemes have identified many benefits for young people, and are working to overcome problems of communication and timetabling which sometimes arise in the partnerships of their schools with colleges and employers. Those directly engaged in, or co-ordinating vocational learning initiatives are very positive, but the literature reveals less about the attitudes of the wider teaching and guidance community.
2.7 Perspectives of staff in further and higher education
The literature suggests that further education tutors have a key role with young people, particularly in motivating those who have not been successful learners in the school environment. Higher education admissions tutors remain interested primarily in evidence of academic learning.
2.8 Attitudes of parents and other family members
Parents are widely accepted to be a major influence on career decisions, either directly through advice, or indirectly, through choices they have made about children's early education. Their preferences for encouraging their children towards academic routes are challenged by current campaigns by the Edge Foundation and, in England, the Learning and Skills Council, who are concerned to ensure parents have appropriate information about current vocational options. Siblings and other family members may also be influential role models.
2.9 Attitudes of employers
Surveys of employers reveal a range of view on the relative importance of qualifications and the softer skills and attitudes that equip young people for the workplace. Collaboration with schools on programmes such as Skills for Work appears to be valued.
3 Gaps in understanding of attitudes towards vocational learning
3.1 The policy agenda
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ( OECD) was asked by the Scottish education authorities in 2006 "to examine in depth the performance of the school system within the framework of the Organisation's review of national policies for education." ( OECD, 2006). While the OECD found much to praise, its report also raised questions about the "cultural and organisational factors" in schools which may act as barriers to learning, and to participation in vocational learning; and highlighted the need for policy-makers to understand the journeys which individual students make, in their choices at school and for future education and/ or employment.
3.2 Gaps in understanding of young people's attitudes
For young people, we have found both quantitative and qualitative data from current or recent participants in vocational learning schemes, which demonstrate the difficulty of disaggregating the many different types of vocational and personal learning which young people report. In this context, a large-scale survey of participants would be useful, to help us understand who is choosing which subjects / vocational areas and why; but there is also a need for an in-depth exploration of the experiences of a sample of some individuals with different personal goals.
3.3 Gaps in understanding of other stakeholders' attitudes
Data on attitudes of teaching and guidance staff is also patchy, as evaluations of specific programmes have tended to rely on the perspectives of those working closely with the programmes. Less is known about the impact of vocational learning on the culture and organisation of schools. Parents may have a key role in diverting young people into vocational learning, either from employment or from academic education: the impact of their views on 16 year olds' decisions is disputed, but recent survey research has convinced the Learning and Skills Council and the Edge Foundation that they are worth targeting. We note that employers are supporting collaboration with Scottish schools. Given the fact that very few pupils with experience of Skills for Work will have filtered through to the workforce at this point, further research into their attitudes seems premature.
4 Suggestions for further research
To help establish whether the elusive goal of 'parity of esteem' is nearer to being achieved, we see a need for more data on levels of participation of whole cohorts across the range of post-compulsory options, on an age group or year group basis. It would also be useful to determine whether positive reactions to vocational learning at school lead to career choices, and to explore the relationship between vocational / academic choices and socio-economic status. The OECD suggestion that we need to understand better how individuals construe their journeys from compulsory education to their eventual careers also seems worth pursuing. We also perceive a need for better understanding of attitudes to different types of vocational learning; and of the cultural and organisational factors in schools and colleges which may limit pupils' opportunities to benefit from vocational learning.
We therefore recommend more quantitative research on:
- levels of participation of whole cohorts across the range of post-compulsory options, on an age group or year group basis.
- attitudes to subject options, including vocational options, across whole cohorts of young people
More qualitative research is called for on:
- young people's accounts of their 'journeys' from school to their 'destinations' in employment or continuing education
- the organisational impact of programmes of vocational learning for school-age young people, both on their schools and on the partner colleges
- attitudes to different types of vocational learning, distinguishing between different aspects of vocational provision, e.g. content, pedagogy, modes of learning, levels of resourcing
- the ways in which parents and other family members from different social and ethnic backgrounds influence children's choices, and how these relate to the child's gender.
Finally, we suggest a range of research questions which could be addressed in projects combining qualitative and quantitative methods.