Higher VET – Positioning within National Structures and International Trends

A new edited volume sheds light on the structures, developments and perspectives of higher-level vocational education and training. A contribution by 3s experts compares Austria and Norway.

Higher-level voca­tio­nal education is an area of education of major labour-market relevance which, in Austria and Germany, has so far received rela­tively limited attention in research and public debate. This is all the more striking given its sub­stan­ti­al con­tri­bu­ti­on to skills supply and the attrac­ti­ve career deve­lo­p­ment oppor­tu­ni­ties it offers graduates. At the same time, this field is facing signi­fi­cant chal­lenges: changing edu­ca­tio­nal choices, digi­ta­li­sa­ti­on, socio-eco­lo­gi­cal trans­for­ma­ti­on, and evolving demands on work and learning envi­ron­ments require adjust­ments in struc­tures, content and societal perception.

The newly published edited volume addresses these deve­lo­p­ments and provides a thorough and dif­fe­ren­tia­ted dis­cus­sion of the struc­tures, debates and current trends in higher VET. A con­tri­bu­ti­on by Karin Luomi-Messerer, Jens Bjørnåvold and Monika Auzinger focuses on the deve­lo­p­ment of voca­tio­nal education at higher qua­li­fi­ca­ti­on levels outside the higher education sector in Austria and Norway. Using an ana­ly­ti­cal model developed in earlier studies, the authors examine insti­tu­tio­nal frame­works and their influence on qua­li­fi­ca­ti­ons, pro­gram­mes, and the overall status of this edu­ca­tio­nal area. With a par­ti­cu­lar focus on the master craftsper­son qua­li­fi­ca­ti­ons in Austria and Norway, the chapter illu­stra­tes how strongly national insti­tu­tio­nal arran­ge­ments – espe­ci­al­ly National Qualifications Frameworks – shape the design, visi­bi­li­ty and role of higher voca­tio­nal education. The com­pa­ra­ti­ve analysis shows how dif­fe­ren­ces between the two countries become par­ti­cu­lar­ly evident through their respec­ti­ve qua­li­fi­ca­ti­on frameworks.

Luomi-Messerer, Karin; Bjørnåvold, Jens und Monika Auzinger:  Berufsbildung auf höheren Qualifikationsniveaus: Zentrale Themen und Trends in Österreich und Norwegen. In: Neu, Ariane (Hg.)(2025). Höherqualifizierende Berufsbildung: Strukturen, Perspektiven, Debatten und aktuelle Entwicklungen (1. Aufl.). Bielefeld: wbv Publikation. https://doi.org/10.3278/9783763978229