Search

The role of skills and human capital during England's Industrial Revolution is the subject of an old but still ongoing debate. This paper contributes to the debate by assessing the artisanal skills of watchmakers and watch tool makers in southwest Lancashire in the eighteenth century and their links to apprenticeship. The flexibility of the training regime and its evolution are discussed, as is the decline of the industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyses attempts to renew apprenticeship over the last three decades in three liberal market economies – US, England and Australia. We conceptualise institutional renewal as entailing both revival, or growth in apprentice starts, and extension, or widening its occupational base. The paper contributes to the literature by considering reasons for the attempted renewal and offering an assessment of the outcomes of renewal. It also contributes to research at the intersection of institutional and comparative training literature by developing the concept of institutional renewal and applying it to apprenticeship. It is concluded that in quantitative terms renewal had some success in England and Australia, but the effect of intervention is more uncertain in the US. The paper also identifies a paradox that policies to promote apprenticeships have undermined the quality of training in England and Australia, leading to questions about the sustainability of renewal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines factors that are associated with the probability of completion of apprenticeship programmes by individual learners in England. Data are from the 2008/2009 academic year Individualised Learner Record – the administrative database containing information on all learners in the Further Education system in England. The analysis considers various factors including demographic characteristics of apprentices, aspects of their programme and an indicator of the local labour market context in which they participate in the apprenticeship. The study considers both Apprenticeships (Level 2) and Advanced Apprenticeships (Level 3) and finds a variety of factors that have a significant effect on the likelihood of completion. Gender-related differences are found only within particular frameworks (akin to the subject or sector). Local unemployment rates are found to have a significant effect on the probability of completion with the direction of this relationship differing between the two levels. The findings highlight that the contemporaneous goals of increasing participation in apprenticeship and improving completion rates cannot be easily achieved through the same actions. Despite this, the importance of completion of an apprenticeship cannot be denied for a variety of reasons including the penalties individuals may suffer in the labour market due to non-completion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]