Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T14:16:53.212Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Innovation and Vocational Education

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

Phillip Toner
Phillip Toner*
Affiliation:
Centre for Innovation and Industry Studies, University of Western Sydney
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

This article reviews the arguments and evidence on the role and contribution of the vocationally trained workforce and vocational training system in technical innovation. The primary focus in terms of the vocational workforce is on skilled production workers and, in particular, tradespersons and technicians. These occupations and the vocational training system are found to have a unique role and make a significant contribution to innovation in both production and Research and Development (R&D). The primary role of the VET system in innovation is technology diffusion. However, there are a number of impediments to achieving this role. These are sustained budget cuts and exclusion of the VET system from national innovation policy, programmes and advisory structures. The latter is attributed largely to the failure of the innovation studies discipline, which has strongly influenced government policy in this field, to study in detail the role of VET occupations and training system in the innovation process. This conclusion is paradoxical as the discipline’s own analysis of innovation makes a compelling case that these occupations and training system should be central agents in this process.

Keywords

Vocational educationinnovationtradespeopletechnicians
Type
Symposium: Innovation, Skills and Training
Information
The Economic and Labour Relations Review , Volume 21 , Issue 2 , December 2010 , pp. 75 - 98
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2010

References

Abernathy, W. and Clark, K. (1985) ‘Innovation: Mapping the winds of creative destruction’, Research Policy, 14(1), pp. 3–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arthur, W. B. (1994), Increasing Returns and Path Dependence in the Economy, University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arundel, A. and O’Brien, K. (2009), Innovation Metrics Framework Project Consolidated Report, Department of Industry, Innovation Science and Research, Canberra.Google Scholar
Ashton, D., Green, F., Sung, J. and James, D. (2002) ‘The evolution of education and training strategies in Singapore, Taiwan and S. Korea: A development model of skill formation’, Journal of Education and Work, 15(1), pp. 5–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ABS (2006a) Australian Bureau of Statistics, Innovation in Australian Business, 2005, Cat. No. 8158.0, ABS, Canberra.Google Scholar
ABS (2006b), Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations, ABS Cat. No.1220.0, ABS, Canberra.Google Scholar
ABS (2007), Education and Work Australia, Cat No. 6227.0, ABS, Canberra.Google Scholar
ABS (2008), Innovation in Australian Business, 2006–07, Cat No.8158.0, ABS, Canberra.Google Scholar
Brockmann, M., Clarke, L. and Winch, C. (2008) ‘Knowledge, skills, competence: European divergences in vocational education and training VET — The English, German and Dutch cases’, Oxford Review of Education, 34(5), pp.547–567.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, P., Green, A. and Lauder, H., (eds) (2001), High Skills. Globalisation, Competitiveness and Skill Formation, Oxford University Press, Oxford.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clarke, L. and Winch, C., (eds) (2007), Vocational Education. International Approaches, Developments and Systems, Routledge, London.Google Scholar
Cohen, W. and Levinthal, D. (1990) ‘Absorptive capacity: A new perspective on learning and innovation’, Administrative Science Quarterly, 35(1), pp. 128–152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crouch, C. (2005) ‘Skill formation systems’ in Ackroyd, S., Batt, R., Thompson, P. and Tolbert, P. (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Work and Organization, Oxford University Press, pp. 95–114.Google Scholar
Crouch, C., Finegold, D. and Sako, M. (1999), Are Skills the Answer? The Political Economy of Skill Creation in Advanced Industrial Countries, Oxford University Press, Oxford.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Culpepper, P. (1999) The future of the high-skill equilibrium in Germany, Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 15(1), pp. 43–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cutler, T. (1992) ‘Vocational training and British economic performance: A further instalment of the “British labour problem’”, Work, Employment and Society, 6(2), pp. 161–183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cutler, T. (2008), Venturous Australia: Report of the Review of the National Innovation System, Cutler and Company, Melbourne.Google Scholar
Dahlman, C. and Nelson, R. (1995) ‘Social absorption capability, national innovation systems and economic development’, in Koo, B. and Perkins, D. (eds) Social Capability and Long Term Economic Growth, Macmillan, London, pp. 82–122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Department of Industry Innovation Science and Research (2010), Australian Innovation System Report 2010, DIISR, Canberra.Google Scholar
Dosi, G., Nelson, R. and Winter, S., (eds) (2000), The Nature and Dynamics of Organisational Capabilities, Oxford University Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
Estevez-Abe, M., Iversen, T. and Soskice, D. (2001) ‘Social protection and the formation of skills: A reinterpretation of the welfare state’, in Hall, P.A. and Soskice, D. (eds) Varieties of Capitalism. The Institutional Foundations of Comparative Advantage, Oxford University Press, New York, pp. 145–183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fagerberg, J., Mowery, D. and Nelson, R., (eds) (2005), The Oxford Handbook of Innovation, Oxford University Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
Ferrier, F., Trood, C. and Whittingham, K. (2003), Going Boldly into the Future: A VET Journey into the National Innovation System, National Centre for Vocational Education Research, Adelaide.Google Scholar
Finegold, D. and Soskice, D. (1988) ‘The failure of training in Britain: Analysis and prescription’, Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 4(3), pp. 21–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freeman, C (1998) ‘The economics of technical change’, in Archibuigi, D. and Michie, J. (eds) Trade, Growth and Technical Change, Cambridge University Press, London, pp. 16–54.Google Scholar
Green, A. and Sakamoto, A. (2001) ‘Models of high skills in national competition strategies’ in Brown, P., Green, A. and Lauder, H. (eds) High Skills. Globalisation, Competitiveness and Skill Formation, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 56–160.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Greinert, W. (2007) ‘The German philosophy of vocational education’ in Clarke, L. and Winch, C. (eds) Vocational Education. International Approaches, Developments and Systems, Routledge, London, pp.49–61.Google Scholar
Godin, B. (2005) The linear model of innovation: the historical construction of an analytical framework, Canadian Science and Innovation Indicators Consortium, available: http://www.csiic.ca/PDF/Godin_30.pdf [accessed 20 November 2010].Google Scholar
Guthrie, H. (2009), Competence and Competency-Based Training: What the Literature Says, National Centre for Vocational Education Research, Adelaide.Google Scholar
Guthrie, H. (2010), Professional Development in the Vocational Education and Training Workforce, National Centre for Vocational Education Research, Adelaide.Google Scholar
Hall, R. A. (1994), Science and Society. Historical Essays on the Relations Between Science, Technology and Medicine, Variorum, Ashgate Publishing Limited, Aldershot.Google Scholar
Hall, P. A. and Soskice, D., (eds) (2001), Varieties of Capitalism. The Institutional Foundations of Comparative Advantage, Oxford University Press, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hancke, B., Rhodes, M. and Thatcher, M., (eds) (2007), Beyond Varieties of Capitalism. Conflict, Contradictions and Complementarities in the European Economy, Oxford University Press, Oxford.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harris, R., Simons, M. and McCarthy, C. (2006), Private Training Providers in Australia. Their Characteristics and Training Activities, National Centre for Vocational Education Research, Adelaide.Google Scholar
Hayes, R. and Wheelwright, S. (1984), Restoring our Competitive Edge: Competing through Manufacturing, John Wiley and Sons, New York.Google Scholar
HM Treasury (2004), Skills in the Global Economy, HM Treasury, London.Google Scholar
Hoeckel, K. and Schwartz, R. (2010), Learning for Jobs. OECD Reviews of Vocational Education and Training. Germany, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris.Google Scholar
Hohlfeld, S. (2008) The international migration of high-skilled and national systems of innovation: Obsolescence of the ‘national’, DRUID conference paper, available: http://www2.druid.dk/conferences/viewabstract.php?id=1989andcf=28 [accessed 20 November 2010].Google Scholar
Hirsch-Kreinsen, H. (2008) ‘“Low-tech” innovation’, Industry and Innovation, 15(1), pp.19–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keep, E. (2006) ‘State control of the English education and training system: Playing with the biggest train set in the world’, Journal of Vocational Education and Training, 58(1), pp. 47–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keep, E. and Mayhew, K. (2001) Globalisation, models of competitive advantage and skills, SKOPE Research Paper No. 22, University of Warwick, Coventry.Google Scholar
Kim, Y.-H. (2002) ‘A State of art review on the impact of technology on skill demand in OECD countries’, Journal of Education and Work, 15(1), pp. 89–109.Google Scholar
Landes, D. (1972), The Unbound Prometheus: Technological Change and Industrial Development in Western Europe from 1750 to the Present, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Lauder, H. (2001) ‘Innovation, skill diffusion and social exclusion’ in Brown, P., Green, A. and Lauder, H. (eds) High Skills. Globalisation, Competitiveness and Skill Formation, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 161–203.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Layard, R., McIntosh, S. and Vignoles, A. (2002), Britain’s Record on Skills, Centre for the Economics of Education, London School of Economics. and Political Science, London.Google Scholar
Lazonick, W. (2006) ‘The Innovative Firm’ in Fagerberg, J., Mowery, D. and Nelson, R. (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Innovation, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 29–55.Google Scholar
Mason, G., van Ark, B. and Wagner, K. (1996) ‘Workforce skills, product quality and economic performance’, in Booth, A. and Snower, D. (eds) (1996) Acquiring Skills: Market Failures, their Symptoms and Policy Responses, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge pp. 75–93.Google Scholar
Marsh, I., (ed.) (2004), Innovating Australia, Committee for the Economic Development of Australia, Melbourne.Google Scholar
Mathews, J. (1989), Tools of Change: New Technology and the Democratisation of Work, Pluto Press, Sydney.Google Scholar
National Centre for Vocational Education Research (2007), Did You Know? A Guide to Vocational Education and Training in Australia, NCVER, Adelaide.Google Scholar
Nonaka, I. and Takeuchi, H. (1995), The Knowledge Creating Company, Oxford University Press, New York.Google Scholar
OECD and Eurostat (2005) Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development and Eurostat Oslo Manual Guidelines for Collecting and Interpreting Innovation Data , Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Paris, Third edition.Google Scholar
Oulton, N. (1996) ‘Workforce skills and export competitiveness’ in Booth, and Snower, (eds) Acquiring Skills: Market Failures, Their Symptoms and Policy Responses, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 190–230.Google Scholar
Pavitt, K. (2005) ‘Innovation processes’ in Fagerberg, J., Mowery, D. and Nelson, R. (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Innovation, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 86–114.Google Scholar
Pianta, M. (2005) ‘Innovation and Employment’ in Fagerberg, J., Mowery, D. and Nelson, R. (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Innovation, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 568–597.Google Scholar
Pickersgill, R. (2005) Dimensions of innovation. Some historical perspectives on vocational education and training and innovation in Australia — a discussion paper, National Centre for Vocational Education Research, Adelaide.Google Scholar
Prais, S. (1995) ‘Productivity, education and training: An international perspective’, National Institute of Economic and Social Research, Occasional Papers XLVII, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Rosenberg, N. (1994), Exploring the Black Box: Technology and Economics, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosenfeld, S. (1998) Technical colleges, technology deployment and regional development, Paper presented at the OECD conference ‘Building Competitive Regional Economies’, Modena Italy, May, available: http://rtsinc.org/publications/index.html [accessed 20 November 2010].Google Scholar
Skills Australia (2010a) Creating a future direction for Australian vocational education and training. A discussion paper on the future of the VET system, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra.Google Scholar
Skills Australia (2010b), Australian Workforce Futures. A National Workforce Development Strategy, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra.Google Scholar
Scott-Kemmis, D. (2004) ‘Innovation Systems in Australia’, in Marsh, I. (ed.) Innovating Australia, Committee for the Economic Development of Australia, Melbourne, pp. 45–72.Google Scholar
Scott-Kemmis, D., Holmen, M, Balaguer, A., Dalitz, R., Bryant, K., Jones, A. and Matthews, J. (2005) No Simple Solutions. How Sectoral Innovation Systems Can be Transformed, Australian National University, Canberra.Google Scholar
Shapira, P. and Rosenfeld, S. (1996) Overview of technology diffusion policies and programs to enhance the technological absorptive capabilities of small and medium enterprises, Background Paper prepared for the OECD, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris.Google Scholar
Smith, K. (2000) What is the ‘knowledge economy’? Knowledge-intensive industries and distributed knowledge bases, DRUID Summer Conference on The Learning Economy-Firms, Regions and Nation Specific Institutions, 15–17 June, Copenhagen.Google Scholar
Smith, K. (2004) ‘A perspective on the knowledge economy in the Australian context’, in Marsh, I. (ed.) Innovating Australia, Committee for the Economic Development of Australia, Melbourne, pp. 35–44.Google Scholar
Streeck, W. (1989) ‘Skills and the limits of neo-liberalism: The enterprise of the future as a place of learning’, Work, Employment and Society, 3(1), pp. 89–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
TAFE Directors Australia (2009) Response to Government: The Cutler Innovation Review, available: http://www.tda.edu.au/resources/TAFE_Directors_Aust_response_to_Government-Cutler_Innovation_Review-Feb_2009.pdf [accessed 20 November 2010].Google Scholar
Teece, D., Pisano, G. and Shuen, A. (2000) ‘Dynamic capabilities and strategic management’, in Dosi, G., Nelson, R. and Winter, S. (eds) The Nature and Dynamics of Organisational Capabilities, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 334–379.Google Scholar
Thomke, S. (2003), Experimentation Matters: Unlocking the Potential of New Technologies for Innovation, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, Boston, MA.Google Scholar
Tether, B., Mina, A., Consoli, D. and Gagliardi, D. (2005) A literature review on skills and innovation. How does successful innovation impact on the demand for skills and how do skills drive innovation? ESRC Centre on Innovation and Competition, University of Manchester, Manchester.Google Scholar
Thelen, K. (2004), How Institutions Evolve. The Political Economy of Skills in Germany, Britain, the United States and Japan, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Toner, P., Marceau, J., Hall, R. and Considine, J. (2004) Innovation Agents: VET Skills and Innovation in Australian Industries and Firms. Vols. 1 and 2. National Centre for Vocational Education Research, Adelaide.Google Scholar
Toner, P., Turpin, T., Woolley, R. and Lloyd, C. (2010), The Role and Contribution of Tradespeople and Technicians in Australian Research and Development: An Exploratory Study, Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, Canberra.Google Scholar
Toner, P. (2005), Keeping up with Technology. A Pilot Study of TAFE and the Manufacturing Sector, National Centre for Vocational Education Research, Adelaide.Google Scholar
Toner, P. (2007) Skills and Innovation — Putting Ideas to Work, Background Paper on VET and Innovation, NSW Board of Vocational Education and Training, Sydney.Google Scholar
Toner, P. (2008a) The Role of Vocational Education in the Australian National Innovation System: A Synthesis of Research, Background Paper for the Department of Education Employment and Workplace Relations, Canberra.Google Scholar
Toner, P. (2008b) ‘Survival and decline of the apprenticeship system in the Australian and UK construction industries’, British Journal of Industrial Relations, 46(3), pp. 413–438.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Toner, P. (2008c) The role of colleges in Australia’s innovation system, a study for Industry Canada, Ottawa.Google Scholar
Toner, P. (2009), Workforce Skills and Innovation: An Overview of Major Themes in the Literature, Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris.Google Scholar
Toner, P. (2011) (forthcoming) ‘Tradespeople and technicians in innovation’, in Curtin, P. (ed.) Innovation: Book of Readings, National Centre for Vocational Education Research, Adelaide.Google Scholar
Vignoles, A. and de Coulon, A. (2008) An Analysis of the Benefit of NVQ2 Qualifications Acquired at Age 26–34, Discussion Paper no. CEEDP0106, Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics and Political Science, London.Google Scholar
von Hippel, E. (1988), The Sources of Innovation, Oxford University Press, New York.Google Scholar
von Hippel, E. (2005) Democratizing Innovation, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
von Tunzelmann, N. and Acha, V. (2005) ‘Innovation in “low tech” industries’, in Fagerberg, J., Mowery, D. and Nelson, R. (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Innovation, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 406–432.Google Scholar
Warner, M. (1994) ‘Innovation and Training’ in Dodgson, M. and Rothwell, R. (eds) The Handbook of Industrial Innovation, Edward Elgar, Aldershot, pp, 348–354.Google Scholar
Whittingham, K. (2003), Going Boldly into the Future: Skills and Australian High Technology Start-Up Enterprises, National Centre for Vocational Education Research, Adelaide.Google Scholar
Wolf, A., Jenkins, A. and Vignoles, A. (2006) ‘Certifying the workforce: Economic imperative or failed social policy?’, Journal of Education Policy, 21(5), pp.535–565.CrossRefGoogle Scholar