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Vocational Education and Professionals

The researchers in the Research Unit Vocational Qualification and Skilled Workers analyse what contribution vocational education and training makes to the economy and society, and to what extent it succeeds in securing the supply of skilled workers for companies. The aim is to make vocational education and training future-oriented in order to better meet the requirements accompanying the transformation of the economy with structural change and ecological change, demographic development and internationalisation, as well as the increasing demands of the working environment that are associated with these developments.

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The focus is on the dual system of vocational education and training with its two learning venues: company and vocational school. The researchers are investigating how dual training can be further developed in order to make even better use of the potential of the next generation in vocational qualification. In addition, the thematic cluster will analyse trends in in-company continuing vocational training and digital education in order to identify ways in which lifelong and digital learning can be intensified. Since international skilled workers are becoming increasingly important in securing skilled labour, the thematic cluster analyses foreign vocational training systems and vocational qualifications and makes them available in a user-friendly form in order to enable users to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the new skilled labour immigration law. The thematic cluster analyses the skilled labour situation on the basis of the specially developed IW skilled labour database, surveys within the framework of the IW personnel panel and statistical evaluations as well as qualitative survey methods.

Contact Persons

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Melanie Behrendt

Melanie Behrendt

Team Leader Kompetenzzentrum Fachkräftesicherung

Tel: +49 221 4981-702
Lucija Bozic

Lucija Bozic

Administrator BQ-Portal

Tel: +49 221-4981-847
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Alexander Burstedde

Alexander Burstedde

Senior Economist for qualification and securing skilled workers

Tel: +49 221 4981-217 Alexander Burstedde @ABurstedde
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Carlotta Cohnen

Carlotta Cohnen

Consultant for international vocational training

Tel: +49 221 4981-595
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Katarina Culina

Katarina Culina

Consultant for international vocational training

Tel: +49 221 4981-504 Katarina Culina
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Alissa Eschholz

Alissa Eschholz

Senior consultant for vocational training and project management Netzwerk Q

Tel: +49 221 4981-538 Alissa Eschholz
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Regina Flake

Dr. Regina Flake

Team Leader Kompetenzzentrum Fachkräftesicherung

Tel: +49 221 4981-840
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Judith Freisburger

Judith Freisburger

Consultant for personnel work in companies

Tel: +49 221 4981-855
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Donya Nielab Hamid

Donya Nielab Hamid

Consultant for Communication and Marketing Netzwerk Q

Tel: +49 221 4981-467 Donya Nielab Hamid
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Annette Herder

Annette Herder

Consultant for international vocational training

Tel: +49 221-4981-876 Annette Herder
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Sarah Hornickel

Sarah Hornickel

Consultant for Artificial Intelligence and Transformation

Tel: +49 221 4981-887 Sarah Hornickel
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Susanne Jacobs

Susanne Jacobs

Senior Consultant for training and further education Netzwerk Q

Tel: +49 221 4981-239 Susanne Jacobs
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Anika Jansen

Dr. Anika Jansen

Senior Economist for securing skilled labor

Tel: +49 221 4981-681
Felicitas Kleinoth

Felicitas Kleinoth

Consultant for Projectmanaging

Tel: +49 221 4981-861
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Sabine Köhne-Finster

Sabine Köhne-Finster

Senior Economist for surveys and training research

Tel: +49 221 4981-862 Sabine Köhne-Finster
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Kristina Konze

Kristina Konze

Consultant for training and further education Netzwerk Q

Tel: +49 221 4981-723
Mona Krieger

Mona Krieger

Consultant for Content Marketing Management

Tel: +49 221 4981-268 Mona Krieger
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Louisa Marie Kürten

Louisa Marie Kürten

Senior consultant for innovation and change

Tel: +49 221 4981-204 Louisa Marie Kürten
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Gesina Leininger

Gesina Leininger

Economist for International Occupational Training Research

Tel: +49 221 / 4981-325
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Lydia Malin

Dr. Lydia Malin

Senior Economist for qualification and securing skilled workers

Tel: +49 221 4981-850 Lydia Malin
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Christoph Metzler

Dr. Christoph Metzler

Senior Economist for Vocational Training and Supply of skill needs

Tel: +49 221 4981-871 Christoph Metzler @TophAndre
Annett Michalski

Annett Michalski

Senior Consultant for Communication and Marketing Netzwerk Q

Tel: +49 221 4981-509 Annett Michalski
Jennifer Nöthen

Jennifer Nöthen

Consultant for project management Netzwerk Q

Tel: +49 221 4981-585 Jennifer Nöthen
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Fritz Orange

Fritz Orange

Consultant for Skilled Workforce Retention

Tel: +49 221 4981-478 Fritz Orange
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Valeria Quispe

Valeria Quispe

Economist for qualification and securing skilled workers

Valeria Quispe
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Paula Risius

Paula Risius

Senior Economist for qualification and securing skilled workers

Tel: +49 221 4981-680
Juliane Rohner

Juliane Rohner

Senior consultant for training and further education Netzwerk Q

Tel: +49 221 4981-627 Juliane Rohner
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Olesia Schmetzer

Olesia Schmetzer

Economist for International Occupational Training

Tel: +49 221 4981-709
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Martin Schmitt

Martin Schmitt

Consultant for digital vocational training and project management Netzwerk Q

Tel: +49 221 4981-319 Martin Schmitt
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Miriam Schöpp

Miriam Schöpp

Senior consultant for vocational training

Tel: +49 221 4981-545
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Maren Schulte

Maren Schulte

Consultant for training and further education Netzwerk Q

Tel: +49 221 4981-342 Maren Schulte
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Sibylle Stippler

Sibylle Stippler

Head of Vocational Education and Training Research Unit

Tel: +49 221 4981‑865 Sibylle Stippler @SibylleStippler
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Kristina Stoewe-Baars

Dr. Kristina Stoewe-Baars

Consultant for Vocational Qualification and Skilled Workers in the Passgenaue Besetzung project

Tel: +49 221 4981-343 Kristina Stoewe-Baars
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Nicole Sträfling

Dr. Nicole Sträfling

Senior Consultant for digital vocational training Netzwerk Q

Tel: +49 221 4981-507 Nicole Sträfling
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Irena Theuer

Irena Theuer

Senior Consultant for training and further education Netzwerk Q

Tel: +49 221 4981-868
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Jurek Tiedemann

Jurek Tiedemann

Economist for Securing Skilled Labor

Tel: +49 221 4981-419
Leonie Walder

Leonie Walder

Referentin für Projektmanagement

Tel: +49 221 4981-903 Leonie Walder
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Dirk Werner

Dirk Werner

Head of Vocational Education and Training Research Unit

Tel: +49 221 4981-712 Dirk Werner @DKW_follow
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Louena Zifle

Louena Zifle

Consultant for International Vocational Education Research

Tel: +49 221 4981-275
Letizia Şenli

Letizia Şenli

Consultant for Social Media Management

Tel: +49 221 4981-352 Letizia Şenli

All news

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Critical Choices: How Malaysia and Germany can Navigate Shifting Energy Geostrategy
External Publication 26. October 2026

Critical Choices: How Malaysia and Germany can Navigate Shifting Energy Geostrategy

Stewart Nixon* / Malte Küper in Policy Ideas

Malaysia and Germany, as constructive and reliable participants in globally interdependent energy (as well as trade and financial) markets, face an increasingly hostile, volatile, and uncertain environment surrounding energy choices.

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Fiscal Effects of Having Children
IW-Report No. 43 15. October 2026

Fiscal Effects of Having Children

Wido Geis-Thöne

The fiscal effects of children are relevant to various areas of policymaking.

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Event 14. October 2026 Alexander Radunz

Expert Workshop on the Industrial Accelerator Act

The German Economic Institute (IW) and Frontier Economics are pleased to invite you to a rapporteur & stakeholder workshop on the Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA) in Brussels.

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Universal entitlement, unequal provision: childcare in segregated German cities
External Publication 13. October 2026

Universal entitlement, unequal provision: childcare in segregated German cities

Matthias Diermeier / Jan Engler* / Melinda Fremerey / Leon Wansleben* in Journal of Social Policy

One mechanism driving persistent inequalities in childcare provision, despite rising investments and a substantial expansion of childcare facilities, may consist in the locational choices of providers, who eschew poorer neighbourhoods.

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A Comparison of Public Revenues Across the Federal States
IW-Report No. 41 12. October 2026

A Comparison of Public Revenues Across the Federal States

Björn Kauder

To ensure equivalent living conditions, the federal government influences the revenues of the states and municipalities. Under the fiscal equalization system, financially weak states receive surpluses in the distribution of sales tax revenues, while financially strong states must accept shortfalls.

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