In this chapter, we present a perspective on the professionalisation of students in higher vocational education, which relates their life orientation to professional and societal values and beliefs. In a teaching programme at HU UAS Utrecht, inspired by Biesta’s notion of a pedagogy of interruption, …

In any country, there is a group of students who are at risk of dropping out of school without any qualifications. This is detrimental for many of those students, because failure to graduate increases risks of unemployment and societal exclusion. To reduce this risk, specialized curricula aim to prepare …

The studies presented in this dissertation have shown that fostering the vocational identity of at-risk youth can be improved when their different individual characteristics are taken into account and when preferences of at-risk youth and their mentors concerning mentor qualities are addressed during …

The way at-risk students see themselves as workers, their vocational identity, is important for their career development. Special programs for heterogeneous groups of at-risk students in the Netherlands aim to foster students’ vocational identity and their task may be eased by stimulating resilience. …

Technology students need strong vocational education that supports both cognitive and career development in order to be adequately prepared for highly qualified jobs. The professional identity and underlying I-positions of teachers largely determine whether the quality of teach-ing meets these requirements. …

Vocational identity is a prerequisite for enhancing societal inclusion of at-risk emerging adults. School curricula and rebound programs need insights into individual differences of these youths to effectively foster their vocational identity. Identifying three aspects of vocational identity, a questionnaire …

In our work as lecturers, teachers, researchers, coaches or managers in a university of applied sciences, we do feel that the amount and variety of societal challenges on higher vocational education (HVE) is growing. Institutions in HE are in a process of transforming from traditional ‘either or’ research …

The cultivation of intrinsic motivation is key in the 21th century, but most students in Dutch vocational education lack this quality. To foster intrinsic motivation, a strong career-learning environment is needed that enables students to develop career competencies and a career identity. However such …

In today’s knowledge society, there is a demand for professionals who are able to create knowledge across boundaries of disciplines, professions and perspectives. Traditional universities, universities of applied sciences and institutions for vocational education are all challenged to educate these knowledge …

In response to a rapidly changing, increasingly insecure and complex labor market, career counselors and researchers are developing methods that can meet the needs of individuals who would navigate this new terrain. In the last two or three decades, narrative career counseling practices (Cochran, 1997; …