Investigating Transferable Skills in Early Childhood Education and Care PhD Programs in Norway and Greece
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7577/njcie.6393Keywords:
Transferable Skills in Doctoral Education, Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC), Ph.D. Training, Ph.D. Employability and Knowledge Economy, transversal skillsAbstract
The article investigates how transferable skills are defined, supported, and evidenced in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) doctoral training in Norway and Greece. Addressing a documented gap—fragmented definitions and weak operationalisation across Europe—it combines semi-structured interviews with doctoral researchers (n=20) and a document scan of institutional websites and course catalogues (n=70). The review assessed visibility, framing, and assessment of transferable-skills provision; interviews traced candidates’ reported development through supervision, collaboration, and day-to-day research practice. Results show shared formal recognition but divergent implementation. In Norway—via research-school infrastructures, competency frameworks, and structured ties to employment—transferable skills are purposefully integrated and periodically monitored. In Greece, references appear largely rhetorical: limited coursework, few institutional mechanisms, and minimal cross-sector engagement. Across both settings, candidates depict skill acquisition as tacit and emergent rather than explicitly taught. The analysis identifies a persistent policy–practice delta. Governance capacity and institutional culture condition what becomes visible as “skill” and where responsibility for its development is located. The study contributes comparative, evidence-based guidance on aligning doctoral curricula and supervisory practice with labour-market expectations, clarifying where targeted coursework, assessment, and partnership structures are most likely to close the implementation gap.
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