03.02.2017Interview with Prof. Backes-Gellner in "Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik"

In a recent interview in “Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik”, Prof. Backes-Gellner talks about the dual education system. Her main points are:

First, academic education is not generally the better way to go. Young people should decide given their ability and disposition. To obtain a solid education at the beginning and to participate in life-long learning in later life is much more important than the decision between vocational and academic education.

Second, in countries with a dual education system, firms’ innovativeness strongly benefits from the interaction of workers with a strong academic as well as workers with a strong vocational education background. The two types of workers have different, but complementary qualifications that foster firms’ innovation capacities.

Third, the dual education system provides a solid basis of skilled workers that are certainly a competitive advantage for countries with this type of educational system.   

The interview has been published in Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik and is available here.