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Education Sciences
Special Issues
Vocational Education, Skill Formation, and Social Development
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Vocational Education, Skill Formation, and Social Development

A special issue of Education Sciences (ISSN 2227-7102).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2024) | Viewed by 26365

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Haisheng Pan

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Guest Editor
School of Education, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China
Interests: vocational education; vocational education and industry cooperation; skill formation
Dr. Xinqiao Liu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Education, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China
Interests: higher education; economics of education; vocational education
Dr. Geng Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Education, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China
Interests: vocational education; sociology of education; skill formation
Dr. Wenjuan Gao

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Higher Education, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China
Interests: economics and education; engineering education; vocational education

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Vocational education is a system that emphasizes the development of knowledge, skills, and attitudes that relate to an individual’s future participation within the economic sector of one’s community and nation. Within the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and digitalization, there is a need for a significant shift in how vocational education is perceived, designed, and delivered. It would be particularly worthwhile to investigate what policies and various stakeholders have achieved and to evaluate to what extent they have strengthened the skill formation system for skilled perspective workers, as well as their impact on social development. 

This Special Issue aims to focus on the different approaches that could be applied in the field of vocational education in order to create a more robust skill formation system that may contribute to economic growth and boost societal benefits.

Apart from vocational education, research on other types of education, such as higher education and basic education, which are also relevant to skill formation and social development, is equally welcome in this Special Issue.

The topics include, but are not limited to:

  1. Vocational education policy;
  2. Vocational education and industry cooperation;
  3. Education, economics, and social development;
  4. Student development;
  5. Teacher training in vocational education;
  6. Apprenticeship;
  7. Vocational education and social development;
  8. Skill formation in vocational education;
  9. Emerging technologies in vocational education;
  10. Students’ transitions in vocational pathways;
  11. Innovative training in vocational education;
  12. Vocational education and regional development;
  13. Various types of education and economic development;
  14. Various types of education and social development.

Prof. Dr. Haisheng Pan
Dr. Xinqiao Liu
Dr. Geng Wang
Dr. Wenjuan Gao
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Education Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • vocational education
  • skill formation
  • policy
  • social development
  • economic development

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 467 KiB  
Article
Quality Evaluation Model of Vocational Education in China: A Qualitative Study Based on Grounded Theory
by Yuzheng Lu and Tian Wang
Educ. Sci. 2023, 13(8), 819; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13080819 - 10 Aug 2023
Viewed by 1807
Abstract
Enhancing quality is the focus of vocational education reform, and building a quality evaluation system that is adapted to the needs of modern vocational education is an important task of vocational education reform. However, international research on quality evaluation models of vocational education [...] Read more.
Enhancing quality is the focus of vocational education reform, and building a quality evaluation system that is adapted to the needs of modern vocational education is an important task of vocational education reform. However, international research on quality evaluation models of vocational education has still not been explored in depth. In order to reveal the influencing factors and the relationships between them in the quality evaluation system of vocational education in China, this study establishes a theoretical model of quality evaluation of vocational education in China and tests the model. Based on in-depth interviews, this study reached the following conclusions: (1) Educational orientation is the starting and ending point of vocational education quality evaluation. The quality evaluation of vocational education in China is directly reflected through professional settings and talent training objectives; (2) the quality evaluation of vocational education in China focuses on factors external to the education system, which is an important means through which the quality of vocational education can be recognized by the public, enterprises, and industries; (3) there are internal factors influencing the quality evaluation of vocational education, namely institutional resources and evaluation system construction. In addition, strategies for vocational institutions are proposed based on the study results, suggesting that other countries should strictly regulate the settings of majors based on the real needs of industries; promote the development of technical knowledge, teaching materials, and teacher training; and explore the function of international exchange and cooperation, industry–education integration, and school–enterprise cooperation in educating people. This study provides a theoretical model for the quality evaluation of vocational education; in terms of practical value, the constructed model extends the scope of basic theory. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Vocational Education, Skill Formation, and Social Development)
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21 pages, 392 KiB  
Article
Developing Critical Thinking in Technical and Vocational Education and Training
by Felipe López, Mayra Contreras, Miguel Nussbaum, Ricardo Paredes, Damian Gelerstein, Danilo Alvares and Pablo Chiuminatto
Educ. Sci. 2023, 13(6), 590; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13060590 - 09 Jun 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3869
Abstract
Critical thinking has been difficult to develop in technical and vocational education and training, where acquiring practical skills is often the priority. This study looks at whether tried-and-tested methods for developing critical thinking in higher education are also effective in this educational context. [...] Read more.
Critical thinking has been difficult to develop in technical and vocational education and training, where acquiring practical skills is often the priority. This study looks at whether tried-and-tested methods for developing critical thinking in higher education are also effective in this educational context. To test this, an intervention was carried out as part of a compulsory, semester-long “Basic Communication Skills” class for 149 first year engineering students. This involved linking the expected learning outcomes for the course to a series of sub-skills comprising an updated definition of critical thinking. Furthermore, a set of strategies promoting active participation among students was also implemented. The proposed methodology led to improved levels of critical thinking when compared to traditional teaching methods. It was found that lessons characterized as interactive, dynamic, and encouraging active student participation facilitate the teacher’s job in the classroom and improve the development of critical thinking in a specific technical and vocational education context. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Vocational Education, Skill Formation, and Social Development)
15 pages, 286 KiB  
Article
Does Vocational Education Matter in Rural China? A Comparison of the Effects of Upper-Secondary Vocational and Academic Education: Evidence from CLDS Survey
by Geng Wang, Xin Zhang and Rui Xu
Educ. Sci. 2023, 13(3), 258; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13030258 - 28 Feb 2023
Viewed by 2097
Abstract
The Chinese government has emphasised the role of vocational education and training (VET) in promoting the rural economy. Since 2018, the government has invested heavily in setting up secondary vocational schools, training centres, specialised programmes, and courses in rural areas. This paper aimed [...] Read more.
The Chinese government has emphasised the role of vocational education and training (VET) in promoting the rural economy. Since 2018, the government has invested heavily in setting up secondary vocational schools, training centres, specialised programmes, and courses in rural areas. This paper aimed to explore whether VET at the upper-secondary level leads to better labour market outcomes than academic education in Chinese rural areas. We also aimed to quantitively investigate the social prestige of vocational and academic education among rural residents by comparing the subjective social status level of those who graduated from upper-secondary vocational schools and general academic schools. We drew data from the China Labour-force Dynamic Survey (CLDS). A binary logit model and multinomial logit model were used in this research. The results showed that rural upper-secondary vocational graduates had an advantage over general graduates in terms of their income and employment stability. However, VET led to lower subjective social status when compared with general education. This study demonstrated that although promoting VET in rural areas could potentially benefit rural residents financially, cultural change is needed to ensure the elevation of the standing of vocational education and promote the worthiness, effectiveness, and capabilities that vocational graduates possess. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Vocational Education, Skill Formation, and Social Development)
16 pages, 1920 KiB  
Article
Research on the Contribution Mechanism of Vocational Human Capital Characteristics to Income
by Xiaowei Hao, Xi Yang, Kunzhao Kou, Yu Zhang and Congbin Guo
Educ. Sci. 2023, 13(3), 246; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13030246 - 25 Feb 2023
Viewed by 1684
Abstract
Vocational education is an important way to accumulate human capital. Human capital is the core element of economic growth and has huge positive externalities. Building a scientific and effective human capital development system is an important driving force to improve workers’ living standards [...] Read more.
Vocational education is an important way to accumulate human capital. Human capital is the core element of economic growth and has huge positive externalities. Building a scientific and effective human capital development system is an important driving force to improve workers’ living standards and promote innovative development. Based on statistical techniques such as Lasso dimensionality reduction, stepwise regression, and partial least squares, as well as on the 2012–2016 China Labor Force Dynamics Survey (CLDS), this paper studies the impact of human capital on workers’ wage income and capital income, and establishes an income-determining equation that can be used for interpretation and forecasting. The empirical results show that education, professional skills, health, and communication ability are important components of human capital and are significantly positively correlated with income. China should build a good and effective human capital development system to increase workers’ income and narrow the income gap among residents. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Vocational Education, Skill Formation, and Social Development)
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17 pages, 9112 KiB  
Article
A Contagious… Smile! Training Emotional Skills of Adults with Intellectual Disability in the Time of COVID-19
by Maria Elide Vanutelli, Antonella Grieco, Eleonora Comelli and Claudio Lucchiari
Educ. Sci. 2023, 13(2), 149; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13020149 - 31 Jan 2023
Viewed by 1911
Abstract
The COVID-19 emergency has had important implications not only for physical but also for psychological well-being. This is particularly true for fragile populations such as people with intellectual disability (ID), who are particularly at risk of suffering during uncertain times. The goal of [...] Read more.
The COVID-19 emergency has had important implications not only for physical but also for psychological well-being. This is particularly true for fragile populations such as people with intellectual disability (ID), who are particularly at risk of suffering during uncertain times. The goal of this action research was to design, implement, and test the efficacy of emotional competencies training to support people with ID in coping with stressful events. For this purpose, eight adults with ID followed a 5-week training of increasing complexity, aimed at exercising different skills through group activities. We designed a study to test its feasibility and efficacy, using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The analyses revealed that, after the training, participants used a more complex emotional language and were able to frame their perception of COVID-related threat with greater confidence and awareness. These findings, although circumscribed, respond positively to the urgent need to develop emotional support programs targeted at people with ID. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Vocational Education, Skill Formation, and Social Development)
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17 pages, 450 KiB  
Article
Educational Inequity and Skill Formation Differences Experienced by Floating Rural Students in the Process of Urbanization: A Case Study from a School Perspective
by Xiaojie Cao, Siduo Ji and Xinqiao Liu
Educ. Sci. 2023, 13(2), 131; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13020131 - 27 Jan 2023
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 7023
Abstract
In the process of urbanization in China, the migrant worker population entering cities is an important force in building cities. The children of these migrant workers who do not have the qualifications to participate in college entrance examinations in the city generally become [...] Read more.
In the process of urbanization in China, the migrant worker population entering cities is an important force in building cities. The children of these migrant workers who do not have the qualifications to participate in college entrance examinations in the city generally become floating rural students. The education problem of the children of the migrant worker population entering the city is still insufficiently considered, and the education inequality and skill formation defects faced by floating rural students are worth paying attention to. This study selected P Middle School in Daxing District of Beijing as a case and took “input–process–output” as the thread to investigate and analyze the school’s source of students and enrollment situation, survival strategy and student graduation destination. It tried to present the original ecology of the school’s survival situation from the micro level and further interpret the education inequality and skill formation of floating rural students from the perspective of the school’s survival. Through the case study, we have found that the academic achievement of students in privately run schools for migrant workers’ children is not high. The level of teachers in these schools is low, and teacher turnover is high, resulting in a significant gap in the quality of education compared to public schools. The main source of funding for these schools is donations from members of the community, and government funding is inadequate. Floating rural students in privately run schools for migrant workers’ children have poor graduation destinations, with a low percentage of students going on to key high schools, and some students are forced to become returning children, facing institutional barriers to upward mobility through education. These aspects have led to education inequality and possible defects in the skill formation of floating rural students. We hope to clarify and grasp the actual situation of privately run schools for migrant workers’ children and put forward corresponding policy recommendations to help bridge the educational inequity in China. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Vocational Education, Skill Formation, and Social Development)
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