Challenges of vocational education in Iceland: Higher education access

One of the key challenges to vocational education and training (VET) at the upper secondary education level is how to change the perspective that it represents a dead-end pathway in the education system. This challenge is often discussed in the context of how to increase the standing of VET and refers to efforts to increase VET participation (Billett, 2020; Eiríksdóttir, et al., 2018; Field & Guez, 2018; UNESCO, 2016). About 15% of young people in Iceland choose VET in upper secondary schools after completing compulsory education, and only 30% of students overall are enrolled in VET, which is lower than the EU average (Cedefop, 2020a; Statistics Iceland, 2021). The educational authorities and other stakeholders have long emphasized the need for action and measures to strengthen VET (Eiríksdóttir, et al., 2018; Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture [MoESC], 2014; Jónasson, 1998; OECD, 2013). Providing VET graduates access to higher education (HE) is often mentioned in this context – especially with the general expansion of and increased participation in HE in general (Jónasson, 1998, 2003).
The goal of the study is to look at how the access of VET graduates to HE has developed over the past two decades in Iceland. Both in terms of the structure and regulation governing the education system as well as the opportunities and participation of students. The development of the access of VET graduates to HE is considered from two sides, based on how this challenge has been approached in the other Nordic countries (Helms Jørgensen et al., 2018): (1) in terms of HE preparation at the upper secondary school level. In the years 2008 to 2011 the regulatory framework of the upper secondary school was reformed, and a new national curriculum introduced. Curriculum decentralization and a disengagement between of the type of qualifications and programme were a part of this reform. These changes opened the possibility for a greater variety of VET programmes, including the creation of hybrid programmes, where student complete both VET qualifications and the matriculation exam (without lengthening the programme). (2) In terms of changes made to the HE education level to accommodate VET students. HE vocational programmes are rare in Iceland and there are no applied or vocational universities. This lack of HE opportunities has been criticized (Cedefop, 2020b; OECD, 2013) and was the objective of recent VET reform initiative (MoESC, 2014, 2016, 2019). Aside from creating new HE vocational programmes, a recommendation was made to open University admission requirements so that VET qualifications would suffice for general entry, and a law to this effect was passed in the spring of 2021. The focus in the proposed presentation will be on what these events mean in terms of the development of the VET system. In particular, the aim is to look at the tensions between different forces governing this part of the education sector (Jónasson, 1995, 1998). VET in Iceland has traditionally been quite distinct from the more academically oriented general programmes (ending with a matriculation exam) and stakeholders from the world of work have had substantial influence over the content and structure of VET. Opening access to HE challenges this influence and creates a conflict between preparing students for work and HE in a single programme (Helms Jørgensen et al., 2018). How this will play out will determine the future development of VET in Iceland; either maintaining its distinctiveness or developing towards a more pluralistic form where VET pathways will be indistinguishable from academic pathways (Cedefop, 2020b). Discussing the trajectory of these developments in such abstractions allows for comparison with developments of other European VET systems.