Understanding VET skill-formation policies in Italian regions: between system-level technological innovation and basic skills provision for the knowledge economy

Abstract

This study examines the development of the institutional structures characterizing the skill formation components of the Vocational Education and Training (VET) system at secondary level in Italy. The Italian secondary education system is classified as a selective system, as it tracks and channels pupils at the age of 14 years. At the same time, it also displays features of a comprehensive system, as it allows students to move between tracks and offers a set of core subjects across all tracks, including Italian, mathematics, English and history. Within this system, the VET track is shaped by a distinctive institutional peculiarity: while Article 117 of the Constitution assigns responsibility for vocational education and training to the regional level, both state-run and regionally run vocational schools coexist. State-run institutions offer 5-year diploma programmes, which are equivalent in duration to those provided in the other educational tracks. These schools have been constantly losing enrollments since 2006. Regionally led vocational schools are often considered more attractive, as they offer 3 and 4-year qualifications, with the possibility of progression within the same vocational pathways leading to 5-year diplomas. They thus cater more effectively to students who are more oriented towards the labour market or at risk of dropping out.  This contributes to significant regional heterogeneity in the configuration of VET sub-systems. Paradoxically, there is a notable lack of regionally led vocational schools, especially in Southern regions, where they would be most needed. According to data from ISTAT (2024) and Openpolis (2024), school dropout rates reach peaks of 17% in Sicily and Campania, compared to a lower national average of 10% in 2024. The statist skill formation category traditionally ascribed to Italy is becoming increasingly less appropriate for the Italian case (Favella, 2024). Indeed, recent national-level VET reforms draw on the German Fachhochschule as a reference model for transforming both secondary and tertiary education, and they allow for the involvement of practitioners directly recruited from firms as instructors (NRRP, 2021). Moreover, regions have not invested to the same extent in the development of regionally governed vocational schools over time (Favella, 2024). Ultimately, each region places a different weight on basic skills versus industry or firm specific vocational skills. While VET curricula are typically oriented towards industry- and firm-specific skills in support of technological advancement, comparative political economy literature highlights the importance of basic knowledge and skills for the development of knowledge-intensive sectors in the knowledge economy (Durazzi et al., 2023; Favella, 2024). Learning outcomes are thus analysed at the subnational level. Against this background, the study investigates the mechanisms underlying differences in the differential explanatory mechanisms of learning outcomes associated with alternative VET curricular configurations across different Italian regions. In particular, it examines the extent to which giving greater emphasis to basic skills, alongside industry and firm-specific competences, may represent a strategy for fostering technological innovation in the knowledge economy. The research is built around a comparative case study approach, focusing on two regions that represent opposite ends of Italy’s macroeconomic landscape: Emilia-Romagna and Campania. This serves as a preliminary step towards a broader investigation.  Specifically, Emilia-Romagna’s industrial structure is dominated by the mechanical and mechatronic sectors and is widely known as the “Motor Valley” and the “Data Valley”, hosting an increasing number of firms in the ICT sector. The region is now home to approximately 80% of Italy’s computing capacity, including the Leonardo supercomputer. The research questions are addressed through a comparative historical analysis (Kreuzer, 2023), using process tracing to explain the politics of skill formation policies. Empirical evidence is collected through elite interviews and document analysis.