Challenges in the fields of economy and policy are changing workplace conditions. These changes cause heavy consequences for the individual worker and employee and their perception of these challenges, their attributions as consequences and their resulting actions and behaviour. The contributions to this symposium highlight different important aspects of acting and learning at the workplace. Collin and colleagues start with the hypothesis that consequences of these “megatrends” lead to constraints and restrictions on learning at work. They identify by different empirical studies lacks of time and human resources and not sufficiently communicated organisational reforms as main factors restricting learning itself. These results mark starting points for changes of workplace learning. The work of Weber and Arends can be related to these challenges and their consequences at work. If these conditions are perceived as restricted workers and employees should be able to “adjust” to these changed working conditions. They discuss the model of Selective Optimization with Compensation as a major means to overcome limits of the development of identity and vocational self-competence. Billett tries to unfold subjectivities at work by identifying individual dispositions as interest, preferences and values. He hypothesises that such dispositions influence definitively thinking, acting, and learning. By an integration of ethnographic-type and problem-solving studies he tries to explain the interdependence between personal preconditions and social impact at the workplace. Like the other projects he also focuses on the importance of ongoing accumulative developmental processes. Gruber and colleagues investigate factors which might influence learning at the workplace. They identify the quality of informal feedback as one decisive predictor for initiating workplace learning processes. All contributions to this symposium focus on the interplay of personal factors and subjectively perceived (changing) conditions for the workplace and give first hints for viable solutions with regard to overcoming its constraints.

Although the importance of analysing workplace learning from various perspectives has been widely recognised, the constraints and restrictions of learning at work have not so far been investigated in detail. This paper analyses and discusses different constraints and restrictions of workplace learning and vocational development in various workplace learning contexts. The question of how the construction of vocational identity may be challenged by these constraints is also considered. Both the individual and social levels are examined. The constraints of learning are approached from three perspectives:  i) authentic learning experiences of employees from various sectors, ii) professional development and identity negotiations of employees aged 40+ from various work contexts and iii) vocational learning among young adults’ in the workplace. We ask how the learning and development of vocational identities are related to the various learning constraints and restrictions present in the socio-cultural contexts of the workplace. The study utilizes a diversity of empirical data collected in Finland. Interviews were conducted in an industrial design company and in various carpenters’ workplaces. Also office and nursing staff were interviewed. Altogether 70 employees were interviewed. Various qualitative methods were used in analysing the interview data. The data on the young adults in their workplace learning contexts was collected with Internet questionnaires (N = 1071). These vocational education students represented six fields of vocational education and training. The results showed that in most fields/vocations/professions lack of time and human resources in the workplace were most serious factors restricting learning. Also, organisational reforms were perceived by workers to be very challenging and dilemmatic. Vocational students' experiences of the most restrictive factors validate the picture by demonstrating that the shortage of student guidance in the workplace seems to cause the most serious limitations on learning among the younger workers.

Background and aims

With increasing global economic competition and continuous rapid change in work organisations, most workplaces have become highly contested, and unstable for those employed within them. At the same time, extremely narrow criteria for efficiency have been applied, even in areas where the nature of the work makes the use of such criteria inappropriate or misleading (Hodginson & Hodginson, 2004). Evaluations of this kind have been considered especially inappropriate in work involving creative knowledge as in design and research, and in human-centred jobs, like teaching and nursing – that is, jobs which are by nature open-ended and partly ill-defined, and whose central focus is on human encounters and the maintenance of supportive social relationships.

Among employees, these tendencies have resulted in a loss of a sense of meaningfulness, and a deterioration in the conditions supporting a creative atmosphere (Siltala, 2004). Barometers measuring perceived workload and perceived meaningfulness have shown that highly educated white-collar workers, especially, have perceived a deterioration in their working conditions (Julkunen, Nätti & Anttila, 2004), leading to a loss of a sense of meaningfulness in their work. A similar deterioration has been reported by public-sector employees doing human-centred work such as health care and teaching (Siltala, 2004). Increased workload and the adoption of competitive models in the public sector has brought additional challenges to workers’ learning processes, and to the development of professional identities.

These challenges and constraints are especially critical in marginalised worker groups, such as older workers and women. Demographic factors in western countries, including Finland, indicate a considerable increase in older workers in the decades to come. Ambivalent meanings are attributed to age and aging in working life and especially in relation to professional development and learning at work (Tikkanen et al, 2002; Paloniemi, 2004).

Modern working life also features increasing demands for multiprofessional collaboration and interdisciplinary practices. This entails a crossing of the horizontal boundaries of traditional work organisations. This in turn presents challenges to individuals’ learning as they increasingly need to redefine their professional identities throughout their careers. One example is the transformations that have taken place in Finnish vocational education and training (VET).

In sum, the continuous need for learning and redefining one’s identity at work means investigating and elaborating those aspects of work communities which are intertwined with and constrain individuals’ identity construction (Collin, 2005).

Despite wide agreements on the importance of analysing workplace learning from various perspectives the constraints and challenges of  learning have not so far been investigated in detail from the workers' perspective. The link between the constraints of workplace learning and vocational/professional identity development has especially been neglected. In this context it is important to note that not all workplace learning is necessarily desired, especially by employers. This may lead to situations in which unintentional learning outcomes even turn into constraints on learning. 

Hence, this study analyses and discusses different constraints of workplace learning and vocational development in various workplace learning contexts. The question of the possible challenge to the development of vocational identity posed by these constraints is also examined. Both individual and social level constraints of learning are examined. The role of constraints are approached from the perspectives of 1) authentic learning experiences of employees from various sectors, 2) professional development and identity negotiations of employees age 40+ in various work contexts, 3) vocational education as a constraint in itself on young adults’ vocational learning. We address the development of vocational identity and how it is related to various learning constraints. A comparison between the constraints experienced by students’ and employees’ in the same field is reported.

The following questions are addressed in this study: 1) What individual and social factors restrict learning and competence sharing in the workplace?  2) What does age mean for participation, learning and competence sharing at work? 3) What learning constraints may influence vocational identity development and how? 

Data and analysis

The study utilizes diverse data collected in Finland. The empirical findings are based on interviews conducted in an industrial design company and various carpenters’ workplaces. Also, office and nursing staff were interviewed. Interviews were carried out with 70 employees and analysed using various qualitative methods. The younger workers were students in workplace learning (N = 1071). These data were analysed using quantitative methods.

Results and discussion

Although our results are based on variously gathered data (interviews and questionnaires) and different analytical methods (qualitative and quantitative), we believe that they highlight many important constraints and restrictions of learning and vocational / professional identity construction in workplaces. Our data also share the perspective of analysing workplace learning from the viewpoint of workers.

In most fields/vocations/professions lack of time and human resources at the workplaces were perceived as the most serious factors restricting learning and identity development. Additionally, organisational reforms and reorganisations in most work organisations were perceived by workers as very challenging and dilemmatic. In the public sector, work reorganisations have led to resource shortages and additional work load, both perceived as very challenging by older workers. Vocational students' experiences of the most restrictive factors validate the picture by demonstrating that the shortage of guidance in the workplace seems to cause the most serious limitations among younger workers. Specific factors linked to limitations in different fields and professions are additionally described.

Results are discussed in terms of how individual and subjective factors interact with and modify workplace contextual constraints and restrictions on learning and vocational / professional identity construction. The effects of learning constraints for vocational and professional identity development (Eteläpelto et al, 2005) are discussed and links sought between them.

In current policy debates, one of the major concerns refers to the question whether education and training systems are able to equip young people with the ability to “adjust” to changes in organisational structures, work processes, and technology. Increasing economic internationalisation as well as political and social standardisation in Europe has placed a range of demands upon vocational education and training with regard to efficiency, coherence, and flexibility. In the domain of work, individuals are expected to be adaptive, innovative, and self-directed. In this regard, recent international assessment programmes of students’ and adults’ competencies (e.g., PISA, ALL) provide an important tool for policy decisions. In vocational and occupational education and training comparable concepts are completely missing. The paper presents a life-span approach for conceptualising vocational self-competence, arguing that individual strategies of successful life management are one of the essential prerequisites to successfully meet the challenges in today’s work environments. The central domain of self-competence is linked to the model of Selective Optimization with Compensation (SOC) from life-span psychology (e.g., Baltes & Baltes, 1990). Based on a comparison of two German apprenticeship programmes it can be demonstrated how SOC-strategies in VET are being developed in young adulthood. This provides a basis for understanding and explaining aspects of vocational self-competence from a developmental perspective in the domain of business and commerce.

Aims and Theoretical Background

The paper presents and discusses a broad concept of competence for vocational education and training, which was developed in the context of a feasibility study for an international large-scale assessment of VET. An empirical research approach towards applying the theory of Selective Optimisation with Compensation (SOC) to the domain of vocational and occupational education and training is presented. Moreover, it is demonstrated how individual strategies of adaptive life management with the focus on the pursuit of career-related goals in young adulthood can be adapted to the domain of VET. The results will contribute towards enriching existing international surveys by providing a theoretical framework that accounts for adaptive developmental changes of vocational competencies through the lifespan.

One of the central requirements for an international comparison of vocational competencies is a common understanding of the goals for VET. Taking a broad perspective, one of the goals refers to the development of individual occupational adjustment; a second goal denotes the safeguarding of human resources in a society; and a third goal indicates the warranty of social share and equal opportunities. Taking these goals as a point of reference a broad concept of competence for VET has been developed (Baethge, et al., 2006). Focussing on the dimension of vocational self-competence, the main focus is on the ability of individuals to participate in designing their own development. Vocational self-competence from a life-span perspective denotes the ability of individuals to actively design their own development, which requires self-regulatory processes, such as setting and pursuing personal goals through resource investment and failure compensation. Successful vocational and occupational development is a life-long process of generating new resources and adjusting them to physical, social, and psychological changes with the aim to simultaneously maximise developmental gains and minimise developmental losses in the selected domain. The SOC-model from life-span psychology is a general psychological theory of behaviour and provides a meta-theoretical approach for understanding human development in different domains and stages of life, such as childhood, adolescence, or adulthood (e.g., Marsiske, et al, 1995; Baltes & Carstensen, 1996; Freund & Baltes, 2000). The framework provides a basis for conceptualising the development of vocational competencies from leaving compulsory schools through vocational education and later for professional development in the workplace.

Methodology

The application of the SOC-model to workplace situations is still in its beginnings. Up to now the model was applied to the domain of work in a number of studies with the focus on managers and employed adults (e.g., Baltes & Dickson, 2001; Abraham & Hansson, 1995; Bajor & Baltes, 2002). The results indicate positive correlations between the use of SOC-strategies and subjective ratings of competence maintenance or goal attainment at work, but also with regard to general and work-specific well being (e.g., Wiese, Freund & Baltes, 2000; 2002). The studies demonstrate that certain behaviours at the workplace are clearly associated with the three regulatory principles of the SOC-model: Selection strategies, such as recognising decision questions, exploring possibilities for improving one’s occupational situation, committing oneself to action plans, and evaluating outcomes to modify or maintain career plans, show the central impact of the developmental principle of selection for successful career development. The investment of time and energy into the acquisition, refinement, and application of goal-relevant means (Optimization) is demonstrated, for example, by the development of professional expertise (e.g., Ericsson & Smith, 1991; Ericsson, 1996). Other examples of optimization strategies refer to showing personal initiative, such as being self-starting, proactive, persistent or applying self-monitoring behaviours, which exhibit positive career effects (Frayne & Geringer, 2000; Fay & Frese, 2001). Attempting to become more sociable with co-workers to increase one’s network and support in the workplace, taking successful others as examples, (e.g., colleagues), and imitating others, are optimization strategies for effectively achieving work-related goals. Being persistent is an important precondition, particularly for achieving long-term goals in the domain of work.

Our aim is to compare two German apprenticeship programmes for sales assistance, one with a two-year duration and another with a three-year duration. The two-year programme differs from the three-year programme with regard to the fact that a transition to the three-year programme is very unlikely since the goals and contents, which would allow further professional development, are not offered in the two-year programme. The two-year programme is mainly a functional training with the aim to fit to the job requirements. Moreover, there are remarkable differences between the two tracks with regard to the amount of salary. By adopting the SOC-questionnaire (Baltes, et al., 1999) to this context, young adults` SOC-strategies at the beginning of their professional career could be identified. The central assumption is that individuals in a three-year programme are more likely to develop SOC-behaviours than individuals in a two-year programme, since the goals and contents of the three-year programme are focused on developing competencies for career development, such as promoting to a higher position.

Findings

The results of the study will enrich the literature in the field of lifespan psychology, especially with regard to the impact and application of the SOC-model in different workplaces. The existing literature is rather focused on a superior perspective (e.g., managers) than on the level of skilled employees. Taking into account that there is an opportunity for individuals to complete the three-year programme to be promoted to a superior position, the results of our comparison could illuminate in which way SOC-strategies are applied at the beginning of their career and how they are developed in related but hierarchically separated occupational tracks. The findings could contribute towards changing the conditions of different apprenticeship programmes in Germany. By revising the goals and contents, the two-year and the three-year programmes should be linked in a more comprehensive way. These findings – from a structural view – might also be relevant for educational decisions in other countries to foster SOC-strategies for developing human resources.

Understanding what motivates and directs human cognition and how this is shaped by and shapes relations with the social world remain a key concern for learning theorists (e.g. Silven 2002). Here, the role of individual subjectivities in the form of dispositions (e.g. interest, preferences and values) is investigated to elaborate the potency of those dispositions in terms of thinking, acting and learning, and to identify the geneses of these dispositions in individuals’ ontogenies. The investigation here comprises an integration of ethnographic-type and problem-solving studies of vocational practitioners. It found that, beyond energising human capacities, the practitioners’ subjective dispositions also are central to the constructive process of individual meaning making and the remaking of cultural practices. Moreover, these dispositions were identified as being sourced in individuals’ life histories and in ways that emphasise a negotiated interdependence between the personal and the social that represents an ongoing, yet accumulative, process throughout ontogeny.

This symposia paper proposes that individuals’ subjectivities, as exercised through their dispositions (i.e. values, interests and preferences) are potent contributions that shape both individuals’ cognition and their remaking of social practices. While the role of dispositions has been acknowledged in energising cognition and tendencies of humans to put their capabilities into action (Perkins, Jay and Tishman 1993a), here it is suggested that they also play a central role in the construal and construction of what individuals’ experience, through their engagement with the social world. They comprise much of what shapes individuals’ cognitive experience (Valsiner 2000) and how they interpret and engage with what they experience socially. Therefore, they are central to the processes of human cognition and development, and also the remaking and transformation of cultural practices. Of interest, similar perspectives are offered from neuro-scientific perspective, with Damasio (1998) suggests that in encounters with the external world, individuals perceive an object or event as and the change in the perception arising from these encounters activates in our emotions. He concludes that this transient but incessantly generated process gives us the feeling that something is happening to the self.

Drawing upon ethnographic and problem-solving data from a study of vocational practitioners (i.e. hairdressers), the central role played by individuals subjective dispositions is elaborated through a two phased investigation (Billett 2003). These vocational practitioners comprise nine hairdressers who work in three salons, and the range in their roles from novice hairdressers through to managers and owners of hairdressing salons. The ethnographic data gathered in the first phase, suggests that these subjectivities shape how individuals plan their work, categorising conceptualise clients, enact preferences for particular treatments and the exercise of intentionality. That is, they arise through ontogeny, or personal history (Rogoff 1990). The capacity of these subjective dispositions to shape individuals’ selective engagement with the social world, suggests that these need to be more fully accounted for in what drives both human development is and also their remaking of practices, such as those occurring in workplaces.

The data from the problem-solving activities, which constituted the second phase, comprised these hairdressers’ responses to a set of ill-defined hairdressing problems. These problem-solving activities took the form of a set of photographs of a would-be-client, and a particular request from their client and were presented to the hairdressers and the responses were elicited through audio transcript. The findings indicate how these subjectivities frame the hairdressers’ consideration and enactment of their vocational practice. Moreover, despite working in environment in which close surveillance is quite possible, these hairdressers were able to exercise their own subjectivity in the conduct of their vocational practice. This included the capacity to exercise their interest and preference in selecting both the goals for the hairdressing activity and procedures for their enactment. Consequently, these dispositions are held to be central to how individuals engage in goal direct activity, and, therefore, learn through these experiences, and which activities their elect to engage in, and with what degree of interest and intensity. Given the widespread interest in inter- psychological processes (i.e. those between individual and social world) these findings seem to be quite significant, because those processes emphasise the negotiation between individual and social world. It seems that these subjective bases for the construal and construction of what individuals experience shape the inter-psychological processes in particular, and perhaps unique, ways.

Moreover, the sources of these dispositions are identifiable in individuals’ personal histories. In this way, ongoing process of the development of individuals’ knowledge arises through a set of dispositions that have been generated throughout individuals’ lifetimes, possibly in highly idiosyncratic ways. These negotiations reflect the interdependence between the personal and the social contributions to human development, and its personally relational character (Billett 2006). So, while there has been much interest in dispositions, a consideration of these dispositions as being very much a product of individual subjectivities and through identifying the breadth of the contribution to and influence within individuals’ engagement in goal direct activities the salient role that dispositions play can be understood further. Certainly, their influence seems to go beyond merely energising cognition.

The implications for instruction are to suggest that in both their procedural and conceptual intents stand naked before the personal constructions that clothe them. This raises question about how can instructional processes engage individuals’ subjective constructions that are going to guide that construction in ways that are intended in any instructional interlude. Perkins et al. (1993b) propose a combination of (i) exemplification; (ii) direct transmission; (iii) involvement in activities and (iv) interaction to promote engage students’ dispositional attributes offer a way forward, as these combination of experience permit the expression of person-dependent dispositions to engage with those projected through instruction and to be shared and therefore compared and contrasted with others. These approaches are sympathetic to constructivist ideas about joint problem-solving between the learner and more expert other, with the teacher attempting make explicit what is being projected and offering means for individuals construal and construction to be guided in ways that can accommodate individuals’ construal and what the social suggestion intends. Close guidance by more expert others is also likely to be a means for the essential person-based cognitive experience in ways that are more likely to achieve inter-subjectivity or shared understanding between the suggestion and individuals’ construction of that suggestion, because of the possibility for the monitoring and shaping of that construction, in ways that may achieve approximations of inter-subjectivity.

In educational science, the interest in analysing learning at the workplace has been increasing for a number of different reasons. Some of these result from assumptions which take a macro perspective, some are based on micro perspective arguments. The macro perspective often incorporates theories from business administration, organisational theory, and human capital theory. Respective arguments focus on changes in society, economy, or on organisational change. For example, the dynamics of the market as well as new technological developments indicate that the banking industry is in transition. The whole class of business has to adapt to new requirements, and it is argued that employees face the challenge of adapting to such changes and thus to learn continually. On the other hand, the micro perspective focuses on how individuals subjectively perceive and react on changes in their immediate workplace environment. For example, individuals perceive changes in daily working tasks and routines, and after more or less deliberate reasoning, they decide whether to engage in problem-solving activities or not. It is not trivial that the need for workplace learning is judged similarly from both perspectives. We present and test a model that allows to predict individuals’ activity in workplace learning. The model includes both changes of the workplace on a macro level and aspects of subjective processing. In particular, we argue that the quality of informal feedback subjects receive at their workplace influences their perception of self-determination and, thus, their participation in workplace learning activities.

Research problem

In educational science, the interest in analysing learning at the workplace has been increasing for a number of different reasons. Some of these result from assumptions which take a macro perspective, some are based on micro perspective arguments. The macro perspective often incorporates theories from business administration, organisational theory, and human capital theory. Respective arguments focus on changes in society, economy, or on organisational change. For example, the dynamics of the market as well as new technological developments indicate that the banking industry is in transition (Baethge, D’Alessio, & Oberbeck, 1999). The whole class of business has to adapt to new requirements, and it is argued that employees face the challenge of adapting to such changes and thus to learn continually. On the other hand, the micro perspective focuses on how individuals subjectively perceive and react on changes in their immediate workplace environment. For example, individuals perceive changes in daily working tasks and routines, and after more or less deliberate reasoning, they decide whether to engage in problem-solving activities or not. It is not trivial that the need for workplace learning is judged similarly from both perspectives. We present and test a model that allows to predict individuals’ activity in workplace learning. The model includes both changes of the workplace on a macro level and aspects of subjective processing. In particular, we argue that the quality of informal feedback subjects receive at their workplace influences their perception of self-determination and, thus, their participation in workplace learning activities.

Theoretical background

It has been argued that workplace learning is of increasing importance both for organisations and for individuals. Organisations have to react to global changes in the market (technological progress, flexibility of working tasks, globalisation of industries, etc.), individuals face the challenge to learn implicitly on-the-job. Thus, epistemological beliefs (beliefs about the nature of knowledge and of knowledge acquisition) play an important role (Harteis, Gruber, & Lehner, in press). These beliefs are subjective reconstructions of work requirements, and they should be adapted to organisational changes of the workplace. Little research exists that addresses this adaptation process.

We present a model how the construction of subjective views on learning at the workplace can be influenced, thus leading to a change of epistemological beliefs which themselves serve as a predictor of workplace learning activities. In particular, we argue that informal feedback plays a decisive role. Informal feedback can be used to recognise other persons’ expectations and requests concerning the quality of work processes. It offers plenty of possibilities to change one’s own work behaviour according, if individuals are willing and able to give subjective relevance to the feedback. The quality of feedback influences the individual’s self-determination and thus is important whether an individual accepts his or her own responsibility for learning at the workplace.

We present a model how the quality of informal day-to-day feedback influences the probability of initiating workplace learning processes. This process is mediated through effects of informal feedback on self-determination. It is important to mention that informal processes at the workplace – for example informal feedback – are often perceived as more influential for the subjective interpretation of one’s own work identity than formal processes. Formal feedback situations at the workplace can more clearly be anticipated, it is easier to accommodate to them than to informal ones.

Empirical evidence

We present evidence from an empirical study in which the theoretical model of the influence of quality of informal feedback on learning at the workplace is investigated. The study was conducted in the domain of banking industry. The research focuses the role of motivational factors, that is how motivated individuals are to use feedback information for learning at the workplace. Four groups of variables are measured:

(1)   Quality of informal feedback: contents of feedbacks, mode of feedback, time span between working activities and feedback (Ilgen, Taylor, & Fisher, 1979; London & Smither, 2002)

(2)   Self-determination (feeling of competence, autonomy, and social relatedness; Deci & Ryan, 1985)

(3)   Learning at the workplace (visiting seminars, exchange with colleagues, reading scientific literature, participation in challenging projects, etc.; Maurer, 2001; Noe & Wilks, 1993)

(4)   Control variables: self efficacy, performance orientation, work experience, age, sex

A total number of 70 subjects took part in the study, filling in questionnaires. Subjects were recruited from a number of different companies from the banking industry in Southern Germany. Regression analyses show that the quality of informal feedback indeed predicts learning at the workplace, but that most variance is explained by self-determination (all three components significantly predict learning at the workplace).