The Evolution of Education and Training Strategies in Singapore, Taiwan and S. Korea: A development model of skill formation

This article examines the current high-skills discourse against the backdrop of labor process theory. It draws on the theoretical debate between Harry Braverman and Michael Foucault, supplementing the traditional treatment of the labor process with Foucauldian insights. The primary argument is that especially in the market-led economies, current work organization methods militate against the optimization of skill, and that the current high-skills debate does not dwell sufficiently upon this. The workplace-based research and issues literature is examined, especially from the standpoint of factors that influence the lived experience of workers in untoward ways, the focus being upon highperformance workplaces. The evidence is that a host of factors issuing from the flexibility quest of firms (such as intensification, the transparency of teamwork and computerized work environments, the erosion of discretion and autonomy and segmentation of workers into core and periphery categories) cause workers to be put upon in ways that are not consistent with skill optimization. The article concludes that in keeping with what new models of high-skills formation tell us about nations that are high-skills exemplars, there is need for policymakers in market-led economies of the UK and USA to call capital to account by rejecting a dualism that envisages states as producers and firms as consumers of skill. Rather, employers must be called upon to participate on the supply side, through engagement in training; to create a higher volume of intellectually challenging jobs; and to adopt work organization methods that can optimize the use of skill.

supporting

confidence: 53%

Braverman, Foucault and the labor process: framing the current high‐skills debate

Lewis

2007

“…One way to answer this question is to compare Irish educational policy with that of other 'Tiger' economies. Here we rely largely on two recent studies of education in the first-wave Asian Tiger economies of Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea (Kim, 2000;Ashton et al, 2002). Against this backdrop, this section of the article now traces the specific development of Irish education.…”

Section: Educating Cubs For 'Tiger' Economiesmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Against this backdrop, this section of the article now traces the specific development of Irish education. The 'Celtic Tiger' 387 Ashton et al (2002) analyse the Asian Tiger economies of Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan, stressing the importance of the state's role in linking economic policies appropriate to each country's stage of development to the pace of skill formation in the education and training system. The authors focus on the role of selective government interventions and associated institutions in the educational system.…”

Section: Educating Cubs For 'Tiger' Economiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Training cubs for the Celtic Tiger: the volume production of technical graduates in the Irish educational system

Wickham

Boucher

2004

This article examines the claim that the Irish educational system was one cause of Ireland's rapid economic growth in the 1990s. For decades Irish economic policy has assumed that economic growth depended on foreign direct investment (FDI). During the 1990s, Irish exports largely comprised high-technology manufacturing products; foreignowned firms required a small but significant stream of qualified technical labour. The overall standard of Irish education is not impressive: it generates large numbers of educational failures and has no research tradition. Comparison with the systems of other 'Tiger' economies, such as South Korea and Taiwan, shows that it has concentrated on the low-cost production of technical graduates, often in short-cycle and sub-degree level courses. It was this particular educational structure, and not the standard of the system as a whole, that facilitated rapid economic growth based on FDI in high-tech industry.

“…Whether using the human capital or the institutional approach, a lot of the existing training studies are about Western economies. There is very few comparable empirical research about advanced Asian economies whose development paths are different from those of western societies (Ashton et al 2002;Hawley and Paek 2005). The developmental paths of Asian countries give rise to different institutional contexts and their influences on training may well be different from those in Western economies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

It is not just a matter of having the time: job-related training participation of Hong Kong employees

Tam

2013

Participation in job-related training as part and parcel of lifelong learning is widely advocated. While many empirical research about job-related training of employees are about advanced western economies, little is known about advanced Asian economies. To fill this void in the literature, this study applies the human capital, institutional and cultural approach to examine the pursuit of job-related training of Hong Kong employees. The characteristics of the labour market institutions (unions, employers' organisations and government regulations) in Hong Kong are important contextual factors for understanding job-related training which local employees arrange for themselves. Analyses of survey data collected from a random sample of employees show that time constraints due to long working hours and heavy family responsibilities were not crucial in affecting training participation. Instead, higher education level, experiences of new skills requirements at work and intrinsic job values have positive effects on whether or not employees arranged training for themselves. The training undertaken involved generic rather than firm-specific workskills. We argue that the pursuit of training and the preference for generic workskills need to be understood against the labour demand situation and the relatively free labour market in Hong Kong. The paper ends with theoretical and policy implications of the study.