Work-based learning as a shift towards improved labour market skills in VET in Latvia

Abstract

Work-based learning is becoming increasingly important in training of competitive employees for various fields. The labour market requires new skills, and the importance of generic skills tends to grow, alongside with the professional skills. Different stakeholders could have different opinions on the skills required for employees. The aim of the current research is to investigate views of employers, vocational education institutions and students on several aspects of today’s labour market skills. Methods used for empirical research: survey of employers, vocational education institutions’ managers and students. For the evaluation and comparison of all stakeholder’s opinions, the same questions were used with the same evaluation scale 1-10, where 1- not important; 10-very important. For data analysis of survey data the following indicators of descriptive statistics were used – indicators of central tendency or location: arithmetic mean, mode, median; indicators of dispersion or variability: range, standard deviation, standard error of mean. Survey results indicated that there are similar views on all main aspects of labour market skills by all the involved groups, clearly recognising the importance of generic skills, alongside with the professional skills in the labour market context.

Keywords

• labour market
• skills
• work-based learning