Why is it so hard to build apprenticeship systems?

I read the research so you don't have to

Apprenticeship, in some ways, is one of the simplest and most enduring methods of skill transfer humans have ever come up with. Why, then, is it so hard to build apprenticeship systems? I was surprised to learn that there’s actually a large volume of research addressing this very question.¹ Now, you might not have time to leaf through a 500-page volume on technical vocational education and training (TVET), but luckily for you, I did back during Covid.

“This is an important, cutting-edge volume on a topic that is of great importance to researchers, policymakers and practitioners throughout the world. I have no doubt that this book will be widely read and that it will have an important impact on policy and practice in this area.”

From the preface of Volume 24, Vocational Education and Training in Times of Economic Crisis - Lessons from Around the World.

In this post, I’ll focus on Chapter 3, "Challenges to the Implementation of Dual Apprenticeships in OECD Countries: A Literature Review," by O. Valiente and R. Scandurra.

The impetus for this literature review was Spain’s attempts to adopt a dual apprenticeship system, which faced numerous challenges. The objective was to “systematise evidence on international experiences of dual apprenticeships in different OECD countries” and provide “policy relevant insights on the challenges and dilemmas that any government would face in the process of implementing and scaling up this kind of intervention at a systemic level.”

You'd think it would be simple, right? Just copy what works in places like Switzerland and Germany. But it turns out it’s a little more complicated than that.

They identify one core challenge:

“We suggest that the main challenge [governments in OECD countries] face is to make dual apprenticeships attractive to both employers and students. “

This rings true with my experience to date. It is tricky to design a youth apprenticeship system that balances the competing desires of employers and youth apprentices. You’ve got to hit on the right balance of general and specific knowledge. Too specific and it’s not good for the apprentice. Too general and it’s not worth it for the employer. You’ve got to hit on the right duration. Too short and the employer doesn’t recoup their investment. Too long and it’s not worth it to the apprentice. And each of these balances will be different for different occupations and industries.

Policymakers and system designers get into trouble when they create apprenticeship regulations that tip the scales too far in either direction and make an apprenticeship unattractive for the other party. In America, you’ll find that there’s a general consensus that the scales tend to be tipped away from employers. You can’t have an apprenticeship without an employer willing to hire and train, so what do the authors conclude about making apprenticeships attractive to employers?

Making Apprenticeship Attractive to Employers

Like many things in life, it boils down to power and money. To make apprenticeship attractive to employers, governments need to make sure employer associations have power over key features of the system, and that employers have the financial capacity to start up apprenticeships and keep them going through tough times.

Starting with the first, and according to the authors, the most important of the two - governments need to give employer associations (not individual employers) real power in governing vocational education programs. This is both one of the most American ideas while simultaneously being the most foreign to how the US education system is currently set up. The idea of people coming together in free associations to solve their own problems is very small town, main street, Alexis De Tocqueville. This is what Chambers of Commerce are all about and it seems natural for these institutions to step up and play this role in an American system of youth apprenticeship. (And indeed, the US Chamber of Commerce has spent about a decade training state and regional chambers in how to play this role via Talent Pipeline Management.)

However, the US education system has no formal or codified role for employers or industry to play. There are some exceptions, but they’re nothing like the robust, specific roles industry associations play in countries that have effective TVET systems. So even if employers organize themselves, they don’t have a place within our education system to connect with and the power to influence curriculum and training at scale. Figuring out how to give employer associations real power in our CTE and apprenticeship systems should be a primary goal of policymakers.

Their second recommendation is around economic incentives. However, their recommendations look very different from the current incentives in the U.S., which are mostly tax credits. According to the authors, economic incentives should be targeted toward small and medium-sized employers and towards keeping apprenticeships active through economic recessions.

The small business piece really jumped out at me. The researchers point out that small businesses face some unique challenges when it comes to apprenticeship:

• They don't have the economies of scale

• They often lack organizational capacity

• Their employees tend to be generalists handling lots of different tasks

In countries where small and medium-sized businesses actively participate in apprenticeships, industry associations step in to help. They set up training centers, help plan programs, and provide the support small businesses need to make apprenticeship work.

Here's why all this matters right now: We're seeing this wave of interest in youth apprenticeship across the U.S. But if we want high school apprenticeship to actually work at scale, we need our systems to incentivize employers to act together and increase the power of those employer groups to influence apprenticeship and vocational education.

But there’s reason to be optimistic. In Indiana, the Fairbanks Foundation is awarding grants to launch employer-led talent associations, “which are organizations that enable employers within their industry to speak with one voice when it comes to their talent needs.”

This is a promising model that policymakers in other states could copy. But they also need to make sure that the education and apprenticeship systems are ready and willing to listen when industry speaks. If that happens, then we might be starting to figure some of this out…

1. Many thanks to Josh Hodil for using his Yale email address to get me access to this $100 ebook.