BIBB research data – the foundation of evidence-based policy guidance

Dear readers,

BIBB was set up in 1970 as a research institute to supply policy makers with the latest data and findings on the structure and development of vocational education and training. This remit is just as relevant today as it was then, although the tendency has been for requirements regarding quality of data to rise. The demand for an evidence-based approach is an expression of this development. There is a need for robust and representative data.

Expansion of the database and use of data

Recent years have seen a significant upsurge in empirical educational research, especially in the wake of large-scale empirical studies such as PISA, PIAAC, NEPS and AES.

Over the same period, BIBB has also looked to expand the empirical basis of its work and to enhance quality on an ongoing basis. This continuity and further development have been reflected in a series of regular empirical studies such as employee surveys, cost-benefit analyses and the Establishment Panel on Training and Competence Development. Together with the findings which emerge from qualitative projects, the quantitative data collected and the results generated via these undertakings form an essential foundation of the VET research conducted at BIBB. They are, for example, used to inform academic research publications such as the BIBB Data Report. The BIBB Research Data Centre also ensures that results are available for further use by the wider academic research community. This is very much evidenced by the articles included in the present issue, which deal with selected surveys.

Identifying and closing data gaps

Over the course of the years, empirical educational research and better VET statistics have both led to a significant improvement in the availability of data on vocational education and training. Nevertheless, gaps constantly emerge as new issues arise to which the data we have at our disposal does not provide an adequate response. This currently applies to the refugee situation in Germany. Just how many people have actually arrived in the country is not the only thing which is unclear.
Information regarding their legal status, school and vocational qualifications, language knowledge, occupational motives and life circumstances is selective at best. Robust data is necessary in order to be able to assess training requirements and design relevant measures. The initial survey planned should improve the data situation over the course of the year. It will be important to facilitate access to this administrative data for academic researchers.

Also of importance are indicators and analyses to map courses of development in training and employment and deliver information on integration processes, including on factors which foster and inhibit these processes.

Reconciling data protection and research interests

There is a constant conflict between the interest of policy makers and the academic research community in obtaining data and data protection requirements. This particularly affects the use of government data for research purposes. Individual data is also available within the school statistics of some federal states which would permit the mapping of transitions between educational areas. Researchers have thus far had only limited access to such data. For this reason, solutions are needed which will enable the use of data of this kind for research purposes without disclosing individual information which should be protected.

REINHOLD WEIß
Prof. Dr., Deputy President of the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) and Head of Research

Translation from the German original (published in BWP 2/2016): Martin Kelsey, GlobalSprachTeam, Berlin