Understanding aspirations: why do secondary TVET students aim so high in Chile?

Aldinucci, A., Valiente, O. , Hurrell, S. and Zancajo, A. (2021) Understanding aspirations: why do secondary TVET students aim so high in Chile? Journal of Vocational Education and Training, (doi: 10.1080/13636820.2021.1973543) (Early Online Publication)

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Abstract

The interest in educational and professional aspirations of students transiting to post-secondary education has gained prominence in academic debates and policy agendas internationally. Political interventions for raising aspirations quite often draw on narrow instrumental and rationalistic assumptions of individual decision-making that, as we will argue, do not capture adequately the meanings students attribute to these aspirations. By means of in-depth interviews and combining a critical realist approach to social action with capabilities approach, the paper explores the educational and professional aspirations of students at the end of secondary TVET in Chile. We consider that high educational aspirations of secondary TVET students in Chile need to be understood as a reflexive response to significantly high social inequalities in the country, the precarity of working conditions in a highly liberalised labour market, and the enduring neoliberal tenet of meritocracy. We also argue that understanding aspirations is key to reimagine TVET’s roles and purposes at individual, institutional and national levels, towards fairer opportunities for human development.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Early Online Publication
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Valiente, Professor Oscar and Hurrell, Dr Scott and Aldinucci, Ms Alice and Zancajo, Dr Adrian
Authors: Aldinucci, A., Valiente, O., Hurrell, S., and Zancajo, A.
College/School:College of Social Sciences > Adam Smith Business School > Management
College of Social Sciences > School of Education
College of Social Sciences > School of Education > Educational Leadership & Policy
Journal Name:Journal of Vocational Education and Training
Publisher:Taylor and Francis
ISSN:1363-6820
ISSN (Online):1747-5090
Published Online:31 August 2021
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2021 The Authors
First Published:First published in Journal of Vocational Education and Training 2021
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

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Project CodeAward NoProject NamePrincipal InvestigatorFunder's NameFunder RefLead Dept
172556Newton RCUK-CONICYT Governing the educational and labour market trajectories of secondary TVET graduates in ChileOscar ValienteEconomic and Social Research Council (ESRC)ES/N019229/1ED - The Robert Owen Centre for Educational Change