The Occupational and Skill Structure of New Apprenticeships: a commentary

By Phil Toner

A critical evaluation of the recent research by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) on the occupational structure of apprenticeships.

The research is flawed by the NCVER's demand that traditional trade apprenticeships and traineeships be regarded as a unitary vocational education system, New Apprenticeships. Such an approach obscures the occupational and skill structure of traineeships. In contrast to the NCVER research, Toner shows that traineeships are highly skewed to occupations such as labouring and elementary clerical occupations.

Using New Apprenticeships as the level of analysis leads to an inadequate policy response to skill shortages and the needs of individuals disadvantaged in the labour market. Also research based on the New Apprenticeships concept incorrectly implies that the qualifications and career paths of apprentices and trainees are equivalent.

(Labour & Industry; vol. 13, no. 1, August 2002)