Our Research Paper
LV-Titel: Wissensökonomie und sozialräumliche Polarisierung in Wien und Recife
LV- Typ: Pl SE Nr. 2047
LV- Leiter: ao. Univ. Prof. Dr. Andreas Novy
Institut: Department für Sozialwissenschaften, Institut für Regional- und Umweltwirtschaft
Knowledge Economy and Social Polarisation in Vienna
Verfasserinnen:
Hornak Michaela
Matrikelnr.: 0004433
Studienkennz.: A 157
Pesendorfer Lisa
Matrikelnr.:0308225
Studienkennz.: A 057 390
Solacher Elisabeth
Matrikelnr.:041189
Studienkennz.: A 057 390
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Theoretical Overview
2.1. Capitalism – Globalisation – Development - Knowledge Economy – Polarisation
2.2. Research field: Vienna
2.3. Social Polarisation
2.4. Ideologies, Values and Learning/Education
3. Institutions
3.1. WIFI
3.2. BFI
3.3. WAFF
3.4. AMS
4. Linking Theory and Field Research
5. References
________________________________________________________
1. Introduction
As part of the seminar „Wissensökonomie und sozialräumliche Polarisierung in Wien und Recife“ (= Knowledge Economy and sociospatial polarisation in Vienna and Recife), our group had to investigate into the field of social polarisation in order to add to the research activity conducted in the seminar.
We had to focus on institutions which have to deal with education, more precisely institutions predominantly dealing with adults’ education.
We tried to get in touch with a lot of institutions but got interviews from only three of them.
In our paper, we tried to show the linkage between – in our case – social polarisation and the other seminary topic of “knowledge economy”.
As it was the main goal of the seminar, we aimed at always keeping in mind that these two “extremes” (the two being once again “social polarisation” and “knowledge economy”) are closely linked to each other even if this connection may not always (and certainly not at first glance) seem obvious. Not only do these two relate to each other in a loose way, but they directly depend on each other.
In order to achieve the goal of demonstrating this dependency, we focused on “social polarisation” as such and let the relations between “social polarisation” and “knowledge economy” on the side at first.
By reading theme-related literature, we got an impression of what is to be understood when it comes to the term of “social polarisation”.
With this knowledge we went into the “field” and asked from representatives of institutions in the “market” for advanced vocational training to introduce us to the way their institution handles its educational “mission”. Our interview partners told us what picture they have of the term “education” and how they think that educational measures should be conducted.
Already during our interviews, we noticed that the factor of “knowledge economy” automatically came up as well, even if it was not declared as such.
So in our paper, we are first discussing the literature regarding “social polarisation”, then analyzing the interviews we led and in this second part, we are linking theory and field which leads to the conclusion that “social polarisation” and “knowledge economy” are highly influencing one another.
2. Theoretical Overview
2.1. Capitalism – Globalisation – Development - Knowledge Economy - Polarisation
During the recent decades our world, our systems, our societies have gone through major new developments. This process of change is known as “Globalisation” and hasn’t stopped yet. Some say it has slowed down a little while others argue it has become even faster. Whatever may be true, the important thing for us is that within this process of globalisation knowledge has become one of the most important factors to achieve positive development. And here all the categories go hand in hand. Economic prosperity, personal development, safety issues, competitiveness, etc. For every Nation and every firm as well as for every individual human being knowledge is one of the basic instruments to achieve goals, make a living, to make profit to improve their standard of existence. (vgl. Freeman C. 2002)
The world is moving towards a knowledge based economy and therefore also a knowledge based society. Within the process of globalisation this character has spread almost all over the world, but although it is a worldwide movement it is a very uneven process. In some ways borders have ceased to exist while under different aspects they are still crucial. The results are big differences in well-being between continents, countries and within the population of states. Today it is undeniable that the Globalisation process doesn’t distribute prosperity, but that only some social groups can enjoy its fruits.
The role of the knowledge- and the learning economy in increasing the disparities of welfare on all levels must be examined. The importance/impact may be crucial as they have become key factors in economic and social development. Success and growth are often determined through access to certain required knowledge. Knowledge has become an important resource just as for example raw materials. The uneven distribution of access to knowledge and learning sources creates circles which have access to all the advantages of the globalised knowledge economy while others are completely left out. Additional difficulties are that various types of knowledge (tacit and codified knowledge) are necessary and the required knowledge changes very rapidly.
This again supports the increasing gap between rich and poor countries and people. The ability to adapt to new situations, institutional- economic- or societal changes is crucial but not easy and for the poor even more difficult.
To solve this undeniable problem different actors have to intervene and implement new strategies. Asked are here companies and their economic-networks as well as the state. New political strategies have to be developed in the fields of education, distribution, labour market, industry, energy and environment. A common strategy evolved from state actors and economy actors should help while the seconds should work with intern competence building, job rotation, interaction, shifting responsibility, etc. (vgl. Lundvall,B. 2002)
2.2. Research field: Vienna
The social situation in Vienna has been characterized through certain developments in the past 30 years. There has been noticed a so-called “elevator-effect” which means a general appreciation that the living conditions have improved constantly also through the level of education and professional qualification. The population has changed profoundly in the aspects of age and culture. The Viennese have aged significantly and the increasing immigration has given the Viennese population a new structure. This is followed by cultural change and identity struggles, new developments within the economy and the labour market which make the need for new policies evident. New policies concerning adequate education, labour market possibilities and distribution systems leading to a fair, even and completed development. The challenge is to integrate all social groups, all categories of living condition, all economic branches and actors and all policy issues into one big sense making, each other fulfilling and supporting system. So far this hasn’t been achieved and there is a noticeable segregation and worsening of the extremes which leads to polarisation within the society. For example different districts are characterized by different demographic, socio-economic and cultural developments. The City of Vienna is mainly populated by upper class above the average aged people while other specific regions are dominated by younger middle class families. Watching the urban development two major problems can be identified: The segregation of national and ethnical minorities and the segregation of socially disadvantaged, domestic population groups. These living-areas are characterized by buildings and accommodations in poor condition and a concentration of foreign, socially disadvantaged residents and domestic low-educated and low-income residents.
(vgl. Redak / Novy / Becker 2003; Steinbach / Mösgen / Kaiser 2005)
2.3. Social Polarisation
The concentration of the rich and the poor in a city is nothing new and there has been rising and falling attention to it, depending on the changing circumstances. A common definition of the term does not exist. It is dangerous that if the term is not defined within a context, it will lose its descriptive and explanatory power. In the opinion of Chris Hamnett the key element of social polarisation is a given distribution and the movement toward its poles. It can be a state or a process, but the term is commonly used to describe a process. Hamnett insists that polarisation is not a synonym for inequality, as inequality can take many different forms and because there can be greater inequality without greater polarisation and vice versa. Neither he equals polarisation and the increasing residential segregation by class, race, gender, etc. (vgl. Hamnett 2001).
There is a metaphor for the term polarisation, explained by Marcuse. He says the population is normally distributed like the form of an egg. If it becomes polarized the middle becomes thinner and its ends expand until it looks like an hourglass. So the middle can be seen as the “intermediate social strata” within the process of social polarisation. It can also be taking place in many dimensions at the same time. (vgl. Hamnett 2001).
Economic restructuring and globalisation have radically reshaped cities and urban regions. They have to deal with the consequences of socio-economic dislocation brought about by the reorganization of production and demand globally, including increasing polarisation and social exclusion. This has led to fundamental change of policy-aims, political organisations and institutions and influence in decision-making. The goal of today’s (urban) politics is, to promote economic growth and competitiveness instead of being a regulatory and redistributive organ. Over the last decade, the involvement of private actors in (urban) policies has been steadily increasing to accomplish flexibility, efficiency and competitiveness. As a result the emerging governance system is fragmented, exclusive and losing democratic character. However it is argued, that the path to prosperity and an equal society in Global Cities, are large-scale urban development projects. In reality, case studies have shown, that the outcome of such actions is even increasing polarisation especially in spatial dimensions. Elite networks and major exclusion mechanisms for already weak groups are the result.
(vgl. Moulaert/ Swyngedouw/ Rodriguez 2003)
The spatial concentration of foreign ethnic groups often leads to social conflicts with the domestic population group and the emerging social climate hinders private renovation investments. The reduction of contact and interaction between the two groups can cause the cementation of structures which define the living-standards and the access to possibilities for the individual to live the life he or she wants to. Isolation of problem areas is worst case that could happen but even the stages of segregation before the extreme result in a long-term decline of quality of life for all habitants, unattractive locations for private investments in renovation and new building. (vgl. Redak / Novy / Becker/ 2003)
This whole problematic case of segregation and polarisation includes, as mentioned before, the uneven distribution of possibilities also concerning education. Certain social groups are left out because the system is working in structures which on the one hand provide a good living standard and through this access to education and other living-improving aspects while on the other hand leave some social groups outside with no hopes for an improving future. Low education standards within families preserve over several generations because there is not much appreciation of knowledge or no awareness of the possibilities knowledge could open up. Combined with low incomes it is almost impossible to step out of this circle because even the youngest are needed as workers to make the living. Today’s addition of increasing costs for higher education is another way of the already mentioned cementation of structures.
The knowledge economy is characterized by far developed sciences and high capacities of learning and innovating. But only if we look at it separately. If we want to define it within the whole system the opposition has to be taken in count. In the process of globalisation and the liberal or neo-liberal capitalistic system where the major goal is winning, the knowledge economy is the typical form of producing extremes and polarisations or winners and losers.
2.4. Ideologies, Values and Learning/Education
Capitalism has lead to divided societies where everything is about competition and only few are winners. The knowledge economy works within this logic and so even learning which should be a common good is restricted to some privileged groups. Paulo Freire, a Brazilian intellectual known for his work as pedagogue of the oppressed, said that exploring the world critically is not a privilege of the elite, but a characteristic of all humans and that lack of political maturity and freedom of the oppressed is not naturally given but the result of unjust structures. He identifies the goals of a dialogical society with values of freedom, equality and solidarity. The modern first industrialized societies claim the same values but somehow they seem to vanish behind the goal of profit, growth and a certain understanding of development. While Freire argues to pursue the goals and live the values in a way that everyone benefits from everybody’s work is the general habit to make profit for oneself and through this the claimed values are nothing more than beautiful words. All this sounds maybe too extreme and of course it is not the only reality. The core objective of private institutions engaged in the field of educational and/or vocational training is of course to make profit which includes the common concept of development measured by profit and growth. So development means economic progress. Alternative theories argue that this is wrong and that these two terms can’t be seen as synonyms. Wide and integral approaches need to unite politics and economy in a dialogue about the systems inherent dialectics out of which all together can create productive ideas for long-rung investments in new innovative projects which combine economic, regional and social aspects. This should be the way leading to a balanced development where economic and social progress are equally important and achieved. At the moment Neo-liberalism in all sectors of our economy is forming a society where individualism and homogenising go hand in hand. The kind of corporate structure makes diversity impossible and every element has to fit in a certain way in order to be successful. Negative results can be seen concerning development, different social classes and polarisation between them, gender and environmental issues. (vgl. Novy, Lengauer, Trippl 2006)
Also the education system is influenced by the capitalistic neo-liberal understanding of development. It is a way of thinking, a way of reasoning and measuring which defines of course also the learning processes as it decides what is worth learning and how it should be done. Most traditional methods base on an inflexible hierarchy where the teacher knows everything and the pupils brains are filled with as much knowledge as possible. Students are expected to act according to the institution’s inputs. Students thinking beyond an institution’s guidelines might interfere with the chain of the institution’s problems.The contrast to this understanding of learning is again Freires concept. He says that nobody knows everything and nobody knows nothing. Dialogue and respect are the basis of human learning and should be the centre of education.
(vgl. Novy/ Lengauer/ Trippl 2006; vgl. Freire 1984)
3. Institutions
3.1. WIFI – Wirtschaftsförderungsinstitut
WIFI, the Austrian institute for business development, is a service unit for the Chamber of Commerce of Vienna. In each federal state of Austria exists a WIFI and there is the WIFI Österreich, the umbrella organization, which is in charge of making advertisement.
As the homepage tells us, the institutes are there to support the economy and to improve qualifications, both professional and entrepreneurial and also to help with questions about businesses. This self-financed institute is geared to economic happenings of the present and the need of the members of the Chamber of Commerce.
By the notion of business development is meant:
The development of human being and entrepreneurs through qualification
The support of all factors of a market-economical climate
The strengthening of the power output and competitiveness of Vienna’s enterprises
The impact of markets
The assistance to manage the change of structure
(www.wifi.at, Zugriff: 10.07.2007)
WIFI offers in its annual timetable more than 25.000 seminars. About 290.000 participants attend courses about management, personality, languages, business administration, technology and so on. Each course has a different time of training and at the end the participants receive an internationally known certificate. There is also the possibility to go to a college of higher education. It is always tried to improve the offer of the current year for the next one.
As it is said on the homepage, with a number of 80 locations all over Austria and a turnover of 125 million Euros a year, 87% of the Austrian population knows about WIFI.
With its share in the market of 20%, WIFI is the biggest training and advanced training facility of Austria.
But WIFI doesn’t only exist in Austria, the first steps to go international were set in 1991 by sponsored seminars for management together with foreign partners. A few years later, WIFI expanded to mid and eastern European countries like Hungary, Poland and Croatia by using the Franchise system, so it supports Austrian enterprises that expand in these countries. This has also an advantage for the certificates and their international acceptance.
Since January 2007 there is a special Team, called WIN – WIFI International Network, that has the duty to set on the internationalization. As it is written on the WIFI homepage, WIFI stands for applied and practical knowledge and a constant dialogue between the economy and education, and WIN takes this knowledge to foreign partner countries and tries to combine the offer of education with the needs of each local market. (www.wifi.at, Zugriff: 10.07.2007)
On June the 15th 2007 our group had an interview with Mag. (FH) Barbara Wichart, who works at the department of public relations at the WIFI in Vienna. She got her job about two years ago, after she went to the college of higher education of the Chamber of Commerce (WK) in Vienna.
So first she told us about the different areas that the WIFI Vienna works in.
1. Education and advanced training (which are the courses and seminars that the timetable contains)
2. Development of a company (the companies contact WIFI and also contrariwise)
• Human resource development (custom-made offers for companies)
• Management consultancy (which is aided by the Chamber of Commerce in Vienna)
• E-learning, Blended learning;
3. Educational Counselling
The new type of learning, which is used in all types of fields, like management or health, is called “blended learning”, and is a mixture of online-learning and the attendance of a course. E-learning is not bound to a special place, or time and is flexible but with blended learning there will still be a social part.
Ms. Wichart told us that courses are taught by about 11.000 trainers in Austria who have passed the selection procedure. Very important is that the person is close to the economy and also his or her practical experience. Often freelance entrepreneurs want to become trainers.
People working at WIFI can choose courses from the timetable or the catalogue of the Chamber of Commerce (WK) but they have to be related to their profession.
Most of the attendants of the offerings of the WIFI are either private individuals who need the knowledge for their profession or their hobby, or in the area of personality. Or they are used by pupils and students.
So then our question came up, since the seminars are not cheap, if there is only a certain social class that can actually participate. Our interview person told us that she thinks it’s possible for everyone to attend seminars if they really want to. She ascribes this because of the different kind of furtherances that the people can receive. Like there is the EPU check for education which reduces the costs of courses for private individuals and entrepreneurs. Or there are also seminars in co-operation with the AMS (Arbeitsmarktservice), or furtherances for women and pupils. Our group is in doubt about this statement. To attend a seminar costs mostly around 1000€ (see WIFI timetable) and a 100€ reduction of the EPU check is only a tenth of this. Even if there are events free of cost about furtherances and career counselling, we don’t believe that everyone is able to attend a seminar. For some people it might not be a matter of course to get (the right) information.
So since Ms. Wichart believes that everyone who really wants to can finally attend WIFI seminars, she also doesn’t think that the gap between rich and poor will get bigger. “Was nichts kostet ist nichts wert.” What is free, is not worth anything. She argues that education is expensive everywhere and if you bring effort at your job, the company will educate you further. She added that if you don’t educate yourself further you won’t just stand still but you will subside. We don’t believe it is that easy and not every company will pay for your education, and what about people that do not even have a job?
“Wissen ist Macht”, knowledge is power, is what she tells us and relates this to the offers of knowledge management and education controlling in companies the WIFI offers. She believes that the combination of social skills, soft skills, theoretical knowledge and practice is important for learning. Even on the WIFI homepage is said: “Immer mehr Unternehmer erkennen, dass Wissen und Know-how der entscheidende Wettbewerbsfaktor ist. Nicht die Schnellen überholen die Langsamen, sondern die Wissenden die Unwissenden.“ (www.wifi.at, Zugriff: 10.07.2007) More and more entrepreneurs perceive that knowledge and know-how is the important competitive factor. Not the fast ones overtake the slow, but the knowing the unknowing people.
So this is an example and there are more, that Ms. Wichart always relates her statements on phrases, written on the homepage or what you can read in the timetable. She almost didn’t say any additional things or about impressions she has. And we were a little surprised that she has not any idea of the problem of social polarisation.
But that’s also not what WIFI is there for. As it is written on the homepage: „Von Beginn an war den WIFI-Verantwortlichen klar, dass Bildung ein Markt und Wirtschaftszweig per se ist.“ (www.wifi.at, Zugriff: 10.07.2007) From the beginning on, WIFI was established with thinking about education as a market and branch of the economy. And its function is not to empower people. „WIFI der Wirtschaftskammer Wien versteht sich in diesem Sinne als Impulsgeber für Menschen mit klarem Blick [Hervorhebung der Verf.] in die Zukunft. […] Als größte österreichische Fortbildungsstätte für Erwachsene hat das WIFI den Wunsch und das Ziel, engagierten Menschen [Hervorhebung der Verf.] möglichst vielfältige Entfaltungsräume anzubieten. So they are there for dedicated people with a clear view of future.
Altogether the interview was held in a friendly and nice atmosphere but we didn’t get much more information through the person than what we got from the internet and papers from WIFI.
3.2. BFI – Berufsförderungsinstitut
Definition of the Institution “BFI”
„Das Berufsförderunsinstitut (bfi) ist die größte Bildungseinrichtung auf ArbeitnehmerInnenseite in Österreich.
Unsere Trägerorganisationen sind die Kammern für Arbeiter und Angestellte und der Österreichische Gewerkschaftsbund.
Die Schwerpunkte unserer Tätigkeit liegen in der beruflichen Aus- und Weiterbildung von ArbeitnehmerInnen und in Bildungs- und Beschäftigungsmaßnahmen für arbeitslose und von Arbeitslosigkeit bedrohte Personen.
Unser Ziel ist es, durch qualitativ hochwertige und kostengünstige Bildungsangebote die persönliche und berufliche Entwicklung der KursteilnehmerInnen zu fördern. Unsere Angebote berücksichtigen den aktuellen Arbeitsmarktbedarf und bieten gleichzeitig Orientierungshilfen in einer Welt, die sich im Umbruch befindet.
Ein internes Qualitätsmanagementsystem, die ständige Weiterbildung der MitarbeiterInnen und internationaler Know-how-Transfer sichern das hohe Niveau unseres Angebots. Modulare Aus- und Weiterbildungssysteme ermöglichen ein individuell abgestimmtes und damit effizientes Lernen. Das bfi ist nach der internationalen Norm EN ISO 9001:2000 zertifiziert.“ (www.bfi.at, Zugriff: 11.7.2007)
This is the definition of the institution „bfi“ according to the institution itself.
According to this definition of the „bfi“, which roughly translated means „job promoting institution“, it is supposed to be the biggest institution when it comes to adults’ education. The main focus of the „bfi“’s work lies on job training for employees, especially for those that are threatened by employment. The „bfi“ aims to achieve that by offering courses that enrich the employees’ knowledge qualitatively and are affordable for the employees. The courses offered center around the needs of the market and they should provide employees attending with sufficiently good knowledge to confont the challenges of everyday work life. With the help of an internal quality management, the organisation tries to maintain a high quality standard. The bfi has been classified by international standards in the area of education, namely the EN ISO 9001:2000.
As a whole, this definition of the organisation by itself, shows that its main aim from its foundation on was clearly defined as being advanced educational training.
Also, by looking at the founding institutions of the „bfi“, the workers’chamber and the federation of trade unions, one can clearly see that the „bfi“ stands politically on the „left“.
According to Austrian tradition, the number of members on the board of directors is equally divided between the two biggest parties in Austria, the Socialdemocrats and the Conservatives.
Historical Self-conception of the BFI
In order to get a better understanding of the market of institutions for advanced vocational training in Austria, we had an interview with the director of the „bfi“.
The director, Dr.Stage, said that the „bfi“ was founded in the tradition of the workers’movement. One can see that also by the fact that it was founded by the workers’chamber and the federation of trade unions.
Dr.Stage did say that relations with the Socialdemocrates have been „tighter“ with previous governments, but then again, he mentioned that today’s minister of education, Claudia Schmied, formerly was a member on the board of directors of the „bfi“. This seems to represent some sort of contradiction in itself for one would assume that a minister would still keep in touch with old colleagues once she is a minister.
It can be assumed that the main goal behind the foundation of the „bfi“ was to enable workers to obtain higher education and by this, to enlarge the influence of the ideology or the party behind the institution.
The aim was to improve workers’ position in regards to the bourgeois parts of the population as well as to stabilize the position of the Socialdemocrat party vis-à-vis the Conservative party. Even though Dr.Stage seemed very open, we guess that he was not keen on revealing to us the original nature of the political motives of the foundation of the „bfi“. We are guessing that the motives behind the foundation may not only consist of the altruistic „education for all“ but also motives concerning the political power relations in the country.
The Programmes, the “BFI” Offers today
The „bfi“ maintains a business school and a commercial academy and a university of applied sciences.
Concerning social segregation within these schools, it is interesting that these schools are private meaning that they have to be paid for. According to Dr.Stage these schools are predominantly attended by pupils with migration background. These pupils are being forced to attend the schools of the „bfi“ if they want to pursue their education. Because of their migration background, they have only small chances of being admitted to equivalent public schools. This means that pupils from a lower social background have to incur more obstacles in order to obtain an education that might enable them to get a good job and be well-off some day.
Pupils whose parents dispose of more financial means are admitted to public schools, hence get their education more or less for free.
The business area of the „bfi“ presents itself threefold:
- The first target group of „bfi“ programmes and measures are unemployed. The business area is called „Arbeitsmarktschulungen“meaning that unemployed receive special training in order to augment their chances on the labour market. The main partner of the „bfi“ when it comes to these measures is he Austrian employment agency.
According to Stage, this business area has dramatically changed within the last few years. There are, in Vienna alone, hundred institutions that offer advanced vocational training and that compete with each other in order to work together with the AMS- the employment agency. As this competition is conducted via the prices charged by the institutions from the AMS, prices get lower and lower all the time meaning that the „bfi“ has to charge higher fees from the individual course participants. A result of this is, that mostly people who have always stayed in touch with the educational sector, are the ones mostly „consuming“ education via these courses while people who would need more training really urgently stay away. People with less education are not so familiar with the process of applying for a state sponsorship in order to have some or all fees refunded.
- The second business area are so-called „free-lance“ courses chosen individually by course participants who are not necessarily in need of job training. These people search for individual goals they want to achieve by „consuming“ more education.
- The third business area comprises „Firmenschulungen“, meaning that the „bfi“ trains people so that they can work in one specific enterprise. The main problem her eis that firms get to decide about the content of education and that educational institutions orientate themselves only according to the firms’ needs.
The business areas do not all receive the same amount of money from the „bfi“. If this is due to ideological consequences, Dr.Stage would not say.
Regarding the financia situation of the „bfi“, Dr.Stage told us that the „bfi“ receives 70.000 euros from the workers’ chamber per year while their turnover is about 42 million euros per year. Education of adults is not regulated by law which is good on the one hand but also means less subvention from official institutions.
Our question concerning the affinity in regards to „learning to live“, Dr.Stage said that:
“Menschen sollten befähigt werden, damit ihr Leben lebenswerter wird; Ziel sei die Entwicklung der Persönlichkeit, Lernen solle aber nicht als Selbstzweck dienen“.
This means that self-empowerment of those educated remains the „heart“ of the „bfi“’s philosophy while still acknowledging that factual knowledge is highly important in order to pass exams and/or enter the job market successfully.
Situation in the Market of Educational Politics in Austria Today
Dr.Stage judges the market of educational politics today as a lot more difficult than some years ago but than again he thinks that not much has changed.
When Dr.Stage started out in the field of advanced vocational training some thirty years ago, there existed the postulate of „The working class needs more promotion“. This postulate persists. This is the case mainly because nothing much has really changed in this sector. Working class people still do not have the same possibilities of access to higher education than people from a more bourgeois background.
Dr.Stage thinks that ideologies and therefore also public interest have changed. Privatisation is today a value of its own. A lot of measures also in the field of education seem to be subordinated to that. Also, Dr.Stage thinks that it has become a lot more complicated to obtain a job that matches the qualifications of one’s training. When talking about that, he mentioned that it has become way more difficult for university alumni to see their education being acknowledged by employers. University education does not necessarily translate into an adequate position in the job market anymore. On the other hand, Stage thinks that a lot has been achieved. To underline this, he mentioned the „Berufsreifeprüfung“, a system which enables people that completed an apprenticeship, to go on to university. The law allowing this was passed in 1995. Stage sees this as an important step for the workers’movement.
Summary
Our interview with Dr.Stage happened in a very pleasant atmosphere. He signalled that he was willing to deal with our questions and research interests. He broadly described the organisation but whenever we had a question in between, he was up for a prompt answer.
The image of the organisation that Dr.Stage depicted was that of a „Learning Organization“ similarly to the concept of the „Learning Organization“ put forward by Senge or also by J.K. Galbraith who also focused on the interaction between the „Learning Organization“ and the knowledge economy. The „Learning Organization“ according to those is an organization that continually adapts to changes in its environmental surroundings by which it manages to grow continously. This means that by including influences from the environment into its organizational structure, the organization itself manages to grow beyond its original possibilities. When comparing this concept to the“bfi“, one can say that it still remains rooted in its founding ideology but that it constantly tries to keep up with „trends“ on the market of advanced vocational training. Also, while being a „left-wing“ organisation by tradition, the „bfi“ has to think and act profit-oriented. While these two aspects might differ from the starting ideology, the „bfi“ still has as main objective, according to Dr.Stage, „learning to live“.
3.3. WAFF - Wiener ArbeitnehmerInnen Förderungsfonds
The waff – Vienna Employment Promotion Fund is a Fund of the City of Vienna which was created in 1995. Its task is active labour market policy through special programmes and initiatives.
The Waff analyses the development of the labour market and the effects on the employees. It creates strategies and concepts to react to new situations coordinated with other institutions. Support and development of social politics is one of the core objectives. Within this goal it creates initiatives and programmes to focus on integration strategies and gender equality. The organisation provides important tools to manage difficulties and challenges for workers as well as companies and the city development. The fund in it’s function and characteristic is unique in Austria and a special offer of the City of Vienna. There is no comparable Institution for the other regions of the country. “The waff is part of the purview of the Executive City Councillor of Finance and Economic Affairs. Its activities are primarily funded by the Municipality of Vienna.
The Vienna Employment Promotion Fund (Waff) fosters:
Better opportunities for employees in Vienna to develop in their careers by continuing education
• The removal of existing disadvantages in the labour market and the prevention of impending marginalisation in the employment system
• Equal opportunities for women and men in the labour market
• Further enhancement of Vienna’s appeal as a business location.”
(www.waff.at, Zugriff 19.07.07)
The offer contains about 40 different programmes and initiatives with emphasis put on seven fields: - advice and support for job-related Education for employees.
- Supporting job finding in coordination with the AMS
- Support of young people and educating companies
- Support of women and girls for more chances on the labour market
- Support for companies in staff needs and in increasing qualification of employees.
- Partner of the EU-Programmes in Vienna
- Networking and cooperation for more job creating opportunities
Insights into the Waff and observations of a trainer for adults
It was very difficult to get an interview. We tried it over weeks and although we had a very motivated private connection who did everything he could, we didn’t manage to talk to a really appropriate person. The given reasons for the interview denials where too much work and no time to do it. Unofficially we also heard that some didn’t want to be interviewed because the contract situation of the Waff’s employees is very insecure because they get renewed every year.
So we decided to interview our contact, Mag. Harald Pesendorfer, who is the uncle of one of us. He was not the first choice because he had just recently joined the Waff and could therefore not say too much about the institution itself. But he could offer a long working experience as an adult trainer and gave us some interesting insights into the scene of the labour market and related education offers.
He works for one special programme of the Waff which is the “personal finder” = “staff - finder”. It is an offer for companies which are in need of personnel. The fund searches for appropriate candidates and gives financial supports if the chosen person needs to be trained within the firm for a period of 3 to 6 months.
Situation of the labour market
Mag. Pesendorfer told us that the present situation is quite a change. For the first time since the past years there are more jobs available than applicants. They count the double of open spots but have never had fewer applications during the last seven years. Some branches are especially difficult. Skilled workers, more than others metalworkers, are very rare and almost impossible to find. As a result the wage offers are increasing which is exactly the opposite of the past decade’s development. The problem is now that qualified and skilled people have a job and the next generation has lacks in basic education and certain areas don’t seem to be interesting as work fields anymore.
Firms and political decision makers are not able to react as fast as the labour market changes. The required actions need too much time to be developed and then they face the problem of high costs. Most of the cases would require further education, which is very expensive and time intensive. Fast solutions are almost not possible and so we are always trying to compensate the developments of the labour market but not really determining it.
The chosen way at the moment is the offered courses by the AMS. Jobless people are placed into different types of courses with contents which are promoted to be favourable or necessary for their qualification. The usefulness for the participants is often not given. The courses are mass producing. Individual training is impossible with the number of students they have and often the chosen programme is not suitable to the candidates’ profile. To find the correct and useful course for a person is difficult because it is oriented on the given offers and the courses have the goal to fulfil a certain number of participants. The organisation itself is caught in increasing bureaucratisation. Although it seems to be obvious that the programmes don’t achieve what they should, they have become very popular with the politicians over the past years. The reason for that is, that the persons being in training are not counted in the statistics of jobless people. So in the short-term there seems to be an improvement of the labour market situation but in the long run the problems remain because the expected success, which would be (re)integrating these people into working life in save occupations, fails to materialize. While with individual support programmes, which Mag. Pesendorfer used to offer, the rate of placement in jobs lies between 90 % and 100 %. Especially long-term unemployed need more support and individual coaching. In his opinion there should be much more working projects for these people.
He says that they need to be mobilised because they are trapped in their everyday life of doing nothing and time killing. It is very difficult to break this routine and most of them can’t do it without qualified help. The question should not be how to occupy people or how to get them out of the workless statistics but how to motivate them to lead their lives. They have to face fears and have to go beyond their personal bounds, which are different to those from working people and these probably can’t imagine. The worst cases are often men because they have to fulfil the society’s expectations and sense a lot of pressure. By not having a job they feel like they have failed and suffer from extreme loss of self-confidence.’
As many people claim, the Austrian education system doesn’t seem to be very good. Mag. Pesendorfer told how stunned he is from time to time how many illiterates there are in Austria. Meaning not being able to read or not understanding the sense of what they just read. The ability to speak and write a language is very important for working but also for personal issues like self definition. Here we have many people of the migrated population facing big problems. In the first generation we find people who have lived and worked here for several years but haven’t really learned German. Many young persons of the second and the third generation speak German but not good enough, not even Matura-level. At the same time they haven’t really learned the language of their parents. So they speak two languages but not one perfectly. This minors their chances on the labour market extremely while the basic situation is already difficult. Often companies have prejudices and prefer Austrian applicants to Turkish, Bosnians, Croatians, etc.
In general there is a lack of language knowledge noticeable. It is hard to find English- or other languages speaking personal in Austria, says Mag. Pesendorfer.
Another problem is the access to information or the ability to find it. Many people have never been confronted with the internet and are simply overwhelmed with the masses of available information. Research becomes an impossible challenge because they can’t filter what they need out of the useless.
What should be learned?
There is the need for certain basic education and especially teaching the ability and the interest to learn. In today’s society it is important to be open to new knowledge, obviously depending on the field, it will be necessary for most people to learn their whole life long. What is maybe most important that people learn that they can determine their lives and therefore should know what they want to do. More than ever it is important to be interested in what you are doing. For the persons themselves and for their chances on the labour market. At the moment it has to be made popular for older people to continue their education, in private and or supported by their employers.
From time to time there are trends within education. Seven years ago there was a run on “Fachhochschulen” but now they are not so popular anymore and many graduates end without a job. It bears some risks to choose an education because it has popularity with employers for a moment. Because these trends end and if the person’s choice hasn’t been what she/he really wanted to she/he will have to face some struggling.
3.4. AMS- Arbeitsmarktservice
The Austrian AMS, is a service for the labour market. It was founded on the 1st of July in 1994, when the administration of the labour market was given from the Federal Ministry of labour, health and social welfare to the AMS as a service business of the public law. Since it is working for the public law and the policy of full employment of the Federal Government, the elimination of unemployment is a goal to be reached.
As it is said on the homepage, they place manpower on jobs that are open, support people’s own initiative while looking for a job, and help people and businesses through advices, information, qualification and financial aid. The AMS today, with its about 4.800 employees, is leading on the labour market in Austria. It is structured in one federal organisation, nine regional and 99 local organisations. The social partners, like people of the Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Austrian Trade Unions (ÖGB) and so on, are incorporated in businesses of the AMS. The implementations are due to: the directorate at federal level, the administrator at regional level, and the manager of the local office at the local level.
On the AMS homepage the goals of the labour market policy in 2006 are defined, in which the guidelines of the European employment policy and the ones of the Federal Minister of economy and labour are implied. One of the aims was to try to avoid long-lasting exclusions of the employment system. There were set focus on the youth, elder people and women. Also Gender-Mainstreaming in the AMS, the equalization of women and men on the labour market, was an important topic in 2006. It was tried to make the clients satisfied by making customer surveys and put the results in the planning of the AMS. (www.ams.or.at, Zugriff: 10.07.2007)
Like with the other institutions that are important for our research paper, we were also trying to get an interview partner from the AMS. But on emails we didn’t get any helpful answers and by calling we were told by one person to call another one and so on. So we finally gave up.
Of course it is tried on the homepage of the AMS itself or by some politicians to portray it as if the organization was perfect and only show the positive things about it. “”Das AMS ist eine europäische Erfolgsstory", meinte dazu Arbeitsminister Martin Bartenstein.“ (www.ams.or.at, Zugriff: 10.07.2007) (The Secretary of labor, Martin Bartenstein said that the AMS is an European success story.)
But there is also a lot of critique. Just like an article about the AMS in the magazine that is sold on the street by homeless or deprived people called “Augustin”. Christine Werner has written a book called „Die Arbeitslosenpolizei“. (The police of the homeless.) Since it is not published yet, Augustin printed an excerption. The article, called “Die Fleißigen stehen früher auf” (Hard workers get up earlier.), is written in an ironical way and shows that the AMS courses are not that well as the AMS itself says. “Zu Kursbeginn wies die Einpeitscherin der Geschäftsleitung auf eine Vermittlungsquote von 80 Prozent hin. Sollen die Verbliebenen [im Kurs] wenigstens eine Zeitlang denken, es hätten die anderen den erfolgreichen Aufstieg geschafft.“ (Werner Christine: 2007:15) (At the beginning people were told that there is a job placing rate of 80 per cent. The ones left in the course should at least for some time believe that the others made a successful way up.) So Christine Werner shows the senselessness of these courses.
We regret that we didn’t get to meet an interview person and so we couldn’t ask and find out if there is a sense for social polarisation and if so what is done against it (there is nothing to find about that topic on their homepage). We also found it interesting that on the one hand they didn’t tell us that it is not possible to get an interview but on the other hand we were told from one person to contact another one so at the end we did not get an interview.
4. Linking Theory and Field Research
When linking our empirical findings to the literature about the field, we found the UNESCO paper quite useful as it gives a broad overview over the motivations in the field of educational institutions today.
“The concept of learning throughout life thus emerges as one of the keys
to the twenty-first century.” (UNESCO: 22)
We found that this quotation out of the UNESCO paper holds true for all of the institutions which we interviewed.
Especially Dr.Stage from the bfi maintained that vocational training for the so-called working class became important in the 1920s.
Before, this kind of training was often considered unnecessary and the fields of vocational training and education remained privileges of the bourgeoisie.
Also, Dr.Stage put a clear emphasis on the fact that only some twenty years ago, once a person had completed an academic formation for instance, he or she did not have to worry about further training anymore.
On the contrary, we face today a situation in the labor market forcing freshly graduated academics to go on looking for some further formation.
And throughout their whole career, people today face defiances leading them to what is called “life long learning”.
Therefore we think that although the concept of “life long learning” as such might be interesting, it has become something people do not follow out of interest but out of coercion.
Also, in the form that we experience this concept nowadays, it is not something that emerged in the twentieth century but something that surged from the 1990s onwards.
“Therefore, in a wide set of economic activities what constitutes success is not so much having access to a stock of specialized knowledge. The key to success is, rather, rapid learning and forgetting (when old ways of doing things get in the way of learning new ways). Narrowly defined skills may actually even hamper rather than support economic success.” (Lundvall/Archibugi, 2002:1)
We found that this quotation was not reflected in any of the results of our interviews.
All of the institutions interviewed by us are private institutions with little financial support from the state. Therefore they are in a competition with each other, trying to acquire as much clients as possible.
As people nowadays are told over and over again how decisive it is for their career that they have a formation leading to a solid profession, the educational institutions’ clients are often not looking for education as such but for serious professional training.
In order to make profit and to win over the rivals in the field of educational training, educational institutions do, in contrast to what Lundvall and Archibugi suggest, address their clients with narrowly defined programs seeking to appeal to the needs of the labor market.
“While it is generally accepted that the public sector has a role to play in enhancing human resources, at least in organizing the training of young people, it has been assumed that firms by themselves will easily find the best way to organize themselves. Contrary to this assumption, we recommend a much more active role for government in this area.” (Lundvall, 2002: 280)
We found that firms seek the support of educational institutions in order to find the best employees. Not only do the institutions find the employees for the firms but they work out especially tailored training programmes for the future personnel.
These programmes are carried out by the private educational institutions and highly financed by the state in order to lower unemployment rates.
The firms do not bear any risk but may profit from well trained employees.
We therefore conclude that the “self-organization of the market” does not work efficiently in this area but only leads to higher burdens for the state, probably meaning higher tax burdens, and training programmes with a high range in quality rather than clearly defined curricula providing all employees of one business sector with similar qualifications. This is why we agree with Lundvall that the government should play a more active role in the field of education.
In the end we want to give a quote by the brazilian pedagogue Paolo Freire, which has a deeper meaning that we didn’t even get to start to talk about with our interview partners from all the different institutions. We prefer to use this quote as an initiation to think about our work from a different point of view.
„Der erzogene Mensch ist der angepaßte Mensch, denn er paßt besser in die Welt. In die Praxis übersetzt dient dieses Konzept in hervorragender Weise den Absichten der Unterdrücker, deren Ruhe davon abhängt, wie gut Menschen in die Welt passen, die die Unterdrücker geschaffen haben, und wie wenig sie sie in Frage stellen.“ (Freire, 1984:64)
Freire says that the educated human being is an adapted human being, because he or she fits better in the world. In practice this and that they question so little, serves the aims of the oppressors, which created the world.
5. References
Literature:
- BFI Kursprogramm 2007
- Bridge, Gary/Watson, Sophie (2000): City Differences. In: Gary Bridge/Sophie Watson (eds.): A Companion to the City. Oxford: Blackwell. 251 - 260.
- Chawla, Sarita and Renesch, John (eds.): Learning Organizations, Productivity Press, 1995
- Freeman, Chris (2002): 8. The Learning Economy and International Inequality. In: Daniele Archibugi/Bengt-Ake Lundvall (eds.): The Globalizing Learning Economy. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 147-163.
- Freire, Paulo (1984): Pädogogik der Unterdrückten. Bildung als Praxis der Freiheit. Reinbeck bei Hamburg: Rowohlt: Kap. 3
- Hamnett, Chris (2000): Gentrification, Postindustrialism, and Industrial and Occupational Restructuring in Global Cities. In: Gary Bridge/Sophie Watson (eds.): A Companion to the City. Oxford: Blackwell. 331 - 341.
- Hamnett, Chris (2001): Social Segregation and Social Polarisation. In: Ronan Paddison (ed.): Handbook of Urban Studies. London: SAGE. 143-1611
- Lundvall, Bengt-Ake (2002): Innovation Policy in the Globalizing Learning Economy. The Globalizing Learning Economy. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 273-310.
- Lundvall, Bengt-Ake/Archibugi, Daniele (2002): Introduction: Europe and the Learning Economy. The Globalizing Learning Economy. 1-19.
- Moulaert, Frank/Sekia, Farid (2003): Territorial Innovation Models: A Critical Survey. In: Regional Studies 37 (3), 289 - 302.
- Moulaert, Frank/Nussbaumer, Jacques (2005): The social region - Beyond the territorial dynamics of the Learning Economy. In: European Urban and Regional Studies 12 (1), 45-64.
- Moulaert, Frank/Swyngedouw, Erik/Rodriguez, Arantxa (eds., 2003): The Globalized City. Economic restructuring and social polarization in European Cities. Oxford: Oxford University Press: Chapter 2 and 3
- Novy, Andreas/Redak, Vanessa/Jäger, Johannes/Hamedinger, Alexander (2001): The End of Red Vienna: Recent Ruptures and Continuities in Urban Governance. In: European Urban and Regional Studies 8 (2), 131-144.
- Novy, Andreas/Lengauer, Lukas/Trippl, Michaela (2006): Thematic Synthesis Paper 6: Development. Demologos Discussion Paper.
- Novy, Andreas (2005a): Didaktische Anregungen der Befreiungspädagogik Paulo Freires für die Entwicklungsforschung. In: SRE-DISC.2005/01. Wien: Institut für Regional- und Umweltwirtschaft.
- Novy, Andreas (2005b): Von Paulo Freire lernen. In: Gerald Faschingeder/N. Ornig (eds.): Globalisierung ent-wickeln. Eine Reflexion über Entwicklung, Globalisierung udn Repolitisierung. Wien: Mandelbaum.
- Redak, Vanessa/Novy, Andreas/Becker, Joachim (2003): Modernizing or Polarizing Vienna? In: Frank Moulaert/Arantxa Rodriguez/Erik Swyngedouw (eds.): The Globalized City - Economic Restructuring and Social Polarisation in European Cities. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 167-180.
- Senge Peter (2006): The Fifth Discipline, Doubleday.
- Soete, Luc (2002): The New Economy: A European Perspective. In: Daniele Archibugi/Bengt-Ake Lundvall (eds.): The Globalizing Learning Economy: Oxford University Press. 21-45.
- Steinbach, Josef, Mösgen, Andrea, Kaiser, Alexandra (2005): Historische Sozialraumanalyse für das Wiener Stadtgebiet II: 1971-1981-1991-2001. In: Reihe "Dokumentation - Erarbeitung STEP Wien 2005", Stadtentwicklung Wien (ed.). Wien.
- Tödtling, Franz/Trippl, Michaela (2006): Knowledge links in high-technology industries: markets, networks or milieu? The case of the Vienna biotechnology cluster. In: International Journal Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management.
- Trippl, Michaela/Tödtling, Franz (2006): From the ivory tower to the market place? The changing role of knowledge organisations in spurring the development of biotechnology clusters in Austria. In: SRE-Discussion 2006/07. Wien: Institute for Regional Development and Environment. Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration.
- Trippl, Michaela/von Gabain, Joshua/Tödtling, Franz (2006): Policy agents as catalysts of knowledge links in the biotechnology sector. Wien: Institute for Regional Development and Environment. Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration.
- UNESCO: Learning: The treasure within. Report to UNESCO of the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century. UNESCO publishing.
- WAFF Informationsfolder für das Jahr 2007
- Werner, Christine (2007): Die Arbeitslosenpolizei. Die Fleißigen stehen früher auf. In: Augustin. Nr.:206, S.14-15.
- WIFI Kursbuch 2007
Internet:
www.ams.or.at
www.bfi.at
www.waff.at
www.wifi.at
[Letzter Zugriff auf alle 19.07.2007]
Interviews:
BFI: Dr. Stage – Geschäftsführer. Datum: 11.06.2007
WIFI: Mag Fh Barbara Wichart. Datum: 15.06.2007
WAFF: Mag Harald Pesendorfer. Datum: 13.06.2007
LV- Typ: Pl SE Nr. 2047
LV- Leiter: ao. Univ. Prof. Dr. Andreas Novy
Institut: Department für Sozialwissenschaften, Institut für Regional- und Umweltwirtschaft
Knowledge Economy and Social Polarisation in Vienna
Verfasserinnen:
Hornak Michaela
Matrikelnr.: 0004433
Studienkennz.: A 157
Pesendorfer Lisa
Matrikelnr.:0308225
Studienkennz.: A 057 390
Solacher Elisabeth
Matrikelnr.:041189
Studienkennz.: A 057 390
________________________________________________________
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Theoretical Overview
2.1. Capitalism – Globalisation – Development - Knowledge Economy – Polarisation
2.2. Research field: Vienna
2.3. Social Polarisation
2.4. Ideologies, Values and Learning/Education
3. Institutions
3.1. WIFI
3.2. BFI
3.3. WAFF
3.4. AMS
4. Linking Theory and Field Research
5. References
________________________________________________________
1. Introduction
As part of the seminar „Wissensökonomie und sozialräumliche Polarisierung in Wien und Recife“ (= Knowledge Economy and sociospatial polarisation in Vienna and Recife), our group had to investigate into the field of social polarisation in order to add to the research activity conducted in the seminar.
We had to focus on institutions which have to deal with education, more precisely institutions predominantly dealing with adults’ education.
We tried to get in touch with a lot of institutions but got interviews from only three of them.
In our paper, we tried to show the linkage between – in our case – social polarisation and the other seminary topic of “knowledge economy”.
As it was the main goal of the seminar, we aimed at always keeping in mind that these two “extremes” (the two being once again “social polarisation” and “knowledge economy”) are closely linked to each other even if this connection may not always (and certainly not at first glance) seem obvious. Not only do these two relate to each other in a loose way, but they directly depend on each other.
In order to achieve the goal of demonstrating this dependency, we focused on “social polarisation” as such and let the relations between “social polarisation” and “knowledge economy” on the side at first.
By reading theme-related literature, we got an impression of what is to be understood when it comes to the term of “social polarisation”.
With this knowledge we went into the “field” and asked from representatives of institutions in the “market” for advanced vocational training to introduce us to the way their institution handles its educational “mission”. Our interview partners told us what picture they have of the term “education” and how they think that educational measures should be conducted.
Already during our interviews, we noticed that the factor of “knowledge economy” automatically came up as well, even if it was not declared as such.
So in our paper, we are first discussing the literature regarding “social polarisation”, then analyzing the interviews we led and in this second part, we are linking theory and field which leads to the conclusion that “social polarisation” and “knowledge economy” are highly influencing one another.
2. Theoretical Overview
2.1. Capitalism – Globalisation – Development - Knowledge Economy - Polarisation
During the recent decades our world, our systems, our societies have gone through major new developments. This process of change is known as “Globalisation” and hasn’t stopped yet. Some say it has slowed down a little while others argue it has become even faster. Whatever may be true, the important thing for us is that within this process of globalisation knowledge has become one of the most important factors to achieve positive development. And here all the categories go hand in hand. Economic prosperity, personal development, safety issues, competitiveness, etc. For every Nation and every firm as well as for every individual human being knowledge is one of the basic instruments to achieve goals, make a living, to make profit to improve their standard of existence. (vgl. Freeman C. 2002)
The world is moving towards a knowledge based economy and therefore also a knowledge based society. Within the process of globalisation this character has spread almost all over the world, but although it is a worldwide movement it is a very uneven process. In some ways borders have ceased to exist while under different aspects they are still crucial. The results are big differences in well-being between continents, countries and within the population of states. Today it is undeniable that the Globalisation process doesn’t distribute prosperity, but that only some social groups can enjoy its fruits.
The role of the knowledge- and the learning economy in increasing the disparities of welfare on all levels must be examined. The importance/impact may be crucial as they have become key factors in economic and social development. Success and growth are often determined through access to certain required knowledge. Knowledge has become an important resource just as for example raw materials. The uneven distribution of access to knowledge and learning sources creates circles which have access to all the advantages of the globalised knowledge economy while others are completely left out. Additional difficulties are that various types of knowledge (tacit and codified knowledge) are necessary and the required knowledge changes very rapidly.
This again supports the increasing gap between rich and poor countries and people. The ability to adapt to new situations, institutional- economic- or societal changes is crucial but not easy and for the poor even more difficult.
To solve this undeniable problem different actors have to intervene and implement new strategies. Asked are here companies and their economic-networks as well as the state. New political strategies have to be developed in the fields of education, distribution, labour market, industry, energy and environment. A common strategy evolved from state actors and economy actors should help while the seconds should work with intern competence building, job rotation, interaction, shifting responsibility, etc. (vgl. Lundvall,B. 2002)
2.2. Research field: Vienna
The social situation in Vienna has been characterized through certain developments in the past 30 years. There has been noticed a so-called “elevator-effect” which means a general appreciation that the living conditions have improved constantly also through the level of education and professional qualification. The population has changed profoundly in the aspects of age and culture. The Viennese have aged significantly and the increasing immigration has given the Viennese population a new structure. This is followed by cultural change and identity struggles, new developments within the economy and the labour market which make the need for new policies evident. New policies concerning adequate education, labour market possibilities and distribution systems leading to a fair, even and completed development. The challenge is to integrate all social groups, all categories of living condition, all economic branches and actors and all policy issues into one big sense making, each other fulfilling and supporting system. So far this hasn’t been achieved and there is a noticeable segregation and worsening of the extremes which leads to polarisation within the society. For example different districts are characterized by different demographic, socio-economic and cultural developments. The City of Vienna is mainly populated by upper class above the average aged people while other specific regions are dominated by younger middle class families. Watching the urban development two major problems can be identified: The segregation of national and ethnical minorities and the segregation of socially disadvantaged, domestic population groups. These living-areas are characterized by buildings and accommodations in poor condition and a concentration of foreign, socially disadvantaged residents and domestic low-educated and low-income residents.
(vgl. Redak / Novy / Becker 2003; Steinbach / Mösgen / Kaiser 2005)
2.3. Social Polarisation
The concentration of the rich and the poor in a city is nothing new and there has been rising and falling attention to it, depending on the changing circumstances. A common definition of the term does not exist. It is dangerous that if the term is not defined within a context, it will lose its descriptive and explanatory power. In the opinion of Chris Hamnett the key element of social polarisation is a given distribution and the movement toward its poles. It can be a state or a process, but the term is commonly used to describe a process. Hamnett insists that polarisation is not a synonym for inequality, as inequality can take many different forms and because there can be greater inequality without greater polarisation and vice versa. Neither he equals polarisation and the increasing residential segregation by class, race, gender, etc. (vgl. Hamnett 2001).
There is a metaphor for the term polarisation, explained by Marcuse. He says the population is normally distributed like the form of an egg. If it becomes polarized the middle becomes thinner and its ends expand until it looks like an hourglass. So the middle can be seen as the “intermediate social strata” within the process of social polarisation. It can also be taking place in many dimensions at the same time. (vgl. Hamnett 2001).
Economic restructuring and globalisation have radically reshaped cities and urban regions. They have to deal with the consequences of socio-economic dislocation brought about by the reorganization of production and demand globally, including increasing polarisation and social exclusion. This has led to fundamental change of policy-aims, political organisations and institutions and influence in decision-making. The goal of today’s (urban) politics is, to promote economic growth and competitiveness instead of being a regulatory and redistributive organ. Over the last decade, the involvement of private actors in (urban) policies has been steadily increasing to accomplish flexibility, efficiency and competitiveness. As a result the emerging governance system is fragmented, exclusive and losing democratic character. However it is argued, that the path to prosperity and an equal society in Global Cities, are large-scale urban development projects. In reality, case studies have shown, that the outcome of such actions is even increasing polarisation especially in spatial dimensions. Elite networks and major exclusion mechanisms for already weak groups are the result.
(vgl. Moulaert/ Swyngedouw/ Rodriguez 2003)
The spatial concentration of foreign ethnic groups often leads to social conflicts with the domestic population group and the emerging social climate hinders private renovation investments. The reduction of contact and interaction between the two groups can cause the cementation of structures which define the living-standards and the access to possibilities for the individual to live the life he or she wants to. Isolation of problem areas is worst case that could happen but even the stages of segregation before the extreme result in a long-term decline of quality of life for all habitants, unattractive locations for private investments in renovation and new building. (vgl. Redak / Novy / Becker/ 2003)
This whole problematic case of segregation and polarisation includes, as mentioned before, the uneven distribution of possibilities also concerning education. Certain social groups are left out because the system is working in structures which on the one hand provide a good living standard and through this access to education and other living-improving aspects while on the other hand leave some social groups outside with no hopes for an improving future. Low education standards within families preserve over several generations because there is not much appreciation of knowledge or no awareness of the possibilities knowledge could open up. Combined with low incomes it is almost impossible to step out of this circle because even the youngest are needed as workers to make the living. Today’s addition of increasing costs for higher education is another way of the already mentioned cementation of structures.
The knowledge economy is characterized by far developed sciences and high capacities of learning and innovating. But only if we look at it separately. If we want to define it within the whole system the opposition has to be taken in count. In the process of globalisation and the liberal or neo-liberal capitalistic system where the major goal is winning, the knowledge economy is the typical form of producing extremes and polarisations or winners and losers.
2.4. Ideologies, Values and Learning/Education
Capitalism has lead to divided societies where everything is about competition and only few are winners. The knowledge economy works within this logic and so even learning which should be a common good is restricted to some privileged groups. Paulo Freire, a Brazilian intellectual known for his work as pedagogue of the oppressed, said that exploring the world critically is not a privilege of the elite, but a characteristic of all humans and that lack of political maturity and freedom of the oppressed is not naturally given but the result of unjust structures. He identifies the goals of a dialogical society with values of freedom, equality and solidarity. The modern first industrialized societies claim the same values but somehow they seem to vanish behind the goal of profit, growth and a certain understanding of development. While Freire argues to pursue the goals and live the values in a way that everyone benefits from everybody’s work is the general habit to make profit for oneself and through this the claimed values are nothing more than beautiful words. All this sounds maybe too extreme and of course it is not the only reality. The core objective of private institutions engaged in the field of educational and/or vocational training is of course to make profit which includes the common concept of development measured by profit and growth. So development means economic progress. Alternative theories argue that this is wrong and that these two terms can’t be seen as synonyms. Wide and integral approaches need to unite politics and economy in a dialogue about the systems inherent dialectics out of which all together can create productive ideas for long-rung investments in new innovative projects which combine economic, regional and social aspects. This should be the way leading to a balanced development where economic and social progress are equally important and achieved. At the moment Neo-liberalism in all sectors of our economy is forming a society where individualism and homogenising go hand in hand. The kind of corporate structure makes diversity impossible and every element has to fit in a certain way in order to be successful. Negative results can be seen concerning development, different social classes and polarisation between them, gender and environmental issues. (vgl. Novy, Lengauer, Trippl 2006)
Also the education system is influenced by the capitalistic neo-liberal understanding of development. It is a way of thinking, a way of reasoning and measuring which defines of course also the learning processes as it decides what is worth learning and how it should be done. Most traditional methods base on an inflexible hierarchy where the teacher knows everything and the pupils brains are filled with as much knowledge as possible. Students are expected to act according to the institution’s inputs. Students thinking beyond an institution’s guidelines might interfere with the chain of the institution’s problems.The contrast to this understanding of learning is again Freires concept. He says that nobody knows everything and nobody knows nothing. Dialogue and respect are the basis of human learning and should be the centre of education.
(vgl. Novy/ Lengauer/ Trippl 2006; vgl. Freire 1984)
3. Institutions
3.1. WIFI – Wirtschaftsförderungsinstitut
WIFI, the Austrian institute for business development, is a service unit for the Chamber of Commerce of Vienna. In each federal state of Austria exists a WIFI and there is the WIFI Österreich, the umbrella organization, which is in charge of making advertisement.
As the homepage tells us, the institutes are there to support the economy and to improve qualifications, both professional and entrepreneurial and also to help with questions about businesses. This self-financed institute is geared to economic happenings of the present and the need of the members of the Chamber of Commerce.
By the notion of business development is meant:
The development of human being and entrepreneurs through qualification
The support of all factors of a market-economical climate
The strengthening of the power output and competitiveness of Vienna’s enterprises
The impact of markets
The assistance to manage the change of structure
(www.wifi.at, Zugriff: 10.07.2007)
WIFI offers in its annual timetable more than 25.000 seminars. About 290.000 participants attend courses about management, personality, languages, business administration, technology and so on. Each course has a different time of training and at the end the participants receive an internationally known certificate. There is also the possibility to go to a college of higher education. It is always tried to improve the offer of the current year for the next one.
As it is said on the homepage, with a number of 80 locations all over Austria and a turnover of 125 million Euros a year, 87% of the Austrian population knows about WIFI.
With its share in the market of 20%, WIFI is the biggest training and advanced training facility of Austria.
But WIFI doesn’t only exist in Austria, the first steps to go international were set in 1991 by sponsored seminars for management together with foreign partners. A few years later, WIFI expanded to mid and eastern European countries like Hungary, Poland and Croatia by using the Franchise system, so it supports Austrian enterprises that expand in these countries. This has also an advantage for the certificates and their international acceptance.
Since January 2007 there is a special Team, called WIN – WIFI International Network, that has the duty to set on the internationalization. As it is written on the WIFI homepage, WIFI stands for applied and practical knowledge and a constant dialogue between the economy and education, and WIN takes this knowledge to foreign partner countries and tries to combine the offer of education with the needs of each local market. (www.wifi.at, Zugriff: 10.07.2007)
On June the 15th 2007 our group had an interview with Mag. (FH) Barbara Wichart, who works at the department of public relations at the WIFI in Vienna. She got her job about two years ago, after she went to the college of higher education of the Chamber of Commerce (WK) in Vienna.
So first she told us about the different areas that the WIFI Vienna works in.
1. Education and advanced training (which are the courses and seminars that the timetable contains)
2. Development of a company (the companies contact WIFI and also contrariwise)
• Human resource development (custom-made offers for companies)
• Management consultancy (which is aided by the Chamber of Commerce in Vienna)
• E-learning, Blended learning;
3. Educational Counselling
The new type of learning, which is used in all types of fields, like management or health, is called “blended learning”, and is a mixture of online-learning and the attendance of a course. E-learning is not bound to a special place, or time and is flexible but with blended learning there will still be a social part.
Ms. Wichart told us that courses are taught by about 11.000 trainers in Austria who have passed the selection procedure. Very important is that the person is close to the economy and also his or her practical experience. Often freelance entrepreneurs want to become trainers.
People working at WIFI can choose courses from the timetable or the catalogue of the Chamber of Commerce (WK) but they have to be related to their profession.
Most of the attendants of the offerings of the WIFI are either private individuals who need the knowledge for their profession or their hobby, or in the area of personality. Or they are used by pupils and students.
So then our question came up, since the seminars are not cheap, if there is only a certain social class that can actually participate. Our interview person told us that she thinks it’s possible for everyone to attend seminars if they really want to. She ascribes this because of the different kind of furtherances that the people can receive. Like there is the EPU check for education which reduces the costs of courses for private individuals and entrepreneurs. Or there are also seminars in co-operation with the AMS (Arbeitsmarktservice), or furtherances for women and pupils. Our group is in doubt about this statement. To attend a seminar costs mostly around 1000€ (see WIFI timetable) and a 100€ reduction of the EPU check is only a tenth of this. Even if there are events free of cost about furtherances and career counselling, we don’t believe that everyone is able to attend a seminar. For some people it might not be a matter of course to get (the right) information.
So since Ms. Wichart believes that everyone who really wants to can finally attend WIFI seminars, she also doesn’t think that the gap between rich and poor will get bigger. “Was nichts kostet ist nichts wert.” What is free, is not worth anything. She argues that education is expensive everywhere and if you bring effort at your job, the company will educate you further. She added that if you don’t educate yourself further you won’t just stand still but you will subside. We don’t believe it is that easy and not every company will pay for your education, and what about people that do not even have a job?
“Wissen ist Macht”, knowledge is power, is what she tells us and relates this to the offers of knowledge management and education controlling in companies the WIFI offers. She believes that the combination of social skills, soft skills, theoretical knowledge and practice is important for learning. Even on the WIFI homepage is said: “Immer mehr Unternehmer erkennen, dass Wissen und Know-how der entscheidende Wettbewerbsfaktor ist. Nicht die Schnellen überholen die Langsamen, sondern die Wissenden die Unwissenden.“ (www.wifi.at, Zugriff: 10.07.2007) More and more entrepreneurs perceive that knowledge and know-how is the important competitive factor. Not the fast ones overtake the slow, but the knowing the unknowing people.
So this is an example and there are more, that Ms. Wichart always relates her statements on phrases, written on the homepage or what you can read in the timetable. She almost didn’t say any additional things or about impressions she has. And we were a little surprised that she has not any idea of the problem of social polarisation.
But that’s also not what WIFI is there for. As it is written on the homepage: „Von Beginn an war den WIFI-Verantwortlichen klar, dass Bildung ein Markt und Wirtschaftszweig per se ist.“ (www.wifi.at, Zugriff: 10.07.2007) From the beginning on, WIFI was established with thinking about education as a market and branch of the economy. And its function is not to empower people. „WIFI der Wirtschaftskammer Wien versteht sich in diesem Sinne als Impulsgeber für Menschen mit klarem Blick [Hervorhebung der Verf.] in die Zukunft. […] Als größte österreichische Fortbildungsstätte für Erwachsene hat das WIFI den Wunsch und das Ziel, engagierten Menschen [Hervorhebung der Verf.] möglichst vielfältige Entfaltungsräume anzubieten. So they are there for dedicated people with a clear view of future.
Altogether the interview was held in a friendly and nice atmosphere but we didn’t get much more information through the person than what we got from the internet and papers from WIFI.
3.2. BFI – Berufsförderungsinstitut
Definition of the Institution “BFI”
„Das Berufsförderunsinstitut (bfi) ist die größte Bildungseinrichtung auf ArbeitnehmerInnenseite in Österreich.
Unsere Trägerorganisationen sind die Kammern für Arbeiter und Angestellte und der Österreichische Gewerkschaftsbund.
Die Schwerpunkte unserer Tätigkeit liegen in der beruflichen Aus- und Weiterbildung von ArbeitnehmerInnen und in Bildungs- und Beschäftigungsmaßnahmen für arbeitslose und von Arbeitslosigkeit bedrohte Personen.
Unser Ziel ist es, durch qualitativ hochwertige und kostengünstige Bildungsangebote die persönliche und berufliche Entwicklung der KursteilnehmerInnen zu fördern. Unsere Angebote berücksichtigen den aktuellen Arbeitsmarktbedarf und bieten gleichzeitig Orientierungshilfen in einer Welt, die sich im Umbruch befindet.
Ein internes Qualitätsmanagementsystem, die ständige Weiterbildung der MitarbeiterInnen und internationaler Know-how-Transfer sichern das hohe Niveau unseres Angebots. Modulare Aus- und Weiterbildungssysteme ermöglichen ein individuell abgestimmtes und damit effizientes Lernen. Das bfi ist nach der internationalen Norm EN ISO 9001:2000 zertifiziert.“ (www.bfi.at, Zugriff: 11.7.2007)
This is the definition of the institution „bfi“ according to the institution itself.
According to this definition of the „bfi“, which roughly translated means „job promoting institution“, it is supposed to be the biggest institution when it comes to adults’ education. The main focus of the „bfi“’s work lies on job training for employees, especially for those that are threatened by employment. The „bfi“ aims to achieve that by offering courses that enrich the employees’ knowledge qualitatively and are affordable for the employees. The courses offered center around the needs of the market and they should provide employees attending with sufficiently good knowledge to confont the challenges of everyday work life. With the help of an internal quality management, the organisation tries to maintain a high quality standard. The bfi has been classified by international standards in the area of education, namely the EN ISO 9001:2000.
As a whole, this definition of the organisation by itself, shows that its main aim from its foundation on was clearly defined as being advanced educational training.
Also, by looking at the founding institutions of the „bfi“, the workers’chamber and the federation of trade unions, one can clearly see that the „bfi“ stands politically on the „left“.
According to Austrian tradition, the number of members on the board of directors is equally divided between the two biggest parties in Austria, the Socialdemocrats and the Conservatives.
Historical Self-conception of the BFI
In order to get a better understanding of the market of institutions for advanced vocational training in Austria, we had an interview with the director of the „bfi“.
The director, Dr.Stage, said that the „bfi“ was founded in the tradition of the workers’movement. One can see that also by the fact that it was founded by the workers’chamber and the federation of trade unions.
Dr.Stage did say that relations with the Socialdemocrates have been „tighter“ with previous governments, but then again, he mentioned that today’s minister of education, Claudia Schmied, formerly was a member on the board of directors of the „bfi“. This seems to represent some sort of contradiction in itself for one would assume that a minister would still keep in touch with old colleagues once she is a minister.
It can be assumed that the main goal behind the foundation of the „bfi“ was to enable workers to obtain higher education and by this, to enlarge the influence of the ideology or the party behind the institution.
The aim was to improve workers’ position in regards to the bourgeois parts of the population as well as to stabilize the position of the Socialdemocrat party vis-à-vis the Conservative party. Even though Dr.Stage seemed very open, we guess that he was not keen on revealing to us the original nature of the political motives of the foundation of the „bfi“. We are guessing that the motives behind the foundation may not only consist of the altruistic „education for all“ but also motives concerning the political power relations in the country.
The Programmes, the “BFI” Offers today
The „bfi“ maintains a business school and a commercial academy and a university of applied sciences.
Concerning social segregation within these schools, it is interesting that these schools are private meaning that they have to be paid for. According to Dr.Stage these schools are predominantly attended by pupils with migration background. These pupils are being forced to attend the schools of the „bfi“ if they want to pursue their education. Because of their migration background, they have only small chances of being admitted to equivalent public schools. This means that pupils from a lower social background have to incur more obstacles in order to obtain an education that might enable them to get a good job and be well-off some day.
Pupils whose parents dispose of more financial means are admitted to public schools, hence get their education more or less for free.
The business area of the „bfi“ presents itself threefold:
- The first target group of „bfi“ programmes and measures are unemployed. The business area is called „Arbeitsmarktschulungen“meaning that unemployed receive special training in order to augment their chances on the labour market. The main partner of the „bfi“ when it comes to these measures is he Austrian employment agency.
According to Stage, this business area has dramatically changed within the last few years. There are, in Vienna alone, hundred institutions that offer advanced vocational training and that compete with each other in order to work together with the AMS- the employment agency. As this competition is conducted via the prices charged by the institutions from the AMS, prices get lower and lower all the time meaning that the „bfi“ has to charge higher fees from the individual course participants. A result of this is, that mostly people who have always stayed in touch with the educational sector, are the ones mostly „consuming“ education via these courses while people who would need more training really urgently stay away. People with less education are not so familiar with the process of applying for a state sponsorship in order to have some or all fees refunded.
- The second business area are so-called „free-lance“ courses chosen individually by course participants who are not necessarily in need of job training. These people search for individual goals they want to achieve by „consuming“ more education.
- The third business area comprises „Firmenschulungen“, meaning that the „bfi“ trains people so that they can work in one specific enterprise. The main problem her eis that firms get to decide about the content of education and that educational institutions orientate themselves only according to the firms’ needs.
The business areas do not all receive the same amount of money from the „bfi“. If this is due to ideological consequences, Dr.Stage would not say.
Regarding the financia situation of the „bfi“, Dr.Stage told us that the „bfi“ receives 70.000 euros from the workers’ chamber per year while their turnover is about 42 million euros per year. Education of adults is not regulated by law which is good on the one hand but also means less subvention from official institutions.
Our question concerning the affinity in regards to „learning to live“, Dr.Stage said that:
“Menschen sollten befähigt werden, damit ihr Leben lebenswerter wird; Ziel sei die Entwicklung der Persönlichkeit, Lernen solle aber nicht als Selbstzweck dienen“.
This means that self-empowerment of those educated remains the „heart“ of the „bfi“’s philosophy while still acknowledging that factual knowledge is highly important in order to pass exams and/or enter the job market successfully.
Situation in the Market of Educational Politics in Austria Today
Dr.Stage judges the market of educational politics today as a lot more difficult than some years ago but than again he thinks that not much has changed.
When Dr.Stage started out in the field of advanced vocational training some thirty years ago, there existed the postulate of „The working class needs more promotion“. This postulate persists. This is the case mainly because nothing much has really changed in this sector. Working class people still do not have the same possibilities of access to higher education than people from a more bourgeois background.
Dr.Stage thinks that ideologies and therefore also public interest have changed. Privatisation is today a value of its own. A lot of measures also in the field of education seem to be subordinated to that. Also, Dr.Stage thinks that it has become a lot more complicated to obtain a job that matches the qualifications of one’s training. When talking about that, he mentioned that it has become way more difficult for university alumni to see their education being acknowledged by employers. University education does not necessarily translate into an adequate position in the job market anymore. On the other hand, Stage thinks that a lot has been achieved. To underline this, he mentioned the „Berufsreifeprüfung“, a system which enables people that completed an apprenticeship, to go on to university. The law allowing this was passed in 1995. Stage sees this as an important step for the workers’movement.
Summary
Our interview with Dr.Stage happened in a very pleasant atmosphere. He signalled that he was willing to deal with our questions and research interests. He broadly described the organisation but whenever we had a question in between, he was up for a prompt answer.
The image of the organisation that Dr.Stage depicted was that of a „Learning Organization“ similarly to the concept of the „Learning Organization“ put forward by Senge or also by J.K. Galbraith who also focused on the interaction between the „Learning Organization“ and the knowledge economy. The „Learning Organization“ according to those is an organization that continually adapts to changes in its environmental surroundings by which it manages to grow continously. This means that by including influences from the environment into its organizational structure, the organization itself manages to grow beyond its original possibilities. When comparing this concept to the“bfi“, one can say that it still remains rooted in its founding ideology but that it constantly tries to keep up with „trends“ on the market of advanced vocational training. Also, while being a „left-wing“ organisation by tradition, the „bfi“ has to think and act profit-oriented. While these two aspects might differ from the starting ideology, the „bfi“ still has as main objective, according to Dr.Stage, „learning to live“.
3.3. WAFF - Wiener ArbeitnehmerInnen Förderungsfonds
The waff – Vienna Employment Promotion Fund is a Fund of the City of Vienna which was created in 1995. Its task is active labour market policy through special programmes and initiatives.
The Waff analyses the development of the labour market and the effects on the employees. It creates strategies and concepts to react to new situations coordinated with other institutions. Support and development of social politics is one of the core objectives. Within this goal it creates initiatives and programmes to focus on integration strategies and gender equality. The organisation provides important tools to manage difficulties and challenges for workers as well as companies and the city development. The fund in it’s function and characteristic is unique in Austria and a special offer of the City of Vienna. There is no comparable Institution for the other regions of the country. “The waff is part of the purview of the Executive City Councillor of Finance and Economic Affairs. Its activities are primarily funded by the Municipality of Vienna.
The Vienna Employment Promotion Fund (Waff) fosters:
Better opportunities for employees in Vienna to develop in their careers by continuing education
• The removal of existing disadvantages in the labour market and the prevention of impending marginalisation in the employment system
• Equal opportunities for women and men in the labour market
• Further enhancement of Vienna’s appeal as a business location.”
(www.waff.at, Zugriff 19.07.07)
The offer contains about 40 different programmes and initiatives with emphasis put on seven fields: - advice and support for job-related Education for employees.
- Supporting job finding in coordination with the AMS
- Support of young people and educating companies
- Support of women and girls for more chances on the labour market
- Support for companies in staff needs and in increasing qualification of employees.
- Partner of the EU-Programmes in Vienna
- Networking and cooperation for more job creating opportunities
Insights into the Waff and observations of a trainer for adults
It was very difficult to get an interview. We tried it over weeks and although we had a very motivated private connection who did everything he could, we didn’t manage to talk to a really appropriate person. The given reasons for the interview denials where too much work and no time to do it. Unofficially we also heard that some didn’t want to be interviewed because the contract situation of the Waff’s employees is very insecure because they get renewed every year.
So we decided to interview our contact, Mag. Harald Pesendorfer, who is the uncle of one of us. He was not the first choice because he had just recently joined the Waff and could therefore not say too much about the institution itself. But he could offer a long working experience as an adult trainer and gave us some interesting insights into the scene of the labour market and related education offers.
He works for one special programme of the Waff which is the “personal finder” = “staff - finder”. It is an offer for companies which are in need of personnel. The fund searches for appropriate candidates and gives financial supports if the chosen person needs to be trained within the firm for a period of 3 to 6 months.
Situation of the labour market
Mag. Pesendorfer told us that the present situation is quite a change. For the first time since the past years there are more jobs available than applicants. They count the double of open spots but have never had fewer applications during the last seven years. Some branches are especially difficult. Skilled workers, more than others metalworkers, are very rare and almost impossible to find. As a result the wage offers are increasing which is exactly the opposite of the past decade’s development. The problem is now that qualified and skilled people have a job and the next generation has lacks in basic education and certain areas don’t seem to be interesting as work fields anymore.
Firms and political decision makers are not able to react as fast as the labour market changes. The required actions need too much time to be developed and then they face the problem of high costs. Most of the cases would require further education, which is very expensive and time intensive. Fast solutions are almost not possible and so we are always trying to compensate the developments of the labour market but not really determining it.
The chosen way at the moment is the offered courses by the AMS. Jobless people are placed into different types of courses with contents which are promoted to be favourable or necessary for their qualification. The usefulness for the participants is often not given. The courses are mass producing. Individual training is impossible with the number of students they have and often the chosen programme is not suitable to the candidates’ profile. To find the correct and useful course for a person is difficult because it is oriented on the given offers and the courses have the goal to fulfil a certain number of participants. The organisation itself is caught in increasing bureaucratisation. Although it seems to be obvious that the programmes don’t achieve what they should, they have become very popular with the politicians over the past years. The reason for that is, that the persons being in training are not counted in the statistics of jobless people. So in the short-term there seems to be an improvement of the labour market situation but in the long run the problems remain because the expected success, which would be (re)integrating these people into working life in save occupations, fails to materialize. While with individual support programmes, which Mag. Pesendorfer used to offer, the rate of placement in jobs lies between 90 % and 100 %. Especially long-term unemployed need more support and individual coaching. In his opinion there should be much more working projects for these people.
He says that they need to be mobilised because they are trapped in their everyday life of doing nothing and time killing. It is very difficult to break this routine and most of them can’t do it without qualified help. The question should not be how to occupy people or how to get them out of the workless statistics but how to motivate them to lead their lives. They have to face fears and have to go beyond their personal bounds, which are different to those from working people and these probably can’t imagine. The worst cases are often men because they have to fulfil the society’s expectations and sense a lot of pressure. By not having a job they feel like they have failed and suffer from extreme loss of self-confidence.’
As many people claim, the Austrian education system doesn’t seem to be very good. Mag. Pesendorfer told how stunned he is from time to time how many illiterates there are in Austria. Meaning not being able to read or not understanding the sense of what they just read. The ability to speak and write a language is very important for working but also for personal issues like self definition. Here we have many people of the migrated population facing big problems. In the first generation we find people who have lived and worked here for several years but haven’t really learned German. Many young persons of the second and the third generation speak German but not good enough, not even Matura-level. At the same time they haven’t really learned the language of their parents. So they speak two languages but not one perfectly. This minors their chances on the labour market extremely while the basic situation is already difficult. Often companies have prejudices and prefer Austrian applicants to Turkish, Bosnians, Croatians, etc.
In general there is a lack of language knowledge noticeable. It is hard to find English- or other languages speaking personal in Austria, says Mag. Pesendorfer.
Another problem is the access to information or the ability to find it. Many people have never been confronted with the internet and are simply overwhelmed with the masses of available information. Research becomes an impossible challenge because they can’t filter what they need out of the useless.
What should be learned?
There is the need for certain basic education and especially teaching the ability and the interest to learn. In today’s society it is important to be open to new knowledge, obviously depending on the field, it will be necessary for most people to learn their whole life long. What is maybe most important that people learn that they can determine their lives and therefore should know what they want to do. More than ever it is important to be interested in what you are doing. For the persons themselves and for their chances on the labour market. At the moment it has to be made popular for older people to continue their education, in private and or supported by their employers.
From time to time there are trends within education. Seven years ago there was a run on “Fachhochschulen” but now they are not so popular anymore and many graduates end without a job. It bears some risks to choose an education because it has popularity with employers for a moment. Because these trends end and if the person’s choice hasn’t been what she/he really wanted to she/he will have to face some struggling.
3.4. AMS- Arbeitsmarktservice
The Austrian AMS, is a service for the labour market. It was founded on the 1st of July in 1994, when the administration of the labour market was given from the Federal Ministry of labour, health and social welfare to the AMS as a service business of the public law. Since it is working for the public law and the policy of full employment of the Federal Government, the elimination of unemployment is a goal to be reached.
As it is said on the homepage, they place manpower on jobs that are open, support people’s own initiative while looking for a job, and help people and businesses through advices, information, qualification and financial aid. The AMS today, with its about 4.800 employees, is leading on the labour market in Austria. It is structured in one federal organisation, nine regional and 99 local organisations. The social partners, like people of the Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Austrian Trade Unions (ÖGB) and so on, are incorporated in businesses of the AMS. The implementations are due to: the directorate at federal level, the administrator at regional level, and the manager of the local office at the local level.
On the AMS homepage the goals of the labour market policy in 2006 are defined, in which the guidelines of the European employment policy and the ones of the Federal Minister of economy and labour are implied. One of the aims was to try to avoid long-lasting exclusions of the employment system. There were set focus on the youth, elder people and women. Also Gender-Mainstreaming in the AMS, the equalization of women and men on the labour market, was an important topic in 2006. It was tried to make the clients satisfied by making customer surveys and put the results in the planning of the AMS. (www.ams.or.at, Zugriff: 10.07.2007)
Like with the other institutions that are important for our research paper, we were also trying to get an interview partner from the AMS. But on emails we didn’t get any helpful answers and by calling we were told by one person to call another one and so on. So we finally gave up.
Of course it is tried on the homepage of the AMS itself or by some politicians to portray it as if the organization was perfect and only show the positive things about it. “”Das AMS ist eine europäische Erfolgsstory", meinte dazu Arbeitsminister Martin Bartenstein.“ (www.ams.or.at, Zugriff: 10.07.2007) (The Secretary of labor, Martin Bartenstein said that the AMS is an European success story.)
But there is also a lot of critique. Just like an article about the AMS in the magazine that is sold on the street by homeless or deprived people called “Augustin”. Christine Werner has written a book called „Die Arbeitslosenpolizei“. (The police of the homeless.) Since it is not published yet, Augustin printed an excerption. The article, called “Die Fleißigen stehen früher auf” (Hard workers get up earlier.), is written in an ironical way and shows that the AMS courses are not that well as the AMS itself says. “Zu Kursbeginn wies die Einpeitscherin der Geschäftsleitung auf eine Vermittlungsquote von 80 Prozent hin. Sollen die Verbliebenen [im Kurs] wenigstens eine Zeitlang denken, es hätten die anderen den erfolgreichen Aufstieg geschafft.“ (Werner Christine: 2007:15) (At the beginning people were told that there is a job placing rate of 80 per cent. The ones left in the course should at least for some time believe that the others made a successful way up.) So Christine Werner shows the senselessness of these courses.
We regret that we didn’t get to meet an interview person and so we couldn’t ask and find out if there is a sense for social polarisation and if so what is done against it (there is nothing to find about that topic on their homepage). We also found it interesting that on the one hand they didn’t tell us that it is not possible to get an interview but on the other hand we were told from one person to contact another one so at the end we did not get an interview.
4. Linking Theory and Field Research
When linking our empirical findings to the literature about the field, we found the UNESCO paper quite useful as it gives a broad overview over the motivations in the field of educational institutions today.
“The concept of learning throughout life thus emerges as one of the keys
to the twenty-first century.” (UNESCO: 22)
We found that this quotation out of the UNESCO paper holds true for all of the institutions which we interviewed.
Especially Dr.Stage from the bfi maintained that vocational training for the so-called working class became important in the 1920s.
Before, this kind of training was often considered unnecessary and the fields of vocational training and education remained privileges of the bourgeoisie.
Also, Dr.Stage put a clear emphasis on the fact that only some twenty years ago, once a person had completed an academic formation for instance, he or she did not have to worry about further training anymore.
On the contrary, we face today a situation in the labor market forcing freshly graduated academics to go on looking for some further formation.
And throughout their whole career, people today face defiances leading them to what is called “life long learning”.
Therefore we think that although the concept of “life long learning” as such might be interesting, it has become something people do not follow out of interest but out of coercion.
Also, in the form that we experience this concept nowadays, it is not something that emerged in the twentieth century but something that surged from the 1990s onwards.
“Therefore, in a wide set of economic activities what constitutes success is not so much having access to a stock of specialized knowledge. The key to success is, rather, rapid learning and forgetting (when old ways of doing things get in the way of learning new ways). Narrowly defined skills may actually even hamper rather than support economic success.” (Lundvall/Archibugi, 2002:1)
We found that this quotation was not reflected in any of the results of our interviews.
All of the institutions interviewed by us are private institutions with little financial support from the state. Therefore they are in a competition with each other, trying to acquire as much clients as possible.
As people nowadays are told over and over again how decisive it is for their career that they have a formation leading to a solid profession, the educational institutions’ clients are often not looking for education as such but for serious professional training.
In order to make profit and to win over the rivals in the field of educational training, educational institutions do, in contrast to what Lundvall and Archibugi suggest, address their clients with narrowly defined programs seeking to appeal to the needs of the labor market.
“While it is generally accepted that the public sector has a role to play in enhancing human resources, at least in organizing the training of young people, it has been assumed that firms by themselves will easily find the best way to organize themselves. Contrary to this assumption, we recommend a much more active role for government in this area.” (Lundvall, 2002: 280)
We found that firms seek the support of educational institutions in order to find the best employees. Not only do the institutions find the employees for the firms but they work out especially tailored training programmes for the future personnel.
These programmes are carried out by the private educational institutions and highly financed by the state in order to lower unemployment rates.
The firms do not bear any risk but may profit from well trained employees.
We therefore conclude that the “self-organization of the market” does not work efficiently in this area but only leads to higher burdens for the state, probably meaning higher tax burdens, and training programmes with a high range in quality rather than clearly defined curricula providing all employees of one business sector with similar qualifications. This is why we agree with Lundvall that the government should play a more active role in the field of education.
In the end we want to give a quote by the brazilian pedagogue Paolo Freire, which has a deeper meaning that we didn’t even get to start to talk about with our interview partners from all the different institutions. We prefer to use this quote as an initiation to think about our work from a different point of view.
„Der erzogene Mensch ist der angepaßte Mensch, denn er paßt besser in die Welt. In die Praxis übersetzt dient dieses Konzept in hervorragender Weise den Absichten der Unterdrücker, deren Ruhe davon abhängt, wie gut Menschen in die Welt passen, die die Unterdrücker geschaffen haben, und wie wenig sie sie in Frage stellen.“ (Freire, 1984:64)
Freire says that the educated human being is an adapted human being, because he or she fits better in the world. In practice this and that they question so little, serves the aims of the oppressors, which created the world.
5. References
Literature:
- BFI Kursprogramm 2007
- Bridge, Gary/Watson, Sophie (2000): City Differences. In: Gary Bridge/Sophie Watson (eds.): A Companion to the City. Oxford: Blackwell. 251 - 260.
- Chawla, Sarita and Renesch, John (eds.): Learning Organizations, Productivity Press, 1995
- Freeman, Chris (2002): 8. The Learning Economy and International Inequality. In: Daniele Archibugi/Bengt-Ake Lundvall (eds.): The Globalizing Learning Economy. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 147-163.
- Freire, Paulo (1984): Pädogogik der Unterdrückten. Bildung als Praxis der Freiheit. Reinbeck bei Hamburg: Rowohlt: Kap. 3
- Hamnett, Chris (2000): Gentrification, Postindustrialism, and Industrial and Occupational Restructuring in Global Cities. In: Gary Bridge/Sophie Watson (eds.): A Companion to the City. Oxford: Blackwell. 331 - 341.
- Hamnett, Chris (2001): Social Segregation and Social Polarisation. In: Ronan Paddison (ed.): Handbook of Urban Studies. London: SAGE. 143-1611
- Lundvall, Bengt-Ake (2002): Innovation Policy in the Globalizing Learning Economy. The Globalizing Learning Economy. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 273-310.
- Lundvall, Bengt-Ake/Archibugi, Daniele (2002): Introduction: Europe and the Learning Economy. The Globalizing Learning Economy. 1-19.
- Moulaert, Frank/Sekia, Farid (2003): Territorial Innovation Models: A Critical Survey. In: Regional Studies 37 (3), 289 - 302.
- Moulaert, Frank/Nussbaumer, Jacques (2005): The social region - Beyond the territorial dynamics of the Learning Economy. In: European Urban and Regional Studies 12 (1), 45-64.
- Moulaert, Frank/Swyngedouw, Erik/Rodriguez, Arantxa (eds., 2003): The Globalized City. Economic restructuring and social polarization in European Cities. Oxford: Oxford University Press: Chapter 2 and 3
- Novy, Andreas/Redak, Vanessa/Jäger, Johannes/Hamedinger, Alexander (2001): The End of Red Vienna: Recent Ruptures and Continuities in Urban Governance. In: European Urban and Regional Studies 8 (2), 131-144.
- Novy, Andreas/Lengauer, Lukas/Trippl, Michaela (2006): Thematic Synthesis Paper 6: Development. Demologos Discussion Paper.
- Novy, Andreas (2005a): Didaktische Anregungen der Befreiungspädagogik Paulo Freires für die Entwicklungsforschung. In: SRE-DISC.2005/01. Wien: Institut für Regional- und Umweltwirtschaft.
- Novy, Andreas (2005b): Von Paulo Freire lernen. In: Gerald Faschingeder/N. Ornig (eds.): Globalisierung ent-wickeln. Eine Reflexion über Entwicklung, Globalisierung udn Repolitisierung. Wien: Mandelbaum.
- Redak, Vanessa/Novy, Andreas/Becker, Joachim (2003): Modernizing or Polarizing Vienna? In: Frank Moulaert/Arantxa Rodriguez/Erik Swyngedouw (eds.): The Globalized City - Economic Restructuring and Social Polarisation in European Cities. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 167-180.
- Senge Peter (2006): The Fifth Discipline, Doubleday.
- Soete, Luc (2002): The New Economy: A European Perspective. In: Daniele Archibugi/Bengt-Ake Lundvall (eds.): The Globalizing Learning Economy: Oxford University Press. 21-45.
- Steinbach, Josef, Mösgen, Andrea, Kaiser, Alexandra (2005): Historische Sozialraumanalyse für das Wiener Stadtgebiet II: 1971-1981-1991-2001. In: Reihe "Dokumentation - Erarbeitung STEP Wien 2005", Stadtentwicklung Wien (ed.). Wien.
- Tödtling, Franz/Trippl, Michaela (2006): Knowledge links in high-technology industries: markets, networks or milieu? The case of the Vienna biotechnology cluster. In: International Journal Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management.
- Trippl, Michaela/Tödtling, Franz (2006): From the ivory tower to the market place? The changing role of knowledge organisations in spurring the development of biotechnology clusters in Austria. In: SRE-Discussion 2006/07. Wien: Institute for Regional Development and Environment. Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration.
- Trippl, Michaela/von Gabain, Joshua/Tödtling, Franz (2006): Policy agents as catalysts of knowledge links in the biotechnology sector. Wien: Institute for Regional Development and Environment. Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration.
- UNESCO: Learning: The treasure within. Report to UNESCO of the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century. UNESCO publishing.
- WAFF Informationsfolder für das Jahr 2007
- Werner, Christine (2007): Die Arbeitslosenpolizei. Die Fleißigen stehen früher auf. In: Augustin. Nr.:206, S.14-15.
- WIFI Kursbuch 2007
Internet:
www.ams.or.at
www.bfi.at
www.waff.at
www.wifi.at
[Letzter Zugriff auf alle 19.07.2007]
Interviews:
BFI: Dr. Stage – Geschäftsführer. Datum: 11.06.2007
WIFI: Mag Fh Barbara Wichart. Datum: 15.06.2007
WAFF: Mag Harald Pesendorfer. Datum: 13.06.2007
Elisabeth Solacher - 8. Nov, 08:25
