Neoliberal economic markets in vocational education and training: shifts in perceptions and practices in private vocational education and training in Melbourne, Australia

Abstract

This article argues that the adoption of the competitive Vocational Education and Training (VET) markets in Australia resulted in shifts in institutional perceptions and practices. Using situated experiences and perspectives from quality assurance auditors, training managers, international students and VET teachers from seven commercial for-profit private VET institutions in Melbourne, Australia, the article suggests that there are emerging patterns of institutionalised market-based relationships, which can have long-term implications for pedagogy, learning and international students' outcomes in VET.

Employers placing orders and students as commodities: Swedish post-secondary vocational education and training policy

“…Australian VET, in which public Technical and Further Education providers operate alongside private forprofit providers, is organised as competency-based training based on predefined national training packages, which have standardised, industry-defined outcomes (Wheelahan 2007(Wheelahan , 2009. Just as in HVE, employers control the definition of outcomes, albeit at a national level, and provision is set up as a market in which providersboth public and privatecompete (Pasura 2014;Wheelahan 2007). This neoliberal competitive training market is considered to have had 'adverse consequences for pedagogy and learning' (Pasura 2014, 580).…”

A Review of National Occupational Standards and the Role of Human Resource Development in their Implementation

“…For example, the United Kingdom established the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. Australia established the Australian Skills Quality Authority to control qualifications at the national level through the endorsement of qualification organizations (Harth & Hemker, 2011; Pasura, 2014).…”

Knowledge in VET curricula and power in society and labour market : Policy and practice: demands-based and employer-driven Swedish higher vocational education

“…Changes in policy, however, have since narrowed the formulation of VET, emphasising that the aim of the VET system is to 'fulfil specific employer skills needs' at the expense of the needs of the workers (Gekara & Snell, 2018, p. 107). With the aim of making VET strongly related, and also highly responsive, to the needs of industry, a competitive VET market, in which providers compete for market share, was instigated (Pasura, 2014). A tripartite arrangement of educational development involving employers, government and union representatives has been reformed into a set of standardised industry-defined outcomes (Gekara & Snell, 2018).…”

“…In competitive markets, education providers and employers must act in line with capitalist goals to ensure their survival (Emmenegger et al, 2019). This has been suggested to have possible adverse consequences for pedagogy and learning, specifically in VET (Pasura, 2014). The commercial emphasis under a competitive training market logic, as in the case of HVE, is influencing education providers' training delivery, assessment of training and its internal quality-assurance mechanisms (Beach, 2008;Holm & Lundahl, 2019;Vlachos, 2019).…”