Institution Of Apprenticeship Research Articles

Apprenticeships and ‘future work’: are we ready?

The paper evaluates the readiness of apprenticeship systems to cope with five major developments affecting the future of work. The institution of apprenticeship has evolved over time in all countries, gradually adapting to changes in industrial processes, the economy, the labour market and education systems. This paper suggests, however, that recent changes in the economy and the labour market, and their concomitant effects on the likely future of work, have the potential to disrupt apprenticeship systems quite radically worldwide, and/or to make them less relevant in the 21st century. The paper draws on data from recent Australian and international research projects undertaken by the author, as well as the author’s engagement in Australian government exercises to discuss the future of apprenticeships. The research found that adaptations of systems and processes were being undertaken at company level and by stakeholders such as trade union or employer peak bodies. They were less frequently apparent, however, in government policy. The paper analyses the data to produce a framework of readiness for ‘future work’, but also queries whether adaptation of apprenticeship systems is necessarily desirable in all instances. Although the presence of multiple stakeholders in the system has previously been viewed as a strength of the system, it can also make even minor changes difficult to implement. This could prove to be a major impediment to apprenticeship’s future or could be a means of preserving its essential features.

Human capital, knowledge and economic development: evidence from the British Industrial Revolution, 1750–1930

Endogenous growth models raise fundamental questions about the nature of human creativity, and the sorts of resources, skills, and knowledge inputs that shift the frontier of technology and production possibilities. Many argue that the experience of early British industrialization supports the thesis that economic advances depend on specialized scientific training, the acquisition of costly human capital, and the role of elites. This paper examines the contributions of different types of knowledge to industrialization, by assessing the backgrounds, education and inventive activity of major contributors to technological advances in Britain during the crucial period between 1750 and 1930. The results indicate that scientists, engineers or technicians were not well-represented among the cadre of important British inventors, and their contributions remained unspecialized until very late in the nineteenth century. The informal institution of apprenticeship and learning on the job provided effective means to enable productivity and innovation. For developing countries today, the implications are that costly investments in specialized human capital resources might be less important than incentives for creativity, flexibility, and the ability to make incremental adjustments that can transform existing technologies into inventions and innovations that are appropriate for prevailing domestic conditions.

Market forces shaping human capital in eighteenth‐century London

This article draws on quantitative and descriptive data from Robert Campbell's manual for prospective apprentices, The London tradesman (1747), to demonstrate the responsiveness of apprenticeship premiums in mid‐eighteenth‐century London to market forces of supply and demand. It first shows that Campbell's data on mid‐eighteenth‐century journeymen wages, apprenticeship premiums, and masters’ set‐up costs in London are consistent with other sources. It then applies instrumental variable regressions to estimate the elasticity of apprenticeship premiums with respect to journeymen wages and set‐up costs, using Campbell's education and ability requirements by trade to instrument for wages. We find an elasticity of one with respect to wages, and of 0.25 with respect to set‐up costs, both statistically significant at a p‐value less than 0.1%. We interpret these findings as supporting the thesis that apprenticeship played an important role in adapting the English workforce to the skill requirements of the industrial revolution in its early stages, insofar as the institution of apprenticeship in London was representative of other parts of England. Furthermore, by demonstrating the internal and external consistency of Campbell's observations, our findings should encourage their use as an unparalleled source of detailed, trade‐specific wage data from the early years of the industrial revolution.

Начальные школы при горнозаводских предприятиях Колывано-Воскресенских горных заводов в XVIII в.

The article considers history of the elementary schools at Kolywano-Voskresensk factories and mines in the XVIIIth century. The consideration is given to previously unknown historical facts. Particular attention is paid to the verification and revision of the entrenched historical research opinions. The authors reconstructed the process of factory schools functioning: control mechanisms; list of school subjects; teaching methods. The emphasis is made on the connection of schools of Kolywano-Voskresensk and the Ural factories. The article analyzes a number of schoolchildren; describes the practice of sending of schoolchildren to collate ores of Zmeinogorsk mine and the institution of apprenticeship which was widely spread in the 1760s. Education in all spheres of mining and factory production was an essential element of training. Finally, it is concluded that the construction of new enterprises and production capacity created the demand for skilled workers and managers of the lower and middle levels. The 2nd half of the XVIIIth century demanded domestic specialists with secondary education, which led to the subsequent opening of the Barnaul Mining School.DOI 10.14258/izvasu(2015)4.1-06

Market Forces Shaping Human Capital in Eighteenth Century London

This article draws on quantitative and descriptive data from Robert Campbell's manual for prospective apprentices, The London tradesman (1747), to demonstrate the responsiveness of apprenticeship premiums in mid‐eighteenth‐century London to market forces of supply and demand. It first shows that Campbell's data on mid‐eighteenth‐century journeymen wages, apprenticeship premiums, and masters’ set‐up costs in London are consistent with other sources. It then applies instrumental variable regressions to estimate the elasticity of apprenticeship premiums with respect to journeymen wages and set‐up costs, using Campbell's education and ability requirements by trade to instrument for wages. We find an elasticity of one with respect to wages, and of 0.25 with respect to set‐up costs, both statistically significant at a p‐value less than 0.1%. We interpret these findings as supporting the thesis that apprenticeship played an important role in adapting the English workforce to the skill requirements of the industrial revolution in its early stages, insofar as the institution of apprenticeship in London was representative of other parts of England. Furthermore, by demonstrating the internal and external consistency of Campbell's observations, our findings should encourage their use as an unparalleled source of detailed, trade‐specific wage data from the early years of the industrial revolution.

Learning the master's trade: Apprenticeship and human capital in Ghana

This paper explores the institution of apprenticeship in Ghana. A model is presented where apprenticeship training is idiosyncratic, increasing an individual's productivity in the current firm, but not in any other firm. Still, individuals are willing to fund apprenticeships as they can reap the returns to the specific training of apprenticeship if they manage to acquire the capital required to start their own firms, and replicate the technology and business practice of the apprenticeship firm. Predictions of the model for the productivity and remuneration of different workers are developed and tested using both a linked employer–employee survey of manufacturing firms and a national household survey.

Ethics; 'In consideration of the love he bears.' Apprenticeship in the nineteenth century, and the development of professional ethics in dentistry. Part 2. Hippocrates' long shadow

This two part paper takes a look at the ancient institution of apprenticeship. As stated in the introduction to the first part,(1) it regards the conventions of the scheme as having had a positive influence on the morality, legal identity, and professional allegiance of dentists during the ethical development of their profession in the nineteenth century. The first paper looked at the particular application of apprenticeship through the evidence of indentures in the BDA museum. This second paper enlarges on the view that the wider social institution of apprenticeship was at least in part responsible for the development of the ethics of the dental profession.

Ethics; 'in consideration of the love he bears.' Apprenticeship in the nineteenth century, and the development of professional ethics in dentistry. Part 1. The practical reality.

This paper takes a look at the ancient institution of apprenticeship. In doing so it regards the conventions of the scheme as having had a positive influence on the morality, legal identity, and professional allegiance of dentists during the ethical development of their profession in the nineteenth century. Two important effects can be detected from the records available. One is general, since the moral ground of apprenticeship derived from, and spread throughout, society, and the other is particular to the development of dentistry as a profession, as those who were apprenticed to dentists acquired a natural loyalty to their dentist Masters in person, and to their craft.

'Fit for Management': Premium Apprenticeships and the English Brewing Industry, 1870-1914

This article examines apprenticeship at a single English brewery, Flower & Sons of Stratford-upon-Avon, between 1870 and 1914, years that witnessed great advances in the science of brewing. While the institution of apprenticeship was generally on the decline as a method of training in these years, the detailed records of a particular provincial firm demonstrate its ability to adapt and survive during a period of change, while documenting the experiences of what may be described as some of the late nineteenth century's more fortunate pupils.

Lessons from apprenticeship for policy on competence in technical know-how

Technical know–how is a critical part of the competence of technology–based companies. However, management policies on know–how are difficult to formulate when its definition is limited to a vague accretion of tacit knowledge. Equally dangerous is basing policy on a belief that know–how is the same as trade secrets. We found a more useful understanding of know–how development in the ages–old institution of apprenticeship. The focus of that definition is on skilful work processes that novices can observe and practice. Management policies grounded on this process perspective concern: strategic definition of needed skills, selection of work processes to build those skills, and exchanges of know–how in collaborative R&D.

The social context of iron forging on the Kenya coast

Ironsmiths occupy an important yet ambiguous position in many African societies. They are both revered and feared, because they wield social power which arises from their access to occult knowledge, not only of metallurgy but of healing, divination, circumcision and peacemaking. In some societies smiths enjoy high status and are the wealthiest people. In others they are feared, covertly maligned, and blamed for societal misfortunes. In still others the smiths' position is often marginal except when they are needed to intercede on their society's behalf to solve natural or cultural predicaments. The forge or smithy plays a central role in the community as tool-making centre, a place of refuge from violence, of purification, and for healing. This article examines the social context of iron forging among the ironsmiths of the Kenya coast, focusing on the role of iron forging in the coastal economy, the forge, the smiths' life cycle, the institution of apprenticeship, the ritual and technical power of smiths, the role of women in the smiths' community, and the future of iron forging on the coast. It is argued that, while coastal smiths are marginal and despised, they hold important ritual and spiritual powers in coastal society. The article concludes that a detailed understanding of the traditional crafts historically practised on the coast can do much to illuminate the complex history of coastal society.

The Ideal and Reality: Apprentice-Master Relationships in Seventeenth Century London

SEVENTEENTH CENTURY ENGLAND, like the rest of western Europe in the early modern period, was a patriarchal society. It had been such for a long time and would remain so until industrialization and the concept of greater individualism began to upset traditional values. The notion of family was quite different then from what it is now: the family included all persons living in a household whether they were related or not. Thus, servants, apprentices, and live-in employees were part of the employer's family and the head of the household was its absolute master, serving as surrogate father to those not actually his children. His relationship with the younger members of the family was similar to the relationship between the absolute monarchs of the era and their subjects. Of course, not all subjects were dutiful and obedient sons or daughters of the father figure, either in the state or in the family, but the ideal was patriachalism in every social unit. This ideal was perhaps nowhere better illustrated than in the institution of apprenticeship. This essay will concentrate on the apprentices of London during the early seventeenth century and will describe both the ideal and the reality of apprentice-master relationships. (1) Perhaps the oldest form of education, apprenticeship was designed to provide training in the crafts and trades, thus assuring competent workers. Yet it was far more than a system of education; it was part of a complex social and economic system. Controlled by the companies or guilds, apprenticeship was also a means of limiting the supply of workers. It was widespread since most of those who pursued careers outside the learned professions which required university training and those who were to be farmers or laborers customarily served apprenticeships. The growth of population in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries