Abstract
The purpose of this chapter is to evidence the shortcomings of large-scale assessments and the new shift toward capability-oriented indicators. Focusing on the international data on adult skills (PIAAC) and its impact in forging VET (vocational education and training) policies, we assume that current VET systems are confronted with many challenges that arise from the interaction of two sources. On one hand, VET policy focuses mainly on employability which is insufficient to grasp wider benefits that education entails – as postulated by many educational (i.e., Nussbaum, Creating capabilities: The human development approach. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 2011; Boni and Walker, Universities and global human development: Theoretical and empirical insights for social change. Routledge, London, 2016) and a considerable smaller education and work scholars (i.e., McGrath and Powell, Int J Educ Dev 50:12–19, 2016; Egdell and McQuaid, Soc Policy Adm 50:1–18, 2016). On the other hand, the underpinnings of the objectives and designs of VET should adapt to the socioeconomic consequences of the Great Recession. The chapter focuses on the PIAAC and most concretely to the Spanish case as an example of how the Great Recession becomes an open license to fast- and short-term strategies that favors employment regardless of its quality and long-term consequences and values education and youth role in society in relation to their contribution to boost the economy. The chapter recognizes the urge for seeking fast solutions that shift the unemployment rates but alerts to the overlooked aspects with some of those measures in relation to VET. In fact, this chapter is a call to policy-makers and academics toward the importance of rethinking education on the basis of new information basis of judgment that are human-centered.
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Appendix
Appendix
Determinants of Social Goals. Reference Is Spain. PIAAC 2012, Population Aged 25–65 years
(1) | (2) | (3) | (4) | (5) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Variables | Social trust | Political efficacy | Cultural engagement | Numeracy | Literacy |
Age | 0.00301 | −0.00623 | 0.0717*** | 1.346 | 0.437 |
(0.0231) | (0.0200) | (0.0205) | (1.091) | (1.035) | |
Age2 | 0.000976 | 0.00237 | −0.00196 | −0.247*** | −0.223*** |
(0.00173) | (0.00153) | (0.00165) | (0.0820) | (0.0773) | |
Female | 0.0722*** | 0.0691*** | 0.0456*** | −14.51*** | −3.361*** |
(0.0178) | (0.0207) | (0.0166) | (0.720) | (0.673) | |
Immigrant | 0.0491* | −0.0523* | −0.0260 | −26.77*** | −27.47*** |
(0.0287) | (0.0270) | (0.0238) | (1.738) | (1.450) | |
Hi. Parental Ed. | 0.148*** | 0.0914*** | 0.126*** | 8.421*** | 9.108*** |
(0.0147) | (0.0135) | (0.0114) | (0.594) | (0.507) | |
Ed. Upp. Sec. Gen | 0.115*** | 0.0344 | 0.0376 | 9.929*** | 11.52*** |
(0.0373) | (0.0239) | (0.0268) | (1.309) | (1.162) | |
Ed. Upp. Sec. Voc | −0.0611** | −0.0252 | 0.0343 | 17.13*** | 10.81*** |
(0.0298) | (0.0205) | (0.0251) | (1.141) | (1.028) | |
Ed. tertiary | 0.241*** | 0.233*** | 0.152*** | 36.43*** | 31.92*** |
(0.0303) | (0.0265) | (0.0301) | (1.173) | (1.066) | |
Numeracy | 0.00161*** | 0.00155*** | 0.00106*** | ||
(0.000231) | (0.000233) | (0.000184) | |||
Not employed | −0.0446 | −0.0449** | −0.0196 | −7.647*** | −4.727*** |
(0.0276) | (0.0208) | (0.0281) | (0.991) | (0.998) | |
Skilled | 0.267*** | 0.188*** | 0.220*** | 32.70*** | 27.74*** |
(0.0375) | (0.0379) | (0.0381) | (1.375) | (1.245) | |
White collar | 0.134*** | 0.0465 | 0.120*** | 20.06*** | 17.22*** |
(0.0413) | (0.0307) | (0.0344) | (1.406) | (1.230) | |
Blue collar | 0.00666 | 0.00973 | 0.0370 | 10.98*** | 7.903*** |
(0.0426) | (0.0328) | (0.0364) | (1.566) | (1.329) | |
OECD | 0.309*** | −0.133*** | 0.235*** | 5.696*** | 10.10*** |
(0.0272) | (0.0249) | (0.0206) | (1.041) | (0.992) | |
Constant | 1.387*** | 1.542*** | 0.383*** | 218.7*** | 225.4*** |
(0.102) | (0.0927) | (0.0811) | (3.898) | (3.727) | |
R2 | 0.0665 | 0.0518 | 0.0515 | 0.307 | 0.319 |
Observations | 97,382 | 97,670 | 97,788 | 97,820 | 97,820 |
Determinants of Social Goals. Reference Is Spain. PIAAC 2012, Population Aged 15–65 years
(1) | (2) | (3) | (4) | (5) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Variables | Social trust | Political efficacy | Cultural engagement | Numeracy | Literacy |
Age | −0.0587*** | −0.0426*** | −0.0871*** | 0.174 | −1.038 |
(0.0166) | (0.0133) | (0.0153) | (0.753) | (0.725) | |
Age2 | 0.00533*** | 0.00504*** | 0.00960*** | −0.163*** | −0.118** |
(0.00134) | (0.00114) | (0.00130) | (0.0609) | (0.0588) | |
Female | 0.0607*** | 0.0420** | 0.0285* | −14.27*** | −3.430*** |
(0.0176) | (0.0194) | (0.0168) | (0.743) | (0.690) | |
Immigrant | 0.0720*** | −0.0673*** | −0.00874 | −25.29*** | −25.75*** |
(0.0244) | (0.0258) | (0.0231) | (1.719) | (1.421) | |
Hi. Parental Ed. | 0.146*** | 0.0978*** | 0.142*** | 9.240*** | 9.626*** |
(0.0138) | (0.0129) | (0.0114) | (0.582) | (0.498) | |
Ed. Upp. Sec. Gen | 0.107*** | 0.0364* | 0.00575 | 12.28*** | 13.06*** |
(0.0343) | (0.0216) | (0.0234) | (1.202) | (1.093) | |
Ed. Upp. Sec. Voc | −0.0866*** | −0.0415** | −0.0236 | 16.79*** | 10.35*** |
(0.0286) | (0.0199) | (0.0238) | (1.096) | (1.003) | |
Ed. tertiary | 0.212*** | 0.224*** | 0.104*** | 36.29*** | 31.71*** |
(0.0274) | (0.0230) | (0.0261) | (1.102) | (0.960) | |
Numeracy | 0.00178*** | 0.00165*** | 0.00107*** | ||
(0.000211) | (0.000219) | (0.000183) | |||
Not employed | −0.0158 | −0.0379** | −0.00837 | −5.043*** | −2.230** |
(0.0224) | (0.0184) | (0.0225) | (0.855) | (0.888) | |
Skilled | 0.237*** | 0.148*** | 0.181*** | 30.20*** | 25.74*** |
(0.0381) | (0.0360) | (0.0367) | (1.583) | (1.365) | |
White collar | 0.116*** | 0.00971 | 0.0894*** | 18.14*** | 15.77*** |
(0.0361) | (0.0283) | (0.0308) | (1.479) | (1.212) | |
Blue collar | −0.0251 | −0.0297 | −0.00776 | 9.003*** | 6.243*** |
(0.0414) | (0.0329) | (0.0321) | (1.538) | (1.341) | |
OECD | 0.324*** | −0.125*** | 0.256*** | 5.677*** | 10.41*** |
(0.0258) | (0.0240) | (0.0205) | (0.985) | (0.949) | |
Constant | 1.570*** | 1.664*** | 0.898*** | 221.9*** | 229.8*** |
(0.0825) | (0.0718) | (0.0790) | (2.299) | (2.384) | |
R2 | 0.0617 | 0.0495 | 0.0463 | 0.285 | 0.300 |
Observations | 8260 | 8279 | 8287 | 8290 | 8290 |
Descriptive Statistics
OECD | Spain | |
|---|---|---|
Age | ||
25–29 | 15.77 | 13.60 |
30–34 | 15.77 | 16.30 |
35–39 | 16.61 | 18.54 |
40–44 | 17.17 | 18.44 |
45–49 | 17.71 | 17.94 |
50–54 | 16.97 | 15.19 |
Missing | 0.00 | 0.00 |
Female | ||
Male | 47.01 | 48.86 |
Female | 52.99 | 51.14 |
Missing | 0.00 | 0.00 |
Immigration status | ||
Native or 2nd generation immigrants or one foreign-born parent | 85.50 | 85.70 |
1st generation immigrants | 14.50 | 14.30 |
Missing | 0.00 | 0.00 |
Highest level of education attainment | ||
Secondary or below | 18.20 | 43.64 |
Upper secondary gen | 14.36 | 17.38 |
Upper secondary voc | 24.44 | 2.47 |
Tertiary | 41.73 | 35.22 |
Missing | 1.27 | 1.29 |
Highest of mother or father’s level of education | ||
Neither parent has attained upper secondary | 29.28 | 69.80 |
At least one parent has attained secondary and postsecondary, non-tertiary | 38.76 | 13.98 |
At least one parent has attained tertiary | 25.02 | 12.01 |
Missing | 6.93 | 4.21 |
Employment status | ||
Not employed | 80.19 | 67.99 |
Employed | 18.55 | 30.68 |
Missing | 1.26 | 1.34 |
Occupational classification of respondent’s job (ISCO), last | ||
Skilled occupations | 41.82 | 26.79 |
Semiskilled white-collar occupations | 23.90 | 28.38 |
Semiskilled blue-collar occupations | 17.40 | 19.02 |
Elementary occupations | 6.63 | 14.13 |
Missing | 10.24 | 11.68 |
About yourself – political efficacy – no influence on the government | ||
Strongly agree | 19.68 | 34.51 |
Agree | 26.37 | 25.66 |
Neither agree nor disagree | 19.19 | 15.09 |
Disagree | 25.99 | 17.28 |
Strongly disagree | 6.89 | 5.65 |
Missing | 1.88 | 1.82 |
About yourself – social trust – trust only few people | ||
Strongly agree | 24.50 | 28.30 |
Agree | 42.23 | 38.65 |
Neither agree nor disagree | 10.50 | 10.52 |
Disagree | 16.93 | 17.66 |
Strongly disagree | 4.37 | 3.53 |
Missing | 1.46 | 1.34 |
About yourself – cultural engagement – voluntary work for non-profit organization | ||
Never | 61.72 | 80.75 |
Less than once a month | 17.97 | 8.38 |
Less than once a week but at least once a month | 9.20 | 4.31 |
At least once a week but not every day | 8.21 | 3.71 |
Every day | 1.63 | 1.64 |
Missing | 1.28 | 1.21 |
Descriptive Statistics of the Social Outcomes
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Lopez-Fogues, A., Scandurra, R. (2019). Analyzing PIAAC 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/10.1007/978-3-319-94532-3_3
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