Towards Institutionalised TVET Research in Costa Rica–Empirical Analysis on Status, Needs, and Challenges

Abstract

Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in Costa Rica is considered as an important alternative for the insertion of the young population into the labor market. However, despite the increasing importance of TVET there is a lack of institutionalized research activities, so that research efforts on TVET mainly remain in the background. The aim of this paper is to present and examine the level of institutionalization of TVET research in Costa Rica and the associated needs, challenges, and demands. Therefore, qualitative research, with an exploratory scope, was conducted between December 2022 and June 2023, for which a literature review on TVET research and semi-structured interviews with sixteen experts were carried out. The results revealed, that from 2020 to date, there has been an increase in the number of research activities in TVET and in the number of publications in Costa Rican journals. Nevertheless, TVET institutions in Costa Rica show low capacities in terms of personnel and financial resources to conduct TVET research. The main conclusion is that the level of institutionalization of TVET Research in Costa Rica is in its infancy, but has potential for growth, for which it is necessary to establish public TVET policies that include TVET research.