In addition to the role it plays in preparing both the Report on Vocational Education and Training and the vocational education and training statistics, the BIBB makes a major contribution to vocational education and training research as a result of its varied research activities. The actual BWP issue provides an insight into the extensive data sets which are analysed and evaluated by the BIBB, and which are made available to external researchers through the research data centre. At the same time, it explains the answers this data is able to provide to current questions within vocational education and training.

Editorial: BIBB research data - the foundation of evidence-based policy guidance

Reinhold Weiß, Prof. Dr., Deputy President of the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) and Head of Research

BIBB was set up in 1970 as a research institute to supply policy makers with the latest data and findings on the structure and development of vocational education and training. This remit is just as relevant today as it was then, although the tendency has been for requirements regarding quality of data to rise. The demand for an evidence-based approach is an expression of this development. There is a need for robust and representative data.
Editorial in the BIBB-journal Vocational Training in Research and Practice - BWP

Read more Editorial: BIBB research data - the foundation of evidence-based policy guidance

BIBB research data - Supply, processing and use of data via the BIBB Research Data Centre

Holger Alda, Annett Friedrich, Daniela Rohrbach-Schmidt

In its capacity as a departmental research institution of the Federal Government, BIBB has comprehensive VET data records at its disposal. This data is also made available outside BIBB via the BIBB-Forschungsdatenzentrum (BIBB-FDZ) [Research Data Centre] and in compliance with data protection regulations and standardised academic research procedures. This article outlines the data available via the FDZ, states the requirements which apply to the processing and use of research data, highlights the scope to which and the purposes for which data is used by researchers and concludes by debating the importance to VET research of having a research data infrastructure.»
Article from the BIBB-journal Vocational Training in Research and Practice - BWP

Read more BIBB research data - Supply, processing and use of data via the BIBB Research Data Centre

Indicators-based vocational education and training reporting in Germany - the foundation for policy advice

Elisabeth M. Krekel, Bettina Milde

Evidence-based policy advice has increased in significance over recent years, and various foundations have been created for this purpose. Examples include international competence assessment studies such as TIMMS and PISA, and there have also been surveys in the form of PIAAC or the German Educational Panel Study (NEPS), which is used to investigate lifelong educational processes. In vocational education and training, evidence-based policy advice in the form of VET reporting has a tradition which goes back as far as the 1970s and is also firmly established in statutory terms. After a brief outlining of the basic principles and development of evidence-based policy advice, the article presents examples of two newer indicators that describe the training situation and goes on to explore the scope of these for indicators-based VET reporting.
Article from the BIBB-journal Vocational Training in Research and Practice - BWP

Read more Indicators-based vocational education and training reporting in Germany - the foundation for policy advice

Financing of vocational education and training in Germany

Normann Müller, Felix Wenzelmann, Anika Jansen

German vocational education and training attracts a good deal of attention globally because it offers young people a good way of entering the employment system. However, what are the associated costs? Although precise determination of costs is difficult in methodological terms, this article attempts to address the issue.
Article from the BIBB-journal Vocational Training in Research and Practice - BWP

Read more Financing of vocational education and training in Germany

The training market in Germany suffers from matching problems. Whereas many training places cannot be filled in some occupations, others are in such demand that large numbers of young people are unsuccessful in their applications. This even affects occupations which exhibit similar job profiles, such as "salesperson specialising in foodstuffs" and "management assistant for retail services". The article addresses the question of how young people - all of whom participated in the 2014 BA/BIBB Applicant Survey - perceive these two occupations and looks at the consequences of this for their training preferences.

Read more The full article (available for download in German only)

New page in the iMOVE portal: Learn more about the effectiveness of German dual vocational education and training in English or your native language. The presentations, documents and films explain the German dual VET system, its key elements and its focus on the needs of the economy.

Read more The German dual system

Closer collaboration between France and Germany - Cooperation agreement with CÉREQ renewed

updated partnership agreement was signed by BIBB Research Director Reinhold Weiß and Alberto Lopez, Director of CÉREQ

The cooperative arrangement between the BIBB and the French Research Centre for Employment and Qualifications (CÉREQ), which has been in place since 2006, is entering a new phase.

Read more Closer collaboration between France and Germany

UNESCO revised Recommendation concerning TVET

As a partner institute of UNESCO-UNEVOC, the BIBB played an active role in the revision process. The BIBB was represented by Director of Research Reinhold Weiß and Birgit Thomann, head of the international department. According to the UNESCO's general principles, technical vocational education and training (TVET) is part of both the universal right to education and the right to work. In this respect, TVET is understood as contributing toward the promotion of understanding and respect for human rights; inclusion and social equity; gender equality and cultural diversity.

Read more UNESCO revised Recommendation concerning TVET

Call for tender: Mapping the research about work-based learning

The Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) and UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (UNESCO-UNEVOC) are undertaking a collaboration research project which is envisaged to support the creation of a comparative knowledge base on the character and relevance of work-based learning (WBL) in different contexts.
The call for tender is open to all, including professionals and researchers from the UNEVOC Network and affiliate institutions. The bid adjudication and commitment period ends on: 15th of May 2016.

Read more Public tender - Mapping the research about work-based learning

Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung (BIBB)
Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training

Friedrich-Ebert-Allee 114 – 116
53113 Bonn - Germany

Tel.: +49 228 / 107 - 0
Fax: +49 228 / 107 - 2977
Email: bibbnews@bibb.de

https://www.bibb.de/en - The BIBB online knowledge portal

Editorial Team:
Charlotte Schölgens (editor-in-chief)