Welfare Reform on the Web (October 2005): Education - UK - Training

How 'modern' is the modern apprenticeship?

J. Campbell, A. McKay and E. Thomson

Local Economy, vol.20, 2005, p.294-304

Paper reports on the government's flagship training programme, the Modern Apprenticeship, from a gender perspective. It concludes that the scheme has so far failed to tackle occupational segregation. It is recommended that the government and organisations involved in the development and delivery of modern apprenticeships adopt a more conscious and cohesive approach to promoting non-traditional choices at the vocational level.

On the making and taking of professionalism in the further education workplace

D. Gleeson, J. Davies and E. Wheeler

British Journal of Sociology of Education, vol.26, 2005, p.445-460

Article explores two contrasting notions of the further education professional, as either the passive recipient of external policy reform or as an empowered agent of educational change. The former denotes issues of structure, in terms of how the professional is framed by external processes of policy and funding, and the latter focuses on agency in the way professionals construct identity and meaning in the contexts of their work. Paper critically examines ways in which further education professionals resolve the tension between agency and structure in the changing conditions of their work.

The returns to apprenticeship training

S. McIntosh

Journal of Education and Work, vol.18, 2005, p.251-282

Paper uses data from the UK Labour Force Survey to estimate the wage gains that individuals make on average if they complete an apprenticeship programme. The results suggest gains of 3-7% for men, but no benefit for women. Further analysis extends the results by considering the returns by age group, by qualification obtained, by highest prior qualification and by industrial sector.