Refugees and access to vocational education and training across Europe: a case of protection of white privilege?

Abstract

This small-scale, highly original study connects themes which are rarely explored in relation to each other, particularly in a European context: vocational education and training (VET), refugees and race equality, in order to explore how VET policies impact on racial equality, and the ways racial structures in Europe impact on VET. It begins to fill important gaps in cross-European research, firstly around VET and race, and secondly around refugees and VET. The paper is based on a study which examined the meso-social benefits of, and barriers to VET for adult refugees to European countries, commissioned by CEDEFOP, the agency funded by the European Commission to promote the development of VET in the European Union. In the paper we argue that a key factor in shaping refugees' experiences of VET, are the racial structures integral to capitalist societies. Innovatively drawing on key literature which analyses white privilege in the labour market to contextualise our findings, we suggest that barriers faced by refugees are potentially related to structures of white privilege which shape notions of work and workers in Europe and sustain racial hierarchies.

International students in the private VET sector in Melbourne, Australia: rethinking their characteristics and aspirations outside the deficit model

“…Hence, 'traditionally, vocational education has been education offered to those who were regarded, either by birth or circumstance, as citizens of secondary importance' (Anderson, Brown, and Rushbrook 2004, 241). Yet, others have continued to argue that Vocational Education and Training is a contested concept; it refers to very different systems across the world; it takes place in different kinds of institutions and workplaces, and in different arrangements (Ferrier and Anderson 1998;Wolf 2002;Anderson, Brown, and Rushbrook 2004;Chadderton and Edmonds 2014).…”

“…This approach, the literature argues, allows for the external control of vocational training and is implicated in the reproduction and maintenance of inequalities that inevitably marginalise minority groups and the disadvantaged in the labour market (Watkins 1991;Butller 1999;Kincheloe 1999 cited in Anderson, Brown, andRushbrook 2004, 235). This view is illustrated in industry discourses, which suggest that the traditional function of training is to supply skilled manpower (Garavan 1997;Chadderton and Edmonds 2014). In this instance, training is generally defined as a planned and systematic effort to modify or develop knowledge, skills and attitudes through learning experiences to achieve effective performance in an activity or range of activities.…”

“…These tensions and contestations arise primarily from the changing demands and conflicting views about the roles and functions of education and educational institutions (Ferrier and Anderson 1998;Tran and Nyland 2013;Chadderton and Edmonds 2014).…”

Youth transitions, VET and the ‘making’ of class: changing theorisations for changing times?

“…Chadderton and Wischmann (2014) have compared German and English apprenticeships in an analysis informed by critical race theory. They argue "that it is likely that racialised norms shape expectations of the worker and migrant worker, and of who fits where in the labour market and vocational training systems" (2014:330; and see Chadderton and Edmonds, 2015). Processes such as these will bear upon the manner in which young people occupy education and training systems.…”

Refugees in Cyprus: Local Acceptance in the Past and Present

“…Refugees and asylum seekers face discrimination and racism in their host countries, their human rights are violated, and many of them face several social, political, educational, and professional difficulties. The barriers faced by refugees are related potentially to structures of white privilege that shape the notions of work and workers in Europe and sustain racial hierarchies (Chadderton and Edmonds 2015). Xenophobia and racism are apparent and revealed in several ways in many European countries, and a prevailing narrative that portrays refugees and migrants as a cultural threat or a threat to community cohesion is apparent in many states through articles in the press.…”