Theorising the Role of Public Vocational Education Institutions Using the Capabilities Approach

This paper observes several limitations of human capital theory, both as a description of the way qualifications are used in the labour market, and in severely limiting the potential roles vocational education. It proposes as an alternative the human capabilities approach which posits that the goal should be for everyone to have the capability to be and do what they have reason to value. The paper reports the application of human capabilities as productive capabilities which are located in and concentrate on an intermediate specialised level, the vocational stream which links occupations that share common practices, knowledge, skills and personal attributes. The paper reports an application of the concept of productive capabilities to seven countries: Argentina, Australia, Côte d’Ivoire, England, Ethiopia, Germany, South Africa and Taiwan. From this the report finds that productive capabilities rest upon broader social, economic, cultural, and physical resources.