An Adaptive Institution? The German Vocational Education System and Pressures for Change

ABSTRACT

This article outlines the main elements of the German system of vocational training and looks at recent pressure for change in the system. It identifies two central elements in the system, the notion of the occupation and the dual structure of training delivery. These characteristics are embedded in an array of institutional arrangements which include co-determination within companies, industry-level collective bargaining, national legislation defining occupational categories, and state provision for apprenticeship schools. Several criticisms of the German vocational training system have emerged in recent years, reflecting changes in the German economy and society and the influence of external economic pressures for change. A review of some of the criticisms of the vocational training system and of legislative responses suggests that the system has managed most of these pressures by adapting its institutional arrangements rather than abandoning them.