Number Of Apprentices Research Articles

Vocational High Schools Apprenticeship Program, in Greece: Application, Recent Facts and Views

Apprenticeship in Greek vocational high schools started as a pilot program in 2017. The number of apprentices is gradually increasing, Greece followed the dual German apprenticeship system, when the students complete successfully their studies obtaining a degree of level 5, according to the European Qualifications Framework. The purpose of the project was to capture the views and experience of apprentices and employers regarding their involvement with the above apprenticeship program, during the period 2020-2021. Structured questionnaires were appropriately used and were completed by 622 apprentices and 265 employers. Factor analysis reduced the variables and was followed by further investigation with chi-square. To test the linear relationship between the variables of the research queries, the Pearson correlation coefficient was applied. Finally, by using the Mann-Whitney (U-test), a significant difference between the apprentices’ and the employers’ responses was found. Main Results: 89% of the apprentices and 78.9% of employers were very satisfied with their participation in the apprenticeship program. 71% of apprentices and 81.5% of employers were very satisfied with the overall quality of the apprenticeship program. Conclusions: The majority of apprentices and employers seemed satisfied regarding the apprenticeship program quality. The knowledge and skills were acquired by the students during the apprenticeship which help them to gain a place in the labor market. Hosting companies provided the appropriate equipment; all safety regulations and the employees who trained the apprentices had the necessary qualifications in the same or related subject.

Introligatorstwo krakowskie pierwszej połowy XIX wieku w świetle dokumentów cechowych

The archive documents of the Krakow Bookbinding Guild confronted with the legal acts in force allow us to examine the activity of the guild in the first half of the 19th century. At that time, the guild organisation still held a monopoly on the practice of crafts, and the poor economic condition of the city did not allow for the development of this trade. The number of members of the guild and bookbinding workshops was small, usually no more than ten, and the number of apprentices they employed was also small. In the majority of cases, the workshops were handed down from one generation to the next. In addition, the influx of foreign professionals and master’s qualifications to the guild was small, limited by high registration fees. At the same time, the Krakow bookbinding centre educated many students, and many apprentices from foreign centres arrived in the city.

Effects of Number of Apprentices on Financial Performance of Firms in the Furniture and Wood Industry of Ghana

This study examined the relationship between the number of apprentices in a firm and the financial performance of the firm, using the RPED/CSAE Ghana Manufacturing Enterprise Survey (GMES) covering the period of 1991 to 2002. The dynamic panel model estimation technique was employed to investigate the effect of the number of apprentice on gross profit per capital of firms in the furniture and wood processing industry of Ghana. The findings of the study indicate that the financial performances of firms deteriorate during the apprenticeship period, as they take up more apprentices but increase in wages of apprentices had direct significant effect on financial performance. Other dynamics of the apprentice and the master were discovered to be important variables in explaining firm’s financial performance. The average age of an apprentice in the Furniture industry was about 24 years while that of the Wood industry was about 29 years which is clearly very high. It has been suggested that firms may need incentives other than the services of the apprentice to increase their demand for apprenticeship. The incentive may include tax exemption which should be proportional to the number of apprentices engaged and a proper contract must be signed that will allow apprentices to serve the firm for a specified period after training before being released. The youth must also be advised to begin the apprenticeship process early.
 Keywords: Apprenticeship, Financial performance, Dynamic panel model, Gross profit, Contract

Assembly of classifiers to determine the academic profile of students

Abstract The assembly methods, or combination of models, arise with the purpose of improving the accuracy of predictions. An assembly contains a number of apprentices (base models) which, when of the same type are called homogeneous and if of different, heterogeneous. The characteristic is that these apprentices do not perform well. The assembly is generated using another algorithm that combines the apprentices, examples of which are the majority vote, the decision table and the neural networks [1]. This article proposes the use of an assembly of classifiers to determine the academic profile of the student, based on the student’s overall average and data related to educational factors.

The type and quantity of corporate social disclosures of German ‘Universal’ banks

Grounded in legitimacy theory and deductive in nature, this paper uses content analysis of annual report social disclosures of 169 German ‘universal’ banks belonging to three different categories (credit, saving, and cooperative) to report on the type and quantity of social disclosure by these banks, and to test seven hypotheses related to the nature of their social disclosures and their association with size, financial performance, corporate form, and other selected variables. The findings provide evidence of the importance of social disclosure for the German banking sector as a means to legitimize their business and relay to the society the extent of their fulfillment of social obligations. Greater importance is attributed to product and customers as well as human resource disclosures. In addition, a strong positive association is found between these disclosures and the size variables as well as the number of apprentices, whereas ROE and net profits as financial performance proxies provide evidence of a significant relationship. Furthermore, the findings indicate that the quantity of social disclosure varies with bank category, corporate form and listing status, but seems to be almost unrelated to bank age and overseas presence. These promising findings could be used to inform corporate social responsibility policies and practices of German banks; nevertheless, further longitudinal analysis to validate them over time is warranted.

Skill choice and skill complementarity in eighteenth century England

This paper analyzes the effects of technological change on skill acquisition during the British Industrial Revolution. Based on a unique set of data on apprenticeships between 1710 and 1772, we show that both the number of apprentices and their share in the cohort of the fifteen year-olds increased in response to inventions. The strongest response was in the highly skilled mechanical trades. These results suggest that technological change in this period was skill biased due to the expansion of the machinery sector they induced.

Drivers of Productivity: a Case Study of the Australian Construction Industry

Australian construction productivity has grown slowly since 1985 and remains arguably stagnant. The importance of this study is therefore to examine several factors through to be drivers of construction productivity and to understand possible avenues for improvement. The drivers tested are research and development, apprentices, wage growth, unionisation and safety regulation. Expenditure on research and development and the number of apprentices were found to be drivers of productivity growth in Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia. These findings are important because collectively, these three states account for a majority of construction activity in Australia.

Use of Psychotropic Substances and Satisfaction with Vocational Education

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate if there is an independent association between substance use and satisfaction in vocational education. Methods: A cross-sectional study of 5 688 first-year apprentices from 49 vocational schools, mean age 19.4 years (SD=3.9 years) was undertaken. Data were analysed using multilevel linear regression analysis. Predictors were use of tobacco, alcohol, cannabis and pharmaceuticals as well as personal characteristics (sex, age, migration background, educational level, financial status, chronic diseases, psychological distress, physical activity, media use, personality) and vocational/firm characteristics (firm size, number of apprentices, perceived quality of mentoring, amount of pay, vocational field, working conditions, over- and underload, housing situation, number of previous apprenticeships, first choice). Vocational satisfaction was used as primary outcome. Results: Satisfaction was most strongly associated with perceived quality of mentoring, judgement that the chosen education was first choice and working climate in the training company. In addition, only problematic alcohol use remained significant in the multivariate analysis. There was no association in the adjusted model between vocational satisfaction and daily tobacco use or problematic use of cannabis and pharmaceuticals. Conclusions: Results suggest that problematic alcohol use could be an independent risk factor for problems in vocational education.

A Hard Sell? The Prospects for Apprenticeship in British Retailing

We consider the prospects for apprenticeship in British retailing, in terms of the contribution of apprenticeship to intermediate skills and the contribution of large employers to the Advanced Apprenticeship (AA) programme. Evidence is taken from interviews with training and HR managers from 17 large employers. We find that AA is for the most part unpopular with large retailers, who prefer to acquire intermediate skills through the upgrade training of existing employees through bespoke, in-house training programmes and, to a lesser degree, via the recruitment of skilled workers. The one exception to this rule is to be found in the convenience stores sub-sector of retailing, where the breadth of skills supplied by AA fits in well with employers’ requirements. Even here, however, the scale of Apprenticeship is limited, both in terms of the numbers of Apprentices being trained and also in terms of employers’ own investment in the training of their Apprentices.

Employer investment in Apprenticeships in England: an exploration of the sensitivity of employers in the construction sector to the net costs of training

Apprenticeships in England are undergoing major reform which will likely require employers to make a cash contribution to meeting the fees of their training providers. In return employers will be given more influence over the content of the training. If employers are expected to make a cash contribution this is likely to have an impact on their willingness to deliver Apprenticeships. Based on a series of employer case studies conducted between 1995 and 2011 an examination is provided of construction employers’ sensitivity to the costs of delivering Apprenticeships. Because the cost to the employer is relatively high, and because there is a degree of uncertainty attached to recouping those costs, there is a distinct set of disincentives to construction employers providing Apprenticeships. This is important. First, the construction sector will need to recruit a large number of additional people into skilled trades jobs over the next 10 years as the sector’s recovery gains pace and many existing employees retire. Second, Apprenticeships in the sector have an important role to play in young people’s transition from school into work. A fall in the number of apprentices in the sector is likely to have important economic and social consequences.

Skill Choice and Skill Complementarity in Eighteenth Century England

This paper provides a broad‐based empirical analysis of the effects of technological change on skill acquisition in the years that led to the British Industrial Revolution. Based on a unique set of data on apprenticeship between 1710 and 1772, the formal system for skill acquisition in this period, we show that both the number of apprentices and their share in the cohort of the fifteen year‐olds‐ increased in response to inventions and that the strongest response was in the highly skilled mechanical trades. These results suggest that technological changes in this period were skill biased mainly due to the expansion of the machinery sector they induced.

Leeds College of Building: higher apprenticeships in construction and the built environment

PurposeLeeds College of Building has a long‐standing affinity with apprenticeships, offering a broad range of apprenticeships at Level 2 and Level 3. The purpose of this paper is to provide details of the development and potential impact of a Level 5 Higher Apprenticeship in Construction Management.Design/methodology/approachInformation presented in the paper is drawn from the organisation's own work in developing a higher apprenticeship (HA), building on its project plan as well as on‐going evaluation of the programme as it develops.FindingsThe College already supports a significant number of apprentices at Level 2 and level 3, therefore the development of a Level 5 Higher Apprenticeship in Construction and the Built Environment was a natural progression for the organisation. The key elements of the programme are detailed in the case study. With delivery planned to start in September 2012, plans have already been developed to extend the programme nationally.Originality/valueThe paper is based on the author's own experience and employer consultation. It presents a case study of an apprenticeship programme specific to the author's organisation.

Socio‐emotional support of apprentices during the school‐to‐work transition

PurposeThe aim of the paper is to locate the role of social and emotional support during the school‐to‐work transitions of apprentices, within the Australian vocational education and training context.Design/methodology/approachThe research reported here is based on an independent evaluation of an apprentice suicide prevention and support program. This program has been implemented in rural and regional Australia, and findings highlight the program's retention of key messages in the long‐term (i.e. 6 months to 2 years post‐completion). The work is based on both quantitative questionnaires from 119 apprentices as well as 18 face‐to‐face interviews.FindingsThe research showed that apprentices’ resilience to face school‐to‐work transitional challenges can be enhanced by increasing knowledge of suicide risk factors and sources of social and emotional support had increased. Findings indicate that a number of apprentices had made significant changes in their lives as a result of participating in the program. While 10 per cent of apprentices identify as “socially isolated”, it was encouraging to note that peer support, as a result of the program, can be considered an informal referral point to formal help‐provision and support.Research limitations/implicationsWhile the program has been successfully applied to building and construction industry apprentices, there is overlap in school‐to‐work transition issues of other types of apprenticeships/traineeships; this merits consideration of wider application of apprentice support programs within the Australian vocational education sector.Originality/valueThis paper draws together a focus on school‐to‐work vulnerabilities and social‐emotional support (similar to that found in youth development programs) as it can be applied to the vocational education and training sector.

Easing the burden of fixed telephone lines on small-scale entrepreneurs in Nigeria: GSM lines to the rescue

The study reported in this paper investigated the socio-economic characteristics of the adopters of GSM lines and the factors determining the adoption of GSM lines by small-scale entrepreneurs in a major Nigerian city (Ibadan). The results of the study confirm the widely held notion that the advent of mobile telephony in Nigeria has significantly improved telephone access among the strata of the population that could not afford the relatively expensive and inefficient fixed telephone lines. The relatively lower cost of acquiring GSM lines stands out more than any other factor as the driver of decision to adopt GSM lines by small-scale entrepreneurs. Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that factors such as number of apprentices employed, sales turnover, and type of business are also important determinants of the adoption of GSM lines by small-scale entrepreneurs. The parameter estimates of these variables have positive sign and are statistically significant at 1% level. Results also suggest that the relatively new small-scale entrepreneurs are more proactive in the adoption of GSM lines than entrepreneurs that are older in business. In addition, the findings suggest that female small-scale entrepreneurs are generally younger in age though it is unclear whether they are more proactive than their male counterparts in the adoption of GSM lines. Entrepreneurs in service sectors are also more likely to adopt GSM lines than those in manufacturing.

General human capital and employment adjustment in the Great Depression: apprentices and journeymen in UK engineering

The relationship between training and firm-level employment adjustment given an unanticipated fall in product demand has been central to human capital theory. The most cataclysmic negative output shock occurred in 1929-30. At this time, easily the most important source of United Kingdom general training was the apprenticeship system. Using data collected by the Engineering Employers' Federation (EEF), this paper examines the impact of the Great Depression on numbers of apprentices and skilled journeymen. Statistics cover eight skilled engineering occupations in 27 local labour markets over the period 1928--38. Relative employment adjustment responses of apprentices and journeymen accord well with general human capital arguments. Copyright 2005, Oxford University Press.

The Reform of Apprenticeship Contracts in Argentina

Abstract: The author outlines the terms of work-training and apprenticeship contracts in Argentina, highlighting the differences between these contractual forms and the range of temporary contracts that have recently been introduced. Quantitative limits on the number of temporary training contracts in an enterprise are defined by an engagement parameter, i.e. the number of apprentices, and an occupational size parameter, i.e. the number of workers. Certain obligations on the part of the employer are laid down by law and further defined by collective bargaining. There is a need for collective bargaining to deal with the matter of how much of the trainees’ time should be given over to theoretical training, as this is currently not clearly stated. Other matters in need of further clarification include certification and the payment of wages. Employers failing to respect the terms of temporary training contracts face the sanction of conversion to permanent contracts.

General Human Capital and Employment Adjustment in the Great Depression: Apprentices and Journeymen in UK Engineering

The relationship between training and firm-level employment adjustment given an unanticipated fall in product demand has been central to human capital theory. The most cataclysmic negative output shock occurred in 1929/30. At this time, easily the most important source of United Kingdom general training was the apprenticeship system. Using data collected by the Engineering Employers' Federation (EEF), this paper examines the impact of the Great Depression on numbers of apprentices and skilled journeymen. Statistics cover eight skilled engineering occupations in 38 local labour markets over the period 1928-1938. Relative employment adjustment responses of apprentices and journeymen accord well with general human capital arguments.

The Renault Apprenticeship Centre

The traditional and official attitude towards technical training in this country is that it is the duty of industry to train its own skilled workers with the help from technical colleges that industry may ask for in certain directions. This means that a large number of apprentices, especially in small firms, receive no systematic training to speak of, whilst those who serve apprenticeships with progressive firms offering sound schemes of industrial training often have no time for more than a pitiably small amount of continued general education. In France, however, there have grown up a large number of Centres d'Apprentissage, or ‘apprenticeship centres’, under the aegis of the Ministry of National Education, where about 200,000 boys and girls now receive a sound technical training accompanied by continued general education. Usually, the course lasts for three years, and the weekly programme of forty hours consists of about twenty hours' technical training and twenty hours' general education. Revenue from the apprenticeship tax which all French employers have to pay is devoted to these centres, and large undertakings are authorised to run their own centres subject to inspection by the Ministry.

Apprentice Training Movement in Wisconsin Industry

Abstract The apprenticeship movement in Wisconsin has been made a concerted organized effort. In developing the work important considerations and tendencies have been taken into account, such as the shortage of skilled mechanics in American industries at the present time in spite of considerable unemployment, the requirements of production as well as of jobbing industries for trained men, and the importance of the human factor in all industry. Employers and employees have cooperated in the promotion and support of an apprenticeship law in the state which stabilizes and dignifies apprenticeship by preventing exploitation of boys and by setting standards of workmanship in the trades. As a result of public favor and the enthusiasm of influential individuals, apprentice training has developed rapidly in the state. There are 3350 apprentices employed and 2567 have graduated in the last 15 years. At the present rate of graduation, this number will be increased very much in the next 15 years. However, neither the Industrial Commission nor the industrial leaders are satisfied with the progress which has been made. The number of apprentices in the state is inadequate compared with actual requirements for skilled men in the trade. Nevertheless, an excellent foundation has been laid upon which greatly increased activity may be built in future years.

The Fair Number of Apprentices in a Trade

The Fair Number of Apprentices in a Trade