McMahon, E; Spillane, J P and Bradley, J G (2023) When enough is not enough! Evaluating the minimum entry requirements for apprenticeships in Ireland. In: Tutesigensi, A and Neilson, C J (eds.) Proceedings of 39th Annual ARCOM Conference, 4-6 September 2023, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
Abstract
In Ireland, enrolment in built environment apprenticeships requires the satisfaction of minimum entry criteria of at least five pass grades in the Junior Certificate examinations or equivalent. This study looks at the correlation between the academic performance in these examinations and successful completion of the apprenticeship process. It concerns 60 randomly selected carpentry and joinery, electrical and plumbing apprentices, registered between 2010 and 2016 with an expected completion date between 2014 and 2020. This paper presents a dataset for evaluating apprenticeship entry requirements and assessing the influence of STEM subjects on apprenticeship completion. The study found on average, 55% of candidates presenting with Junior Certificate completed their apprenticeship, growing to 100% as the candidates' prior academic achievement increased. Additionally, the impact of mathematics entry level was significant, with completion rates increasing to 100% when higher level mathematics was undertaken. Because of the lack of readily available data, limited research exists evaluating entry requirements and as such the key contribution of this research will be to provide a base for further investigations and increase eventual apprenticeship completion rates
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | academic performance, apprenticeship completion, barriers to learning, learning analytics, vocational education and training |
| Index terms: | dataset, built environment, apprenticeship, vocational education and training, Ireland, satisfaction, academic achievement, academic performance, plumbing, investigation, enrolment |
| Subjects: | infrastructure and transport systems, mechanical systems, educational resources, data management, assessment methods, recruitment and enrolment, professional education, student development, Geography, data collection methods, project delivery |
| Topics: | Design Practice, Research Practice, Geographical Context, Urban Studies, Digital Applications, Education, Project Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here