Pathways to Professions
Understanding Higher Vocational and Professional Tertiary Education Systems
Higher vocational and professional tertiary education includes programmes with very different design features and functions, ranging from two-year programmes in tertiary institutions through professional bachelor degrees to free-standing professional examinations designed to upskill existing practitioners. In some European countries the scale of enrolment in the higher vocational and professional tertiary education sector now rivals that in regular universities. But not all countries have established a separate sector; in some countries applied, practically oriented programmes are taught within multi-purpose institutions alongside programmes like history or physics.
This report compares this sector across OECD countries, drawing on quantitative and qualitative data. It describes types of programmes across countries and assesses data quality. The report zooms in on pathways leading into vocational and professional programmes and transitions into further learning or the labour market, as well as the profile of learners served by these programmes and links to the labour market.
Comparative data in this area have major gaps because of the lack of internationally agreed definitions for programme orientation at tertiary levels. This report proposes a three-way classification to resolve this problem and sets out practical tools to implement this and thereby improve data availability and quality.
Key findings and proposals for the classification of tertiary programmes by orientation
This chapter presents key findings from comparative data on professional tertiary education and advances proposals for the development of internationally agreed definitions for programme orientation at tertiary levels. Countries report a wide range of programmes as professional, including one- or two-year programmes, professional bachelor’s degrees and professional examinations, which upskill existing professionals. Comparative data provide some insights into the functions of professional programmes, the profile of learners, pathways leading into programmes and associated outcomes. However, huge gaps remain in data because of the lack of internationally agreed definitions for programme orientation at tertiary levels. This report proposes a three-way classification of programmes, to distinguish between profession-oriented (e.g. training for nurses and interior designers), sector-oriented (e.g. food technology, business studies) and general (e.g. history, physics) programmes.
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