Vocational training and the demands of work: A convention-based analysis

Abstract

Vocational training is a matter of considerable importance in developed countries. Attempts to evaluate the influence of this type of training on individuals' ability to enter the world of work have formed the basis of a number of largely empirical and quantitative studies in the economics of education and training. For all that, few analyses have sought to understand the decisions taken by economic agents, which are what is really at work behind the statistics. Thus the aim of the present article is to reveal the role recruiters' attitudes play in determining individuals' entry into the world of work. We emphasize the importance of recruiters' beliefs about to the origins of the qualities people display at work. We compare those recruiters who believe that these qualities can be acquired through training and education with those who believe that they cannot be so acquired and are an almost innate part of individuals' make-up.