The study examines how institutional and policy-led changes are impacting the organisation of apprenticeships at the workplace level in England and Germany. There is a renewed policy interest and increased investment in apprenticeships in England in contrast to Germany where higher education is gaining increasing popularity over apprenticeships. The overall impact of these developments for policy, firms and apprentices remains unclear. This integrated study encompasses three schools of thought: the macro institutional context of apprenticeship systems (the political perspective); the effect of apprentice identities and agency on their transition into work (the social perspective); and the apprentice learning process within the context of learning environments (the cultural perspective).
The research draws upon 45 qualitative semi-structured interviews with apprentices, managers, labour market institutions, training providers and other associated actors. It draws on two case studies in the chemical industries: PharmCo in England and ChemCo in Germany. Although both companies experienced converging market-led pressures, their apprentices faced diverging experiences and outcomes, reflecting national differences in the organisation of apprenticeships and employment relations structures, and revealing the impact of institutional and policy-led changes. Apprenticeships at PharmCo were viewed as work, which led to restrictive and individualised working environments, narrow skills development and insecure job mobility. The apprentices embraced precarity as a lifestyle, foreshadowing their insecure futures. At ChemCo, apprenticeships were understood as an educational journey during which apprentices learnt in expansive and collective learning environments. The apprentices expressed themselves though structured working identities which gave them broad skills and labour market agency.
To understand the impact of institutional and policy-led change, the research challenges accounts that study apprenticeships in a vacuum, arguing that apprenticeships should be examined through the socio-cultural-political integration of apprenticeship literatures. Arguing that previous studies have privileged certain actors over others, this research provides an inclusive and empirical multi-level account of how policy is implemented in practice by foregrounding the perspectives of all relevant apprenticeship actors. Departing from previous technocratic perspectives, the study advocates for a comparative approach that recognises the institutional differences between apprenticeships but also embraces complexity and change.
