The Contribution of Vocational Skills Development to Inclusive Industrial Growth

While there have been intensive debates about the concept of development – e.g. the post-development literature or the debate surrounding Amartya Sens capability approach – a substantial number of practitioners and academic researchers still see (inclusive) industrial growth as an integral part of societal transformation and human development. After the global financial crisis of 2007 and the ultimate breakdown of the Washington Consensus one can identify two major trends in the development field: a) Industrial policy is no longer discredited and is therefore again seen as an integral part of the transformation of economies, b) vocational skills development (VSD) becomes a major priority for many governments and international organizations.

While there exists an extensive literature on technical and vocational education and training, a myriad of case studies concerned with economic transition in developing countries and a renewed interest in political economy, the concrete transmission mechanisms between VSD and (inclusive) industrial growth are still nebulous. This includes the relationships between VSD programmes and their economic and societal surroundings.

I – as part of a team of researchers working within the international r4d-project The Contribution of Vocational Skills Development to Inclusive Industrial Growth and Transformation: An Analysis of Critical Factors in 6 Countries – propose to look at the linkage between VSD and inclusive industrial growth from a genuinely sociological perspective. Irmgard Nübler suggested seeing productionist capabilities – understood as specific, collective knowledge sets – as key determinant of economic development. In this regard one could argue that VSD programmes are a form of capability building, which in turn could lead to economic transformation. I suggest adopting a critical, holistic perspective inspired by Nüblers proposal and the sociology of knowledge to deepen the understanding of the linkage between VSD and inclusive growth, while at the same time staying watchful for disruptive developments.