JVET EVENTS & OPEN CALLS

  • A Celebration with JVET - 250th Edition Event

    With thanks to colleagues from around the globe who joined JVET and the LLAKES Institute, in person and online, on Friday 22 May 2026 to celebrate JVET’s 250th Edition.

    To celebrate, Stephanie Allais, Leesa Wheelahan, Markus Maurer and Bill Esmond presented viewpoints in two debates on two key theoretical traditions influential in vocational education and training research.

    The first debate focussed on The Capabilities Approach, and was chaired by Simon McGrath. Leesa Wheelahan put forward her viewpoint that the human development and capability approach provides a normative framework for evaluating vocational education policies and practices, and for considering alternatives. Leesa argued that it calls attention to human flourishing rather than instrumental concerns about investment in human capital.

    Stephanie Allais countered that the capabilities approach makes an important, although difficult to implement, contribution to economic debates, by drawing attention firstly to economic outcomes beyond growth, and secondly to individual differences in what is valued most. Stephanie put forward her view that the current widespread application of it in education research is problematic.

    In the second debate  - Institutional Theory - chaired by Moses Oketch, Markus Maurer presented his thoughts on how institutionalist theory approach is productive for researching vocational education and training (VET) because it treats skills systems not just as education arrangements, but as embedded in labour markets, firms, states, and production regimes.

    Bill Esmond’s central argument shone a light on how Institutional theories have attracted interest in our field because of their recognition that skill formation systems in each country possess their own rationalities and ecologies: they appear to offer possibilities to resist the convergence of VET on neoliberal lines. Yet in discarding established understandings of social structures such as class, gender and ‘race’, Bill argued that mid-level theories neglect the active engagement in national skills policies of powerful social forces whose aims centre on maintaining social hierarchy and deepening accelerating inequalities.

    With thanks to all that attended this celebratory event and for the lively participation and feedback received. 

  • Open Call for papers

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

    Guest Editors: 

    Junmin Li, TU Dortmund University; Germany
    Johannes K. Schmees, University of Derby, United Kingdom
    Ann-Marie Bathmaker, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom

    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.

    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).  Click below to read the full call.

    Deadline for 500 word abstracts - 29 May 2026

    Details and submission instructions here

  • JVET Early Career Researcher Day Conference 2026 - Call for Abstracts

    Monday 5 October  2026; 09:00 - 17:00; University of Glasgow

    Join us in 2026 for JVET Early Career Researcher (ECR) Day—a chill in-person meetup to share ideas and network!

    We are pleased to invite submissions for the JVET Early Career Researcher (ECR) Day Conference 2026, hosted by Journal of Vocational Education and Training and the School of Education, University of Glasgow. The event is also supported by the Skills and Livelihoods for Better Futures Interdisciplinary Research Network.

    We welcome contributions that examine VET across diverse contexts, with particular attention to comparative perspectives, learner experiences, and the relationship between education, work, and society. We also encourage work that engages with developments in VET as it strives to meet the challenges of technological change, climate transitions, and political uncertainty.

    Participation and Application Process
    Due to the limited number of participants, attendance at the conference will be determined by an application process. Interested individuals are encouraged to submit their applications for consideration. Successful applicants will be notified and invited to participate in the event. The participants could select in-person oral presentations or posters to present their research.

    Abstract Submission Guidelines
    Deadline: 30 June 2026
    Submission: Abstracts of up to 400 words

    Bursaries: A limited number of full bursaries are available for presenters. Please indicate in your submission if you wish to be considered. (Please note we cannot provide bursaries for poster only participants.)

    Join us for this opportunity to engage with a vibrant ECR community, connect with international scholars and practitioners, and contribute to debates shaping the future of VET research.

    We look forward to your submissions! Submit here

Introducing two new books from the JVET community

The JVET 250th Edition event presented an ideal opportunity for two new books from the VET community to be launched.

Beyond Skills: A Capability Conception of Vocational Education, by Leesa Wheelahan and Gavin Moodie, published by Brill/SENSE.

This book argues that a new ‘social settlement’ is needed in vocational education, one which is based on a broader understanding of occupations and preparation for work. It argues for more expansive understandings of the purposes of vocational education which includes support for human flourishing, social justice, social inclusion, and sustainability.

Emancipation and vocational education: Skills, Bildung and the subject, by Bill Esmond, Johannes Schmees, and Volker Wedekind, published by Routledge. 

This book challenges the economistic neoliberal rationale for vocational education, drawing critically on neglected bodies of theory, especially from Germany but also the global South, to explore the possibilities for critical thinking and emancipatory practice within vocational space.