Study title

The project is designed as a multilevel research at national, local and individual levels that correspond to the three modules of the study. At the national level (module 1), the project mapped TVET policies and programs, analysed the content of policy documents, regulations and media debates, and interviewed relevant international and national policy actors in different areas of government and beyond government that have been involved in TVET policymaking (n=24). At the local level (module 2), the project conducted case studies in three regions/localities (e.g. Santiago de Chile, Valparaiso and Antofagasta). The data in this module includes 23 interviews with local implementers, school leaders, tutors, trainers, tertiary education providers, employers, unions and local chambers of commerce. Finally, at the individual level (module 3), the project carried out extensive fieldwork with a sample of TVET students and graduates from the three local case studies from module 2. The data collected includes a longitudinal survey (n=533), focus groups (n=27) and interviews (n=20).Chile has experienced considerable educational expansion over the past few decades as a result of the growing demand for education from individuals and families and the positional competition for qualified jobs in the formal sector of the economy. While in the past TVET policies were designed to offer educational opportunities for disadvantaged youth seeking a quick insertion in the labour market, today the orientations and the objectives of these policies are less clear given the larger number of secondary TVET graduates that pursue tertiary education and combine education and work in their trajectories after schooling. In this context, TVET continues to be a strategic sector for improving the skills of most disadvantaged youth over their life course but the transitions of these young adults from secondary to tertiary education and from education to work are becoming more problematic due to the...