Some boys’ problems in education – what is the role of VET?

Abstract

The last two decades have seen an increasing political concern in the high dropout rates and low performance in education of boys compared to girls – at times in the form of a ‘moral panic’. This has also been the case in Denmark where ‘the boy problem’ in education now is placed high on the agenda of education policy. The purpose of this article is to examine this ‘boy problem’ in relation to the dual system of vocational education and training (VET) in Denmark. By considering the gender divisions and the value of the VET programmes on the labour market, it explores what kind of problems boys have in VET. Secondly, it explores the role of VET for students at risk of dropping out based on individual qualitative interviews with 106 students, two-thirds male, attending vocational schools in Denmark. The analyses show that most students experience the dual system of VET as a valuable alternative to general education, but social and institutional processes of differentiation in the vocational schools place a significant group of students in a position where they have little chance of completing the programme. In the conclusion, some reflections are made on the effect of a recent reform of VET in relation to these problems.

Keywords:

• failing boys
• gender
• dual system
• vocational education
• gender