DFF Grant for Martin B. Carstensen: How Do We Strengthen Vocational Education?

There is broad political consensus that the Danish economy needs more skilled workers, and this demand is expected to increase as older workers retire. However, enrollment in vocational education directly from 9th and 10th grade is only about 20 percent, according to figures from the Ministry of Children and Education.

In light of this, Professor (MSO) Martin B. Carstensen has recently received DKK 3.1 million from the Danish Independent Research Fund to investigate transitions within the education system and how to structure it to make vocational education more appealing to a larger number of young individuals.

"Reforms targeting transitions over the past decades have had very different goals. Some aimed to prevent young people - who were not ready for further education - from entering vocational education, for example, by requiring a minimum grade of 2 in Danish and mathematics. The goal here was to diminish the direct transition for academically challenged youth from primary school to vocational education, hoping to attract more academically talented young individuals to vocational education," explains Martin B. Carstensen.

Other reforms have tried to strengthen the transition between basic courses at vocational schools and practical training periods in companies. But according to the researcher, it has proven difficult to encourage a significant portion of young individuals to consider vocational education.

"Many young people and their parents perceive vocational education as a 'dead end' for the weakest students. We should not underestimate the influence of discourses dominating the education debate, where higher education is seen as the most important in terms of educating the population to participate in international economic competition," he says.

Prejudices about physical and mental exhaustion

Martin Bæk Carstensen notes that in the 2000s, a narrative emerged that university education was the path to a good, well-paid career, whereas vocational education led to physical and mental exhaustion– if you could even secure an apprenticeship. This has not helped motivate the strongest students to pursue vocational education.

According to Martin B. Carstensen, reforms have not changed the overall image problem of vocational education.

"Since the 1990s, labor market and social policy focus has been on education as the path to inclusion in the labor market. Vocational education has played a central role in training some of the most challenged young individuals, often grappling with other social challenges," he explains and continues.

"Over time, it has been acknowledged that although vocational education can do a lot to promote social inclusion, the reputation of the educations has suffered. Especially unions and employer organizations have done a lot to change the narrative about vocational education, but there is still a long way to go," he says.

Significance of Transitions

In the new research project, Martin B. Carstensen will study the effect of changes in transitions within the vocational education system and between vocational education and social policy. This will provide insights into factors crucial for creating attractive educational programs as well as the schools' ability to retain students.

The goal is to develop a comprehensive theoretical framework and, through statistical analysis, examine the significance of different types of transitions for young individuals' education and employment.

According to the researcher, the political ambition is to create a more cohesive and attractive system, while the research interest lies in investigating the extent to which reforms have positive effects on factors such as students' completion rates, grades, connection to the labor market and income.

"A fundamental challenge for vocational education is that many young people and their parents are not comfortable deciding what they will do for the rest of their lives when they are 16 years old. Many want to postpone that choice and live life with their friends. To them, high school seems like the attractive option. Others worry about whether there are enough apprenticeships or if they will have the opportunity to do further education later in life," says Martin B. Carstensen.

And he continues:

"To make vocational education more attractive it is important to emphasize that is a path to get a good, stable income with the opportunity to pursue higher education, and if frameworks are created for establishing a fun youth life," he concludes.