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Gaining More Than Just Vocational Skills: Evaluating Women Learners’ Aspirations Through the Capability Approach

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Book cover Handbook of Vocational Education and Training

Abstract

Vocational education and training had been a popular choice for women learners in the English Further Education sector. However, policy makers and policy researchers have characterized these women learners as providing a poor return on investment due to their failure to enter immediate employment. As a result, there have been significant cuts to funding. Such policy processes have not engaged with why these women returned to education and what they stood to gain from participation. This major absence is the focus of this chapter. Framed using a capabilities approach, women learners were asked why they had returned to FE and how they were going to use their knowledge and training. Using capabilities as a lens reveals a nuanced and complex picture of how education helps them to expand their well-being, agency, and freedom achievement.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (UK) [grant number 151171].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK

    Rebecca Suart

Authors
  1. Rebecca Suart
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Correspondence to Rebecca Suart .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education, University of Nottingham School of Education, Nottingham, UK

    Simon McGrath

  2. Education and Competence Studies Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, Gelderland, The Netherlands

    Martin Mulder

  3. Faculty of Education, University of the Western Cape Faculty of Education, Bellville, South Africa

    Joy Papier

  4. School of Education, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK

    Rebecca Suart

Section Editor information

  1. Faculty of Education, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa

    Lesley Powell

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Suart, R. (2019). Gaining More Than Just Vocational Skills: Evaluating Women Learners’ Aspirations Through the Capability Approach. In: McGrath, S., Mulder, M., Papier, J., Suart, R. (eds) Handbook of Vocational Education and Training. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49789-1_9-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49789-1_9-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-49789-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-49789-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference EducationReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Education

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