Journal of Vocational Education & Training

International perspectives on academisation, tertiarisation and hybridisation of vocational education: Between problem-solving, imitation and/or unintended consequences

Cooperative universities in Germany, higher and degree apprenticeships in the United Kingdom, Associate Degrees in the Netherlands and vocational universities in China. These developments manifest a significant trend of academisation, tertiarisation and hybridisation of vocational education and, in consequence, reshape traditional boundaries between vocational and higher education.

Since the last JVET special issue on these phenomena (see Bathmaker, 2017), the topic has been picked up across the globe in academic discussions which include in-depth analyses of developments in different regions (see Gonon, Heikkinen & Kaiser, 2025; Lavender et al., 2024). In this upcoming special issue, we propose to take an international perspective on these shifts, changes and transformations. By taking an international perspective, we aim to identify common and divergent challenges and patterns, uncover drivers and influencers beyond the nation state as well as examine implications for learners, institutions, employers and policymakers across countries.

This proposed special issue will offer a comprehensive critical examination of the evolving landscape of academisation, tertiarisation and hybridisation of vocational education. Building on Criblez (2010), we define the tertiarisation of vocational education as a process whereby vocational qualifications are developed at tertiary level without acquiring academic status. Tertiarisation aims to elevate the status of vocational education, enhance the attractiveness of vocational pathways, and increase the social and economic benefits associated with them (Deißinger & Ott, 2016). We note here that tertiarisation may also be used to refer to moves to create a single system of post-school education and training, that includes universities, colleges and other providers, rather than separately defined and managed sectors.

Academisation on the other hand involves what has previously been termed ‘academic drift’ (Pratt, 1997), whereby vocational education moves away from a strong practice orientation and becomes more closely aligned with academic provision. Following this process, vocational education programmes incorporate more theoretical content, are delivered at higher education institutions, and qualify for academic degrees (Criblez, 2010).

Hybridisation refers to the emergence of hybrid qualifications and programmes that blend vocational and academic elements alongside the development of hybrid systems and institutions (Bathmaker, 2017), sometimes constituting a third educational sub-system between vocational and higher education (Schmees, 2024).

From a theoretical point of view, there are a number of ways that these developments can be addressed. Here we identify three, but they are not intended to exclude other ways of approaching these issues. (1) Forms of academisation, tertiarisation and hybridisation are often referred to as a necessity in modern and globalised societies due to demands of industry (Industry 4.0 or Industry 5.0, see Knight et al., 2022) as well as an answer to ever increasing education demands of young adults. They are often the result of policy learning and policy borrowing between countries and regions, rather than isolated reforms. (2) Forms of academisation, tertiarisation and hybridisation can, however, also be explained by the discursive creation of ‘best practices’ that are then circulated around the globe by international organisations and other actors as driver of these reforms (e.g., Steiner-Khamsi, 2013). In this case, these reforms could be dysfunctional in their nature (see Jakobi 2009, 174) but are implemented so as to create forms of legitimacy (Meyer & Rowan, 1977; Gonon, 1998), income through project funding (Heller, Grunau, & Duscha, 2015) and/or forms of educational diplomacy (McGill Peterson, 2014). (3) It is particularly these dysfunctional outcomes or unintended consequences that are the analytical focus of the third proposed perspective (see Bathmaker, 2016). From this angle, issues arise such as continued divisions rather than permeability, increasingly stratified vocational educational systems that intensify the divide between vocational and higher education (Esmond & Atkins, 2022) and/or a lack of demand in labour markets for higher technical skills. Underlying all these ways of viewing recent developments are questions of equity, inequality and social mobility. While we suggest that these perspectives can help to understand developments in academisation, tertiarisation and hybridisation of vocational education globally, we also welcome papers from authors using different theoretical perspectivesWe invite contributions that explore how academisation, tertiarisation, and hybridisation manifest differently or similarly across various contexts, to reflect on the international dimensions of these developments, and to consider the implications for learners and students. International dimensions include (1) observations on a global level, e.g. by analysing a shift in the global educational discourse of international organisations or new global institutions that are the basis for an evolving reform agenda; (2) regional developments or discourses proposed by regional policy actors like the European Union; (3) comparative studies where the development in two or more countries is investigated (Entenmann et al., 2023; Frommberger, 2019; Li et al., 2024) or (4) country studies that provide a clear link to developments and implications beyond the nation state. We welcome empirical studies as well as theoretical and policy analyses.

Submissions may address but are not limited to the following topics from an international perspective:

• ‘Upgrading’ vocational education institutions to academic and/or tertiary status
• Vocationalisation of universities, e.g., developing applied or vocational qualifications at universities (of applied sciences) or newly created institutions
• Exploring ‘sub-bachelor’ academic qualifications
• Establishing hybrid systems, institutions and qualifications
• Permeability between vocational and higher education sectors, ongoing barriers and evolving opportunities
• Relationship between changing labour markets and the academisation, tertiarisation and hybridisation of vocational education
• Discourses of global ‘best practices’ for permeability, higher technical skills etc.
• Policy learning as well as policy borrowing and lending regarding academisation, tertiarisation and hybridisation of vocational education.