Contemporary issues in vocational education and training: an SME perspective

Citation

Matlay, H. (2006), "Contemporary issues in vocational education and training: an SME perspective", Education + Training, Vol. 48 No. 8/9. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.2006.00448haa.001

Contemporary issues in vocational education and training: an SME perspective

This double special issue is the seventh in a series of extended features that focus specifically upon the Vocational Education and Training (VET) needs of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs). It also includes a number of articles that consider pertinent aspects of Entrepreneurship Education and its impact upon graduate entrepreneurs.

This has been a successful series and I am glad to report that, over the intervening years, demand for these special issues has grown incrementally and their research and academic impact has been noted both in the UK and abroad. These are utilised extensively as a specialised knowledge base and as teaching tools across the industrially developed and developing world. I am also aware that these are widely used in universities and teaching colleges across Central and Eastern Europe and other nations in transition from centrally controlled to market economies. My own undergraduate and postgraduate students at UCE Birmingham have used my large collection (1981-2006) of hard copy Education + Training as well as the on-line, full text journal resources available from the web sites provided by the publishers, the Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Last year, at the IntEnt (2005) conference hosted by Professor David Kirby at the University of Sussex, I met overseas colleagues from as far as Australia, Brazil, Hong Kong, South Africa and the US, who commented very favourably upon the quality and content of the Education + Training journal in general and Issues 8/9 in particular. As the Guest Editor of these series, I am encouraged by such feedback and pleased to note that a previously neglected area of small business and enterprise development has, at long last, grown into an important topic of research and government policy. It is not often that academic and publishing persistence as well individual commitment is rewarded to this extent …

At a recent meeting, some of my associates and advisers to the series asked me why I chose to focus on contemporary issues in VET rather than keep the series open to more general research on this topic. To a large extent it is a matter of judgement as well as experience in relation to managing a long and successful series of special issues: one can afford a degree of experimentation as well as risk, without having to worry unduly about jeopardising the final output. It is also a matter of confidence and knowledge, which is grounded in the realities of specialised publishing: entrepreneurship in general and small business development in particular embrace a large and heterogeneous sector of economic activity and an experienced editor is unlikely to run out of topics or articles to publish. In the past we have experimented with various concepts and related contexts and were invariable oversubscribed. For instance, we published special issues on VET aspects in small firms, narrowly focussed on the UK context or exclusively directed at international aspects. Other specialised SME topics included learning and entrepreneurship education. More general special issues also met with success and stakeholder demand for more of the same. Whichever topic we decide to focus upon, each year we aim to provide variety, quality, country specific context and continuity. Nevertheless, we are keenly aware that with success comes responsibility as well as authority and choice, and consequently we aim to keep out readership interested and committed to our editorial objectives.

Another relevant question relates to what is “contemporary” or “groundbreaking” or “cutting edge” in SME research? To a large extent this is a matter of contributor choice and specialism. When I commission an article I tend to allow contributors to choose their own conceptual and contextual grounding as well as the most effective methodology for their research. With so many years in this field of enquiry, I got to know whom to approach and what type of article I can expect. There are always surprises and some disappointments, but usually these double special issues take on a life of their own and invariably turn out for the best. As such, I sincerely believe that it is highly unlikely that we would run out of contributors or contributions, at least not in the near future. Perhaps other Editors would do things differently and I am pleased to note that there are good special issues in this journal that were guest edited by well known and reputable specialists in other fields of education. It occurs to me that variety, quality and commitment are the main ingredients for successful editing of special as well as more general issues, in this and other refereed journals.

I would welcome suggestions for future special issues from both new and regular contributors. In particular, I am looking for new ideas and unusual topics as well as controversial or seemingly neglected areas of research. SMEs are not only recognised as vital for the competitiveness of nations but also have become increasingly popular in the mass media and even appear in “soap operas”! Many mainstream newspaper run regular small business features and “entrepreneurship” has entered the popular parlance of people across most social strata. Similarly, researchers in this area have never before enjoyed so much recognition and respect. Perhaps we ought to pause for a moment and reflect upon a long and arduous journey and ask ourselves where this “contemporarity” is likely to lead us.

Finally, I would like to thank all the contributors, referees, advisers, Rick Holden and Rachel Murawa for their commitment, help and patience. Without the concerted efforts of so many people, this double special issue would not have succeeded, once again, to enrich the knowledge base of our rapidly expanding topic of research.

Harry MatlayGuest Editor