European Apprenticeship: A Model for the U.S.?

Johann Fortwengel

Johann Fortwengel

Free University Berlin

Dr. Johann Fortwengel is a Postdoctoral Fellow at Freie Universität Berlin, Department of Management, and the University of South Carolina, International Business Department.

Parke Nicholson

Parke Nicholson was previously the Senior Research Associate at AICGS. He was selected to participate in the Munich Young Leaders 2016 program at the 52nd Munich Security Conference. Previously, he worked at the Center for the National Interest and the Council on Foreign Relations. In 2008, he served on the foreign policy staff at Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign headquarters. He has also worked abroad in Austria and Germany: in 2005 through the Fulbright Program in Klagenfurt and in 2010-2011 as a Robert Bosch Foundation Fellow working in the German Foreign Office for the Coordinator of Transatlantic Cooperation and for Daimler AG’s Political Intelligence unit in Stuttgart.

Parke has recently published in Foreign Affairs, The National Interest, The Baltimore Sun, and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. He received his MA in International Relations from The Elliott School of International Affairs at The George Washington University and a BA in History and Violin Performance at The College of Wooster in Ohio.

Issue Brief 49

What are elements of a successful apprenticeship system? To what degree should businesses be engaged in educating their workforce, and what other actors should participate in decision-making and evaluation? How can apprenticeship fit within the existing education system? The AGI project “Employment, Education, and Training: Apprenticeship Models in Europe and the United States” looks to answer these questions, drawing on lessons from the European experiences that can be applied to the U.S. system. A group of experts participated in AGI’s study tour to Germany, France, Hungary, and the United Kingdom, visiting employers and schools where the apprenticeship model is flourishing. The recommendations in this Issue Brief stem from the group’s experiences in Europe, and offer a candid assessment of the viability of such a system for the United States.

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The views expressed are those of the author(s) alone. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the American-German Institute.