Cooperation between vocational education and the business world not successful enough

Vocational education and the business world do not make the most of the possibilities of the cooperation between them. The educational institutions put too much emphasis on commercial aspects and businesses do not think enough of the long term where the training of their staff is concerned. This has been revealed by research by Ineke Delies, who will be awarded a PhD by the University of Groningen on 8 June 2009. ‘Knowledge is becoming dated more and more quickly, staff have to keep learning all their lives. That is only possible if vocational education and the business world work on better knowledge alliances.’

Leave the school desk behind, go to work and never open a book again? That was possible in the past, but anyone who wants to keep working nowadays has to keep learning too. In order to enable staff to do so, new combinations of working and learning are needed. Regional training centres (ROCs) and the business world play major roles in this. However, their cooperation is not optimal, University of Groningen researcher Ineke Delies has revealed. She warns that this could become a threat to the development of the labour market and the economy.

Not successful

Delies charted the relationships between an ROC and various cooperating businesses. The question she continually asked was Are these relationships good enough to equip students sufficiently for the new knowledge economy? She sent questionnaires to and interviewed more than four hundred people directly involved in this process – ROC and business directors, employees, students, practical supervisors and lecturers. Delies, who was for years herself a director of an ROC, was surprised by the results. ‘Most knowledge alliances are fairly long-lasting, and the partners want the best for each other, I discovered. Nevertheless, they are not successful enough. Their cooperation processes are not dynamic enough.’

Change gear

One of the problems is that the ROC and the businesses do not sufficiently control the speed of knowledge innovation. Delies: ‘Take a company that wants all its employees to receive extra training within a year, because that’s when they expect a peak in production. The ROC and the company draw up a plan. However, if the production peak occurs after six months, the partners are not able to change gear, for example by increasing knowledge circulation, by active exchange of knowledge or by attracting an extra partner.’  

Take the initiative

In order to improve knowledge alliances, ROCs must make clear to businesses what they want to do about innovation in the long term. Delies: ‘The ROCs depend far too much still on the companies when it comes to knowledge innovation. And they are the ones who don’t think in advance about their employees’ training needs. The educational institutions should take the initiative, look further than the current demand and keep an eye on the long term. After all, it may be that employees are much more mobile than employers think.’  

Long-lasting relationship

ROCs must no longer start relationships with companies they do not know, for example to profit from grant opportunities; they should search for companies with which they can build a lasting relationship. They also need to take a look at their internal organization – middle management, which maintains the contacts with the companies, must share its knowledge better. Delies: ‘Project reports must not disappear into bottom drawers, and there should be more continuity of personnel so that knowledge is not lost.’  

Private role

One of Delies’s conclusions is that ROCs are not very efficient with their dual role. Since 1999, ROCs have been stimulated by the Ministry to enter the market and not only provide general education but also tailor-made courses, directly commissioned by the business world. Delies: ‘ROCs are still a bit uncertain in this area. They think that companies don’t think they are commercial or dynamic enough. But the relationships between ROCs and companies must primarily be based on the ROCs’ public role. The commercial relationships are less important for ROCs than they think themselves.’  

Curriculum Vitae

Ineke Delies (Emmen, 1955) studied Dutch Language and Literature in Groningen.Between 1985 and January 2009 she was a director of the ROC Alfa-college. Since the start of 2009 she has been lector of Sustainable Innovation in the Regional Knowledge Economy at the Stenden University of Higher Professional Education and the ROC Alfa-college. Delies conducted her research as an external PhD student at the department of Knowledge Management of the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Groningen. Her supervisors were Prof. René Jorna and Prof. M.P.C. van der Werf. The title of her thesis is “Verbindingskracht & Combinatievermogen. Een empirisch onderzoek naar succesvolle kennisallianties tussen beroepsonderwijs (ROC) en bedrijfsleven.” [The power of connection and the ability to combine. An empirical study of successful knowledge alliances between vocational education (ROC) and business.’

More information

Ineke Delies, 00 31 06 532 37 470