| “I study education and career paths, especially the
transition from school to work. In the Netherlands,
I am conducting an extensive study of schoolleavers
and at a European level a similar study of
those with higher education qualifications. I am
searching for a better understanding of the factors
that determine whether or not someone will make
a successful transition. What determines this? The
character of the individual? His or her
competencies? Or is it rather to do with structural
factors, i.e. structure of the labour market,
education and the economy?
An increasing amount of research is being done
into the role of competencies for a career. We also
study what the most significant competencies are
for a career and how these are imparted. Of course,
we analyse the characteristics of teaching
programmes and methods, such as Problem-Based
Learning (PBL). The question here is whether
people actually do acquire more competencies
through these methods than others, and whether
this has further effects in the labour market. We
investigate what is happening in teaching in the
area of providing competencies and what happens
with these competencies from education in the
long term. We also study which competencies are
important for long-term development.
In addition to this, we also analyse the relationship
between long-term career and the transition from
school to employment. Do people who had trouble
with this transition suffer further negative effects
at a later stage? All this research is done from a
life-cycle perspective. We analyse the career in
connection with other events, such as marriage or
having children. What effects do these have on
one’s career? You can never look at a career
separately from other life domains.
We have specifically widened this type of research
to include the analysis of structural characteristics,
such as the educational system and structural
factors in the labour market (e.g., strict regulation
of the labour market or otherwise). Often in this
area of structural characteristics we see no
differences within a country, but do see them
between countries. We are therefore undertaking
a big international comparative research project
known as Reflex, in which we study the careers of
higher education graduates from sixteen countries.
We look at how far these graduates are equipped
to meet the requirements of the labour market.
What are these requirements and are there any
differences between countries? Do the graduates
meet the requirements of a knowledge-based
society and are some countries better able to equip
their students with the relevant competencies
than others? Research in this field provides a
wealth of useful information for teaching
institutions, as well as for the ultimate consumer:
the labour market.”
Additional functions:
- Head of the Department of Education and
Occupational Career of the Research Centre for
Education and the Labour Market (ROA)
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