CHAPTER 16
Swiss Federal Office for Professional Education and Technology
Advanced Diploma Examinations for Professional Credentialing
Ursula Renold
Lifelong learning is one of the most important challenges of the 21st century due to several societal and economic changes, such as an aging population, ongoing globalization, and rapid technological changes. It is no longer possible to enter into the labor market and to stay there without regularly continuing one’s education. However, simultaneously continuing or furthering one’s education while earning a livelihood is not easy for most of the population to do. At different ages, learners have different needs for educational content and form. Moreover, the education system should take better account prior learning. Improving education and workforce development across the life span requires a flexible program that is closely linked to the needs of the labor market.
Background
The professional education and training (PET) program presented in this chapter has a long standing tradition in Switzerland. It started in 1933, with the federal advanced PET diploma and was expanded in 1963 to include the federal PET diploma. Until 2004, these diplomas were considered industry-driven credentials and not tertiary (post-secondary) education programs. PET is an example of how the responsibilities of lifelong learning and training can be shared among the learners, the organizations that provide the education and training, and the businesses or governmental bodies, as stated in the preface to this book.
The federal PET examinations are an integral component of the Swiss education system, leading to the two diplomas cited above. The federal PET diploma is normally a prerequisite and admission condition to enter into the upper levels of education. The advanced PET diploma is considered the highest degree in the occupational field. In some programs, a Ph.D. may be considered an admission prerequisite.
When the federal advanced PET diploma was enacted in the first Vocational Education and Training Act in 1933, it was considered to be a purely professional developmental program and not a formal degree of tertiary education. The second type of program, the federal PET diploma, was enacted in the second federal Vocational Education and Training (VET) Act in 1963. Systemically, both educational levels were upgraded with the fourth Vocational and Professional Education (VPET) Act in 2004 by integrating these programs into the tertiary education level. They included not only commercial and industrial work and educational areas but also the employment fields of health, social work, art, agriculture, and forestry.1 The structure of the Swiss education system and the embedded national PET exams discussed in this chapter is shown in Exhibit 16-1.
Program Description
The national PET examinations are the core of the career preparation system in Switzerland. They assess the competencies required in the labor market because they are closely linked with the professional organizations of an occupational field. Switzerland currently has approximately 800 such programs, which are implemented nationwide. These programs cover the entire spectrum of occupational functions in the Swiss economy, including corporate auditor, information technology specialist, master electrician, sales manager, financial analyst, police officer, head of production, human resources specialist, site manager (structural engineer), and marketing manager.
The program is open to a variety of target audiences and uses different training forms depending on the prerequisites and time constraints of the learner. These features make this program very attractive to a broad target audience of different age groups during the entire working life. The average age of candidates is 32 years at the federal PET diploma level and 35.2 years at the advanced federal PET diploma level.2 All of the candidates must have several years of professional experience. A study has found that, on average, 8 to 9 years have passed since the acquisition of the candidates’ previous educational qualification or degree.3 Most candidates aspire to earn a PET diploma in order to be promoted in their company.
Exhibit 16-1. The Swiss education system.
Source: Swiss Federal Office for Professional Education and Technology, 2012, p. 6.
The professional organizations take the lead in determining the guiding the principles and content of the exams. They determine the competency requirements, draft the examination rules, and administer the yearly examinations. Other partners involved include the federal administration, which approves and supervises the examinations. The federal administration also acts if the examination results are contested. Public and private education institutions offer individual preparation courses according to the specific needs of the candidates. However, these courses are not regulated. The vast majority of candidates who prepare for and take the examinations are already employed either part-time or full-time. In most cases, their company covers part of the cost of the preparation courses,4 because most companies want their employees to develop the necessary professional skills and to meet the qualification standards of the professional association.
Program Design
Formally, the program entails a federally regulated examination with clear qualification standards, exam criteria, and detailed regulatory admission conditions. The guiding principle, objectives, and examination requirements are established by the professional association and are approved by the federal government. Uniquely, the exam assesses the tasks that professionals are called on to perform typical working situations. This ensures the employability of the candidates. The approach is comparable to the so-called problem-based learning method, where the problems come from the real world of work.5 This ensures the learning transfer from theory to practice. The exam is written by representatives of the companies who have expertise in the professional field assessed by the exam.
One of the main advantages of this program is the individualized educational path that each candidate takes to prepare for the examination. Although the tests for all candidates are the same nationwide, the preparatory courses can vary greatly, depending on the candidate’s prior learning. Attendance in the preparatory courses is voluntary.
Four pathways to the federal PET diploma are shown in Exhibit 16-2. This exhibit shows the permeability of the Swiss education system. Higher education, continuing education, retraining, the upgrading of skills, and qualification throughout one’s entire life are possible. For example, workers can start by taking two or three courses to retool their skills. Then they realize they can earn a formal degree if they take more courses in areas in which they lack knowledge, and thus they decide to prepare for one of the regulated examinations. Because of the individualized education paths, the length and method of training is highly variable, depending on how many preparatory courses candidates need and on how much time they have available to prepare. The education system is flexible to meet the different needs of the workforce. This program enables permeability between the academic and vocational or professional education pathways.
Exhibit 16-2. Different pathways (A–D) to the advanced federal PET diploma in human resources management.
Practical experience means how much years people have worked in different jobs before they take the federal examination. For example, they may have worked 2 years in business administration as an allrounder or 4 years in an HR department. Recognized practical experience means how many years a person has in the occupational field in which he or she would like to complete the federal examinations. The latter is an admission requirement for review. The professional organization that carried out the examination decides if that work experience is counted for admission to the examination. For example, if a person does an Adv. Fed. Diploma in HR Management, he or she has to prove (e.g. submitting employment references) that he or she has worked in HR departments of companies for at least 4 years as a deputy manager or in an equivalent leading position.
Source: Swiss Federal Office for Professional Education and Technology, 2012, p. 11.
Program Outcomes and Effects
Expectations for program outcomes and effects are diverse. Employers expect that the program will provide well-qualified professionals to improve the productivity and innovation performance of their company in the new economy. Candidates wish to develop their career, to pursue their passions, to take on more responsibility at work, and perhaps to earn a higher salary. The program fulfills these expectations.
Number of Individuals Served
It is difficult to determine how many people are currently enrolled in the preparatory courses, because enrollment is voluntary. But there are a large number of examinations that the professional organizations administer. Exhibit 16-3 lists the number of diplomas awarded each year, which raises the question of how these numbers compare to other qualifications at the tertiary level. The number of educational degrees at tertiary level B is comparable. In addition to the federal examinations, the degrees are quantified at the tertiary level as bachelor’s, master’s, and Ph.D.s at universities; bachelor’s and master’s at the University of Applied Sciences and at teachers’ universities; and the PET college degree. The total number of degrees at the tertiary level was 69,968 in the 2012 cohort.6 Approximately one of every four candidates took the national PET examination.
Exhibit 16-3. Number of diplomas awarded in the federal PET program.
Source: Swiss Federal Statistical Office, 2013.
There are about 800 different federal examinations. Exhibit 16-4 lists the 20 most frequently completed PET exams in 2012; a total of 7,901 exams were taken. These 20 professions covered approximately 59% of all of the federal PET diploma examinations. On the advanced federal PET diploma level, among the top 20 professions, 1,937 exams were taken (Exhibit 16-5). The 20 most common professions covered approximately 69% of all degrees.7
Enrollment/Completion Ratio
The individualized preparation process for this program make it difficult to obtain detailed information about the candidates. But a nonrepresentative research study in 2009 provided the average exam rates of the two programs for 2006–2007 (Exhibit 16-6).
Thus, the average graduation rate from the preparatory programs was 85%, the success rate on the exam was 87%, and the registration rate was 96%. This means that 96 out of 100 students on average registered for the exam. Of these 96 students, 87% were successful, which results in an overall completion rate of 85%. Conversely, 13% of the candidates failed. The reasons for failure were diverse. In 25% of all cases, the lack of skills of the candidates was responsible for the failure. In other cases, excessive time demands at work interfered with preparing for the exams, or the preparation courses did not sufficiently match the design of the exam.8 These candidates needed either more preparation time or better preparation guidance.
Exhibit 16-4. The 20 most common professions in the federal PET diploma examinations in 2012.
Source: Swiss Federal Statistical Office, 2013.
Return on Investment Metrics
Because the program is well established, there are several metrics and newly gathered research results available. One study focused on two metrics: impact on salary and return on education. According to the study, the average gross monthly income of the successful candidates considerably increased, and the candidates were given more responsibility.9 The program helps candidates fulfill their aspirations and find the next step on their career path.
Exhibit 16-5. The 20 most common professions in the advanced federal PET diploma examinations in 2012.
Source: Swiss Federal Statistical Office, 2013.
Exhibit 16-6. Average exam rates of the federal PET diploma, 2006–2007.
Source: Büro für arbeits-und sozialpolitische Studien (BASS) (Centre for Labor and Social Policy Studies. This is private research institution. The study was made on behalf of the Swiss Federal Office for Professional Education and Technology.), 2009, p. 80 (most recent data is shown).
Exhibit 16-7. Prevalence of mixed education pathways.
Source: Swiss Federal Office for Professional Education and Technology, 2012, p. 12.
Another study found that “the labor market rewards the additional qualifications that individual gathers while switching between the two sides [vocational or academic] of the educational system.”10 In the so-called mixed education paths, when students first chose a vocational or professional pathway and later sought an academic education, or vice versa, wages were on average 10% to 30% higher compared with workers who chose a traditional academic or professional pathway (Exhibit 16-7). The program may become an incentive for employees to plan their careers, independent of their educational background. It is a very efficient instrument to retool their skills for the new economy.
Important outcome and impact indicators are described in the Swiss Education Report.11 The return on education for the formal degrees for males in the Swiss education system is shown in Exhibit 16-8.
Although these statistics cannot provide detailed information regarding the specific returns on the education of the program discussed in this chapter, the high returns on education, which can be achieved in the tertiary B area is shown in Exhibit 16-8. The high fiscal return, in particular, is striking, and may be due to the fact that the participants receive very little subsidy from the state but earn high wages after training. Thus, the state receives high tax revenues from these participants but paid them low subsidies, which explains the high fiscal returns on education.
Benefits to Employers
From the employer’s perspective, the program is a necessity for gaining qualified employees, especially since approximately 98% of all companies in Switzerland are small to medium-sized enterprises that could not afford to train their own workers. Thus, the program is also a necessity for the Swiss economy, as it is it appears to increase the productivity and innovation of employees. The Swiss Economic Institute (ETHZ) is currently researching this issue, and analyzing whether and to what extent the degree mix of employees has an effect on productivity and innovation.
Exhibit 16-8. Private, fiscal, and social returns on education for males.
Source: Schweizerische Koordinationsstelle für Bildungsforschung (Swiss Coordination Centre for Research in Education SCCRE. This is an institution under the auspices of the Swiss federal government and the Swiss Conference of Cantonal Ministers of Education (EDK).) (Swiss Education Report), 2010.
Lessons Learned
The long tradition of this program shows that employers and employees support its ongoing development, and candidates are devoted to its mission. The cooperation between the involved partners has worked well over time. Nevertheless, it is important that the program is continually evaluated, so that weaknesses can be identified and corrected and to ensure the program’s continued success.
Despite the high fiscal return on education on the tertiary level, questions remain about whether there is sufficient financial equity among the candidates and the employers, and whether some candidates experience problems in financing their preparation and in finding time to study.12 These issues have been addressed in a research study that provided important insights, even though the participants in the study did not form a representative sample.13
The most important element for the functioning of the program is the commitment of the employers. Employers also must continue to support their professional associations. Employers must be prepared to motivate their employees for training and to support them during the educational process. Due to an increasing school dropout rate, Switzerland faces a problem with the recruitment of well-qualified professionals. Identifying and retaining employees should be the companies’ goal, and thus this type of training program will play a large role in attracting young professionals.
Challenges to Implementation
Although the Swiss professional examinations program has very good outcomes, it is difficult to determine what value such a program would have worldwide. Outside of Switzerland, only Germany and Austria are aware of these s types of programs. One of the major challenges in the future will be to generate international awareness of this excellent program, which may be worth emulating in other countries. The European Qualifications Framework, which is an organization guided by the European Union (Copenhagen process), could help disseminate this program worldwide.
The Swiss government is currently working on a national qualifications framework to compare qualifications in the Swiss education system with validated qualification standards and outcomes, so that some of these training programs may be recognized as being equivalent to a master’s degree.
Expansion and Replication
The program has great potential to be replicated, especially as Switzerland’s fourth Vocational and Professional Education Training Act14 also covers health, social, and artistic professions. The aging of society in Switzerland, as well as in other countries, requires more skilled professionals in the future and specifically more lifelong learning possibilities to retool skills. Thus, new national programs will be launched in these professional fields, including programs in fields that have been established in recent years, such as the advanced federal PET diploma in anesthesia, intensive care, and emergency care.
Conclusion
The Swiss federal and advanced federal PET diploma examinations program is a success for all partners involved. It is an example of how to improve workers’ lifelong learning. It is a great advantage to tailor this program to an individual’s needs. Tailored learning pathways also take into account prior learning outcomes and make education more efficient. Switzerland’s program offers adults who are already on the job the possibility to retool their skills for the new economy.
The international recognition of the Swiss diplomas is a challenge. The European Qualifications Framework could provide a means for more transparency in qualifications and degrees. This study can help to launch a broader discussion on the transferability of such an approach to other countries, so that the program may be recognized worldwide in the near future.
Notes
1. Swiss Confederation, Vocational and Professional Education and Training Act of 2004, Article 2: object and scope. “This Act applies to all occupational fields except those covered by the higher education sector (ISCED 5A)….”
2. Econcept, Befragung der Kandidatinnen und Kandidaten der eidgenössischen Prüfungen im Bereich der höheren Berufsbildung. Bern: OPET, 2011, p. 22.
3. Ibid., p. 26.
4. Office for Labor and Policy Studies (BASS). Finanzflüsse in der höheren Berufsbildung—Eine Analyse aus der Sicht der Studierenden. Bern: OPET, 2009.
5. Renold, U. (2000). Mit Problem-Based Learning Sozialkompetenz fördern. Trainingsansatz für die Erwachsenenbildung: Grundlagen der Weiterbildung-Praxishilfen. Ausgabe Februar.
6. Swiss Federal Statistical Office (2012). Swiss Training System, Training Indicators, Diplomas and Competences, Trainings Competed for Tertiary Education. Bern: Swiss Federal Statistical Office.
7. Ibid. Author’s calculations.
8. Bass, p. 79.
9. Econcept, Ibid., p. 33f.
10. Tuor, S.N. & Backes-Gellner, U. (2010.) “Risk-return trade-offs to different educational paths: vocational, academic and mixed.” International Journal of Manpower, 31(5): 495–519.
11. Swiss Coordination Centre for Research in Education (SKBF) (2010). Swiss Education Report, 2010. Aarau, Switzerland: SKBF.
12. Econcept.
13. Ibid., p. 79. Most recent data are referenced.
14. Swiss Confederation, Vocational and Professional Education and Training Act of 2004.