Table 1 Key dimensions of the social... | Emerald Publishing

Table 1

Key dimensions of the social ecosystem related to skill formation of at-risk youth

Dimensions of Bronfrenbrenner's social ecology system (1974)	Dimensions of the skill ecosystem (Buchanan et al., 2017)	Dimensions of the social ecosystem related to skill formation of at-risk youth
Young person	Local actors of the skill ecosystem – learners, employees and employers (enterprises)	Person-family-school level of skill formation and employment: support to training and employment of at-risk young people in the family, VET school and neighbourhoods, including vocational guidance, and transition from general education to VET
Microsystem (family, peers, school)
Mesosystem (interaction between the microsystems)
Exosystem (local labour market, local politics, neighbourhood, extended family, media and social services)	Distinct organizational forms of skill formation and usage (deployment) at the level of enterprise, sector and region	Community and societal level of skill formation and employment: arrangements in the local labour market and enterprises, local-regional partnership arrangements (e.g. apprenticeship schemes or work-based learning [WBL] arrangements), social dialogue between employers, VET providers and municipalities in skill formation and deployment and activities of the NGO's in assisting young people to get access to skill formation and employment
	Partnerships between the agents involved in skill formation and usage – social dialogue and trust building on the local, sectoral and regional levels
	Engagement of the civil society in skill formation and development
Macrosystem (political system, laws, history [here shifted to a separate dimension of chronosystem]), attitudes and values, social policy, education system, culture and an economic system	Institutional settings of skill formation at the national and international levels: governance, provision and quality assurance institutions, qualification systems, funding arrangements and skills intelligence	National and global level of skill formation and employment VET, employment and social security systems and their institutional arrangements which define access to training and labour market integration services, access to work-based learning and apprenticeship schemes and social support for students and their families
	Skill policies targeted at stipulation of skill demand and supply: skill formation policies (general education, VET, HE, adult education and LLL), labour market/employment policies and industrial policies
		Political-economic approaches to the social and labour market integration of at-risk youth referring to the underpinning ideologies (neoliberalism, modern welfare state, nationalism/populism)
Chronosystem	Institutional change and reforms of skill formation systems	Institutional change of skill formation – its implications for the inclusion of at-risk youth in VET and their employment trajectories
	Emerging scenarios of the development of VET institutional models	Pluralistic and distinctive views on VET (Cedefop, 2020) and potential for the inclusion of at risk youth in VET and the labour market. The Cedefop study on the institutional development of VET in Europe (2020) distinguishes pluralistic vs distinctive views on VET, where the pluralistic view positions VET in the wider education and training system and stresses the openness, transferability and permeability of the VET pathways with higher education, lifelong learning and human resource development, whereas the distinctive pathway of VET is defined by the specific historical institutional development, specific goals and the image of VET amongst the learners and stakeholders. The pluralistic VET ensures the inclusiveness of VET and its capacities of socio-economic integration of at-risk youth through the mechanisms of openness and permeability, which create more equal opportunities to develop different capabilities needed for employment and personal development, while the distinctive VET focuses more on the provision of relevant skills and competences and creating access to different specialised measures for vocational and labour market integration

Dimensions of Bronfrenbrenner's social ecology system (1974)	Dimensions of the skill ecosystem (Buchanan et al., 2017)	Dimensions of the social ecosystem related to skill formation of at-risk youth
Young person	Local actors of the skill ecosystem – learners, employees and employers (enterprises)	Person-family-school level of skill formation and employment: support to training and employment of at-risk young people in the family, VET school and neighbourhoods, including vocational guidance, and transition from general education to VET
Microsystem (family, peers, school)
Mesosystem (interaction between the microsystems)
Exosystem (local labour market, local politics, neighbourhood, extended family, media and social services)	Distinct organizational forms of skill formation and usage (deployment) at the level of enterprise, sector and region	Community and societal level of skill formation and employment: arrangements in the local labour market and enterprises, local-regional partnership arrangements (e.g. apprenticeship schemes or work-based learning [WBL] arrangements), social dialogue between employers, VET providers and municipalities in skill formation and deployment and activities of the NGO's in assisting young people to get access to skill formation and employment
	Partnerships between the agents involved in skill formation and usage – social dialogue and trust building on the local, sectoral and regional levels
	Engagement of the civil society in skill formation and development
Macrosystem (political system, laws, history [here shifted to a separate dimension of chronosystem]), attitudes and values, social policy, education system, culture and an economic system	Institutional settings of skill formation at the national and international levels: governance, provision and quality assurance institutions, qualification systems, funding arrangements and skills intelligence	National and global level of skill formation and employmentVET, employment and social security systems and their institutional arrangements which define access to training and labour market integration services, access to work-based learning and apprenticeship schemes and social support for students and their families
	Skill policies targeted at stipulation of skill demand and supply: skill formation policies (general education, VET, HE, adult education and LLL), labour market/employment policies and industrial policies
		Political-economic approaches to the social and labour market integration of at-risk youth referring to the underpinning ideologies (neoliberalism, modern welfare state, nationalism/populism)
Chronosystem	Institutional change and reforms of skill formation systems	Institutional change of skill formation – its implications for the inclusion of at-risk youth in VET and their employment trajectories
	Emerging scenarios of the development of VET institutional models	Pluralistic and distinctive views on VET (Cedefop, 2020) and potential for the inclusion of at risk youth in VET and the labour market. The Cedefop study on the institutional development of VET in Europe (2020) distinguishes pluralistic vs distinctive views on VET, where the pluralistic view positions VET in the wider education and training system and stresses the openness, transferability and permeability of the VET pathways with higher education, lifelong learning and human resource development, whereas the distinctive pathway of VET is defined by the specific historical institutional development, specific goals and the image of VET amongst the learners and stakeholders. The pluralistic VET ensures the inclusiveness of VET and its capacities of socio-economic integration of at-risk youth through the mechanisms of openness and permeability, which create more equal opportunities to develop different capabilities needed for employment and personal development, while the distinctive VET focuses more on the provision of relevant skills and competences and creating access to different specialised measures for vocational and labour market integration