HR policies and practices in vocational education and training institutions: understanding the implementation gap through the lens of discourses

Vocational education and training (VET) institutions face serious challenges, like educational innovations and upcoming teacher shortages, which require them to invest in their human capital. However, the implementation of human resources (HR) policies and practices often stagnates. Using the Dutch VET sector as an exemplary case, we show that the implementation gap can be understood by employing a discourse perspective. The distinction between a control vs. a commitment approach to HR served as a lens through which we analysed how actors at state and school level perceived the goals, necessity and features of HR policy. The results reveal no contradictions between actors concerning the goal of HR. Contradictions are, however, found related to the way in which HR should be shaped and implemented. Teachers and managers think governments’ view about HR is too much control oriented and that commitment strategies have to be added for HR to be effective.     

Estimating herd-specific force of infection by using random-effects models for clustered binary data and monotone fractional polynomials

Summary.  In veterinary epidemiology, we are often confronted with hierarchical or clustered data. Typically animals are grouped within herds, and consequently we cannot ignore the possibility of animals within herds being more alike than between herds. Based on a serological survey of bovine herpes virus type 1 in cattle, we describe a method for the estimation of herd-specific rates at which susceptible animals acquire the infection at different ages. In contrast with the population-averaged force of infection, this method allows us to model the herd-specific force of infection, allowing investigation of the variability between herds. A random-effects approach is used to account for the correlation in the data, allowing us to study both population-averaged and herd-specific force of infection. In contrast, generalized estimating equations can be used when interest is only in the population-averaged force of infection. Further, a flexible predictor model is needed to describe the dependence of covariates appropriately. Fractional polynomials as proposed by Royston and Altman offer such flexibility. However, the flexibility of this model should be restricted, since only positive forces of infection have a meaningful interpretation.