Abstracts - Earli

also considered. Both the individual and social levels are examined. The constraints of learning areapproached from three perspectives: i) authentic learning experiences of employees from varioussectors, ii) professional development and identity negotiations of employees aged 40+ fromvarious work contexts and iii) vocational learning among young adults’ in the workplace. We askhow the learning and development of vocational identities are related to the various learningconstraints and restrictions present in the socio-cultural contexts of the workplace. The studyutilizes a diversity of empirical data collected in Finland. Interviews were conducted in anindustrial design company and in various carpenters’ workplaces. Also office and nursing staffwere interviewed. Altogether 70 employees were interviewed. Various qualitative methods wereused in analysing the interview data. The data on the young adults in their workplace learningcontexts was collected with Internet questionnaires (N = 1071). These vocational educationstudents represented six fields of vocational education and training. The results showed that inmost fields/vocations/professions lack of time and human resources in the workplace were mostserious factors restricting learning. Also, organisational reforms were perceived by workers to bevery challenging and dilemmatic. Vocational students’ experiences of the most restrictive factorsvalidate the picture by demonstrating that the shortage of student guidance in the workplace seemsto cause the most serious limitations on learning among the younger workers.The model of selective optimization with compensation as a basis for measuring self-competencein the domain of business and commerceSusanne Weber, University of Munich, GermanyLena Arends, University of Göttingen, GermanyIn current policy debates, one of the major concerns refers to the question whether education andtraining systems are able to equip young people with the ability to "adjust" to changes inorganisational structures, work processes, and technology. Increasing economicinternationalisation as well as political and social standardisation in Europe has placed a range ofdemands upon vocational education and training with regard to efficiency, coherence, andflexibility. In the domain of work, individuals are expected to be adaptive, innovative, and selfdirected.In this regard, recent international assessment programmes of students’ and adults’competencies (e.g., PISA, ALL) provide an important tool for policy decisions. In vocational andoccupational education and training comparable concepts are completely missing. The paperpresents a life-span approach for conceptualising vocational self-competence, arguing thatindividual strategies of successful life management are one of the essential prerequisites tosuccessfully meet the challenges in today’s work environments. The central domain of selfcompetenceis linked to the model of Selective Optimization with Compensation (SOC) from lifespanpsychology (e.g., Baltes & Baltes, 1990). Based on a comparison of two Germanapprenticeship programmes it can be demonstrated how SOC-strategies in VET are beingdeveloped in young adulthood. This provides a basis for understanding and explaining aspects ofvocational self-competence from a developmental perspective in the domain of business andcommerce.Subjectivities at work: the potency of dispositionStephen Billett, Griffith University, AustraliaUnderstanding what motivates and directs human cognition and how this is shaped by and shapesrelations with the social world remain a key concern for learning theorists (e.g. Silven 2002). Here,the role of individual subjectivities in the form of dispositions (e.g. interest, preferences andvalues) is investigated to elaborate the potency of those dispositions in terms of thinking, acting– 479 –