Vocational Higher Education in Europe : A Benchmarking Analysis

This article proposes an empirical assessment of a particular component of the tertiary education, the Vocational Education and Training (VET). It presents strengths and weaknesses of different vocational higher education systems across European Countries, focussing on political and social context, their structure, the skills they address, policy they adopt for students and teaching staff, offering case studies and a comprehensive comparative analysis in a smart specialization strategy perspective. It concludes with education policy suggestions and some future research lines