Vocational Education and Training as a Governance Problem

In general, plural steering systems in which state and company steering types overlap can be classified according to two dimensions of the steering process. The first dimension is the degree of coordination between the different actors with their respective different logics of action. The second dimension is that of the central principle underlying the actions of the actors and thus the steering process. A coordinate system can be formed from the two dimensions, the four quadrants of which represent the different manifestations of plural corporatist steering systems in VET. Recommendations for action can be derived from a positioning of existing VET systems within the described system of coordinates if a governance type can be identified that represents the optimal governance model for the dual VET paradigm. For governance within the public sector, the problem arises that a mere adoption of conventional evaluation criteria originally developed for governance systems in the private sector cannot be considered. The reason for this lies in the different functional logics of the economic system on the one hand and the state sector on the other. The characteristics of optimal governance are operationalized by several indicators. First and foremost is the scope of the legal regulations and the degree to which they are coordinated with each other. Another indicator is the existence of a coordinated VET dialogue that includes all relevant actors. Finally, fragmentation or coordination can also be measured by the allocation of the various steering functions to the different levels and actors.