First steps toward assessing talent-support systems on a country level

Abstract

ABSTRACT A growing number of countries has a strong interest in assessing the quality of their talent-support systems. We propose combining two relevant conceptual frameworks – hemerotopes and the learning and educational capital approach – to better achieve this end. Hemerotopes provide qualitative categories for assessing the degree to which countries have transformed environments to support talent development. We postulate six different hemerotopes, distinguished by two dimensions: the degree of support for talent development and the outcomes of the talent development process. The six hemerotopes range from atopes (no support of talent development and no outcomes of talent development) to megatopes (very high support of talent development and outstanding outcomes of talent development). Thus, among the different types of hemerotopes, the number of megatopes plays an especially important role when it comes to assessing the quality of a country’s talent-support system. The learning capital approach, then, facilitates the comparative analysis of the quality of hemerotopes. In this approach, endogenous and exogenous learning resources are distinguished, making it possible to analyze simultaneously the learning resources available in a hemerotope as well as individuals’ capacities to use these environmental resources.