Neo-liberalism and continuing vocational training governance in the UK

An examination of three theoretical accounts

Bibliographic Data

ID23214622
AuthorsManuel Souto-Otero (0000-0002-8768-514X, University of Bath, corresponding author)
Year2013
Volume65
Issue1
Pages20-35
Publication date2013-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueEducational Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0013-1911 • E-ISSN: 1465-3397
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00131911.2011.632815
OpenAlexW2069486942
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited74

The paper analyses continuing vocational education and training policies in the UK in the period 1979–2010 with a focus on regulation and governance. It reviews Conservative and Labour party policies to ascertain their principal components and explore their evolution through time. More specifically, the paper reviews the paradoxical existence of three seemingly opposed accounts of recent dynamics in the management of continuing vocational training: one that sees it moving inexorably to the political right, one that emphasises the singularity of social-democratic policies and one that focuses on the difficulties of any movement, towards the political left or right. The paper concludes that while there has been a degree of convergence between right and left, differences remained in terms of their favoured institutional decision-making structures. However, Labour played a two-level game, which combined the establishment of new channels for dialogue and coordination with key stakeholders, with a limited scope for meaningful stakeholder input to policy.

Corporate governance · Economics · Management · Pedagogy · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Scope (computer science) · Sociology · Stakeholder · Vocational education · Law · Political and Economic history of UK and US · Public Administration · Social Policy and Reform Studies · Youth Education and Societal Dynamics

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