Study title

South Africa, Uganda

Individual

Data collection consisted of interviews with VET students and/or VET graduates in designated town/cities South Africa and Uganda. These locations were because of the established networks between VET actors and the VET Africa 4.0 university project partners, and because of their marginalised position geographically and economically within the case countries. In part this marginalisation is reflected in the range of actors and interventions seeking to promote employment and skills development, particularly for marginalised youth and women. Participants were invited to participate through a range of formal and informal networks between the in-country university researchers and local vocational training institutes and VET graduates. Initial contacts were made on the basis of established connections and trust (for example via a local youth group or vocational college), followed by nonprobability snowball sampling. These Pathway interviews were collected in person and recorded (with any exceptions stated otherwise). The interviews took place between May – August 2020 at various times and locations in South Africa and Uganda, in accordance with local Covid-19 restrictions and VET Africa 4.0 risk assessment protocols. All transcripts are Intelligent Verbatim, the transcript omits most “ums”, “oms” and pauses, but the interviewer or interviewee text was not edited. The transcripts are anonymised and all places names (e.g. locations, names of vocational training institutes) have been removed.INTERVIEW QUESTIONSThe overarching objective for the pathway interviews was agreed between three different case teams, but interview schedules differed slightly depending upon three factors: (1) Covid-19 restrictions at the time. These dictated whether an interview took place in a more formal / standard interview setting, for example some interviews took place in a small room at a local VTI, whilst others were shorter more informal conversations which took place outside in a community setting (albeit with the same consent and ethics protocols followed).(2) The level of prior engagement with participants. In some cases, the pathways interview was the first engagement between the case team and local participants, with planned follow-up engagements with these participants in a focus group when Covid-19 restrictions allowed. In other interviews, the pathway interview followed prior engagement with participants in focus groups or other events led by the research group. (3) The pathway interviews focused on four sectors: catering, marine industry, agriculture and tailoring. The role of VET as a recognised pathway can differ between sector and also between case locations, either practically in terms of qualification routes, and/or local opportunities/barriers and perceptions which can affect the possibility of career progression in a particular sector. Therefore, each case team were interested in slightly different aspects of a participants’ pathway experience. See Topic List 1 and 2.