Conference Program

In recent years, the governance of Vocational Education and Training (VET) in Europe has increasingly relied on quality assurance frameworks, indicators and evidence-producing infrastructures (European Commission, 2019; Cedefop, 2007). Instruments such as the European Quality Assurance Reference Framework for Vocational Education and Training (EQAVET), benchmarking mechanisms and skills tracking systems have expanded the role of knowledge in shaping educational policy (Cedefop, 2023; European Commission, 2019). Within this evolving landscape, research and data do not merely inform policy decisions; they actively contribute to the construction of policy problems, priorities and legitimate solutions (Ozga, 2009; Ball, 2012).

This paper investigates how knowledge production operates as a governing mechanism within contemporary European VET policy. Drawing on recent strategic and technical documents - including the European Commission’s Union of Skills communication, EQAVET network materials and Cedefop research reports - the study examines how quality assurance and evidence-based coordination contribute to the regulation and alignment of national education systems (Cedefop, 2021; Baltiņa et al., 2025). Rather than assessing policy effectiveness, the analysis focuses on how policy knowledge frames educational challenges and structures the range of acceptable interventions, by explicitly foregrounding the role of research and academic knowledge.

Methodologically, the study adopts a multi-layered qualitative design integrating thematic document analysis, critical policy discourse analysis and insights from interpretive policy studies (Schwartz-Shea & Yanow, 2013; Fairclough, 2023). The empirical corpus includes European policy communications, quality assurance guidelines, network reports and analytical studies produced between 2005 and 2025. The analysis proceeds in three stages: first, thematic coding identifies recurring policy categories such as quality gaps, performance and skills shortages; second, discourse analysis explores how these categories stabilize specific rationalities of governance, emphasizing competitiveness, adaptability and labour-market alignment (Fairclough, 2023); third, drawing on the sociology of policy instruments, the study examines how quality assurance mechanisms - such as EQAVET peer review cycles and benchmarking indicators - function as knowledge infrastructures that render heterogeneous national systems comparable and governable (Lascoumes & Le Galès, 2007).

The findings suggest that quality frameworks increasingly operate as cognitive and institutional infrastructures for policy coordination. Through standardized indicators, monitoring systems and peer learning processes, instruments such as EQAVET facilitate forms of “soft governance” based on shared metrics and comparative knowledge rather than formal legal harmonization. In this context, research performs a dual role: it provides analytical insight while simultaneously shaping the categories through which educational problems are defined and addressed.

These developments raise important questions about the politics of education governance. Structural inequalities risk being reframed as technical issues of skills deficits or quality improvement, while the growing reliance on indicators and data infrastructures reinforces technocratic forms of policy coordination. At the same time, the flexible architecture of frameworks such as EQAVET leaves room for more reflexive and participatory approaches to knowledge production and policy evaluation.