"Vocational and Professional education and training (VET/PET) has been of interest to many governments over the last few years, not only in Europe but also worldwide. Indeed, political and economic actors see this training pathway as strongly connected to professional integration, both for operational roles and higher-status positions, such as management (Lamamra, Kuehni, Rey, 2021). In this way, the analysis of the relationship between vocational training and employment remains dominated by a unilateral adequationist logic, with training having to prepare for the requirements of the labour market (Charles, 2014; Tanguy, 1986), and only rarely being at the centre of interest, with its own educational aims. Additionally, this relationship is also still influenced by a linear conception of training and employment trajectories, with training, whether initial or in higher education, seen as a preliminary step towards entering the labour market.

Contemporary training and employment trajectories, characterised by their non-linearity, return to training, occupational change and bifurcation (Cahiers internationaux de sociologie, 2006; Cournoyer et al., 2017), challenge the traditional place and role of vocational education and training (VET). Beyond serving as a prerequisite for initial entry into the labour market, how can VET support these back-and-forth shifts? What roles does it play in the various transitions individuals experience, such as between school and the labour market, re-entering training from the labour market, or alternating between training and employment? These trajectories raise new questions about the issue of career choice, which is now less definitive or absolute."

Theme 1 : The potential of the different forms of alternation in VET/PET

Theme 2 : Vocational choice, still a debated issue

Theme 3 : Transferability of dual-track VET System