Will increasing academic recognition of workplace learning in the UK reinforce existing gender divisions in the labour market?

Abstract

In the United Kingdom there has been a considerable increase in the academic recognition of workplace learning, and a number of new awards drawing on workplace learning have been introduced. These include apprenticeships and Advanced Apprenticeships, both of which contain National Vocational Qualifications, and the Foundation Degree. In addition, academic practice based on a credit framework has allowed recognition of workplace learning at higher levels of achievement, including postgraduate level. The facility to recognise a broader range of learning across the range of workplace awards has been welcomed as an aspect of widening both participation in and access to formal learning. This article will consider these developments across the spectrum of educational awards from apprenticeships to work‐based Master’s programmes in the context of existing arrangements in the labour market. There is evidence from Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) reports that work experience placements (the main component of work experience at school) are segregated by gender. Statistics relating to some of the new awards also indicate the type of gender divisions which reflect established workplaces. Additionally, the effect of employment factors (such as the glass ceiling and full‐time versus part‐time working) constrains the extent to which women can take advantage of recognition of workplace learning at higher academic levels, where learners must be in a workplace position which supports the development and exercise of sophisticated skills. Consideration across the range of qualifications and employment supports the EOC’s case that, given the lack of explicit recognition of equal opportunities and gender segregation in national developments and policies, the new opportunities for workplace learning are likely to reinforce the status quo.