Two Nations of Shopkeepers: Training for Retailing in France and Britain
Identifieur interne : 001212 ( Istex/Corpus ); précédent : 001211; suivant : 001213Two Nations of Shopkeepers: Training for Retailing in France and Britain
Auteurs : Valerie Jarvis ; S. J. PraisSource :
- National Institute Economic Review [ 0027-9501 ] ; 1989-05.
Abstract
Previous comparisons of French and British vocational training, published by the National Institute in this series, have focused on mechanics, electricians, construction workers and office workers; these drew attention to the importance of French full-time vocational secondary schools for 14-18 year-olds. This article compares training for the retail trades in the two countries during the present period of structural change brought about by the advance of self-service. in the light of French experience, current British policies for raising the numbers trained in retailing occupations, and for more coherent training standards, are critically examined.
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DOI: 10.1177/002795018912800105
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This article compares training for the retail trades in the two countries during the present period of structural change brought about by the advance of self-service. in the light of French experience, current British policies for raising the numbers trained in retailing occupations, and for more coherent training standards, are critically examined.</italic></p></abstract><custom-meta-wrap><custom-meta xlink:type="simple"><meta-name>sagemeta-type</meta-name><meta-value>Journal Article</meta-value></custom-meta><custom-meta xlink:type="simple"><meta-name>search-text</meta-name><meta-value>58 Two Nations of Shopkeepers: Training for Retailing in France and Britain SAGE Publications, Inc.1989DOI: 10.1177/002795018912800105 Valerie Jarvis S.J. Prais Previous comparisons of French and British vocational training, published by the National Institute in this series, have focused on mechanics, electricians, construction workers and office workers; these drew attention to the importance of French full-time vocational secondary schools for 14-18 year-olds. This article compares training for the retail trades in the two countries during the present period of structural change brought about by the advance of self-service. in the light of French experience, current British policies for raising the numbers trained in retailing occupations, and for more coherent training standards, are critically examined. 1. Wider issues . A comparison between Britain and France of training for the retail trades to the fore some very basic the answers to ~~b~~b are rele- vant to many other trades and to wider issues of training policy. First, how training is really essential for most employees in this kind of industry for their immediate employment-which may require much common ~~r~~~y but few technical skills? Secondly, is more than a bare minimum of training perhaps on broader for because to higher vocational standards leads to higher educational standards, with direct benefits to the individuals concerned, and benefits for the economy in improving flexibility between trades? in technology have-as is familiar-reduced skill in some and increased them in in we have to ask ~~l~~t are the effects on training not only of the recent electronic advances the work of the but also of the continuing towards self-service and the additional from a reduced labour force. As we shall see, Britain and France rely on very different schemes of for both countries have ~r~~®~~t~r~d serious problems their training, and in both countries considerable changes are in our being Our task here is to evaluate the gaps between the two countries to see what may be learnt from French that may be of wider benefit. In both countries the retailing industry is a substantial employer, for 1.4 million full-time and in Britain and °! °~ r~!!® lion in in addition there are 0.9 million part- time in Britain, women often working for very few hours a and 0.3 million in France.(') Altogether ~~~rly ~ tenth of the total (full- time equivalent) workforce in each country is in The industry accounts for a yet higher of all young female entrants to the workforce-about one in five of all employed women under 20 in both countries-and a proper resolution of training issues is of particular to them. (2) A serious in retail is that labour turnover in these is high. The rate of turnover varies according to age and ~®~~t~®c~e perhaps half of of all ages leave ~~thi~ ~ year; at younger ages labour turnover is undoubtedly very much In large cities with plentiful employment labour turnover rates of 'l 00 or 200 per cent a were frequently but this is no more than an manner of speaking. who are much by this problem in terms of 'survival within the first year: for half of all new have left within three months of and 80 per cent within six ~°~~r~th~ (the in in stores in ~~~d®r~9~ West With such very rates of turnover, employers do not find it worth investing very much in the way of for part-time the difficulties of organising training are even if labour turnover for certain categories (for example, Saturday-on~y is often lower than for full-time employees. (3) Pressures to reduce costs of distribution have simply as a result of increased ~®r~m petition the many of local retailers (supermarkets, chain stores, ~r~~9~ independent as a result of fundamental undereconomic forces: has become expensive in relation to the costs incurred at the r~~r~~f~~~A turing This is because retailers sell individual items to individual consumers, ~~h~r~~~ ~~~~;~f~~t~rG costs continue to fall as r~~~~ production and automation continue to advance. The time that a sales assistant spends with a customer has had to be reduced to economise in staff -time per unit sale, by self-service in varying There are ever fewer assistants to advise on varieties or sizes; producl-information tends to be limited to that shown on the wrapper or in some the customer sees only the cashier. It is not that service has disap- but rather that a smaller of the buying 6159 public is prepared to pay for it, and then only in special lines. (4) The required mix of retailing skills consequently continues to change. Some may be employed as little more than `rne~h~P~i~~l sh~ifi®fiiWiers' in large supermarkets ; others need to be ~~.p~b9~ ~fi carrying out a wider range of routine functions; and some must be able to absorb new information, deal courteously with customers' requests for information, with complaints and returned take r~ra~~di~.i action, and exercise their initiative in advancing the cause of their business. As explained in our previous comparisons with France of training for other occupations (construction workers, office workers, mechanics and electricians), the French system of vocational training relies heavily on full-time vocational schools for 14-18 y~~~-~id~~~5> these provide a substantial greater supply of vocationa!!y-qua!!fied personnel in these occupations than the British system and, as will be seen, this applies also to reta'ting occupations. An initial word on the German system of training for retailing will help in 'understanding the French approach. As described in a previous 9~~ti~r~~i 9P~stitute study, (6) training for retail distribution in Germany is very widely undertaken, mainly on two-year or three-year part-time courses under their system of obligatory day-release at ~~a9i~~g~ for virtually all who have left full-time schooiing and are under the age of 18. Some 0®,000 candidates a year in Germany pass vocational tests in distributive ~s~~-0~ps.ti~P~s ~t the end of such courses, usually at ages 1 they account for about one in five of an females school-leavers, and about one in three of all females passing vocational tests in all occupations together. These numbers are immensely greater than for Britain.. The final 3-4 years of compulsory secondary schooling for most pupils in Germany (at 12 to 15-16) contain increasing elements of vocational instruction, and prepare the transition from general full-time schooling to vocational part-time schooling; knowledge of common retail products, such as textiles and their care, and an introduction to statistics in commercial applications to th~ calculation of a correi~ti®r~), are included in such courses at secondary schools. (7) Our next task, in section 2, is to outline the main recognised qualifications in retaking in France and Britain and to compare the number of candidates attaining them. Important differences in the subjects covered in the training courses for the main retailing qualifications in each country are described in section 3. This is followed in section 4 by a brief account of other levels of qualifications,. Section 5 is concerned with important d~v~i~p~~~~ts in the past decade. Section 6 provides a summary, and dis- cusses the smpiications of our comparisons.(") 2. Numbers vocational ~~~~~~~~~~~®~~ The French system of full-time vocational schools (Lycées abbreviated for 14-18 year-olds includes schools with courses for those wishing to prepare for work in retailing. These schools usually also include courses on office work for those intending to qualify as secretaries, book- keepers, etc; courses on typing and the elements of book-keeping are obligatory for those following a course in distribution. For many pupils these courses include the last two years of th~iir conlpulsory schooling, and at least one additional year. These French commercial LPs typically have about 500 pupils, often almost all girls; ~arger LPs have both technical and ~~~~~~~°~9~i department. They are similar to the technical or ~~~~~r~6~,o> schoois that formed part of the publicly-funded secondary schooling system in larger towns in Britain until comprehensive schooling became the dominant policy a generation ago. Apart from those attending ~~9ipt9~~ courses at secondary vocational schools in France, other school-leavers (including some from the general comprehensive schoo)s—the col/6ges-v~iho finish school at 16) go on to take an apprenticeship with a retailing employer and attend part-time courses at apprenticeship centres for two years (usually a day or two each week, or one ~E~~e~ in for some apprentices it may amount to twice that).(") Employers taking on are required to have a qualified master craftsman ~~~~~r~ d'appfa~7.s) under whose supervision the apprentice fo!!ows on approved programme of tasks. Apprentices' wages are deductible from the training levy of '/2per cent of the annual wage bill, to which ~9! employers are subject irrespective of whether they have apprentices or not. The part-time apprenticeship route has become somewhat less important in retailing since the early 1980s and now accounts for 45 per cent of those passing; both routes lead to the same national ly-recognised ~°®~~t9~~~9 qualifications. in total some 1 ~.,~~0 candidates their final examinations in France in 1986 as sales-persons at the end of such two- and three-year courses; the majority (11,000) at the basic level known as the Certificat ~'a~~s~~d~ professionnelle and the remainder (3,500) at the higher i~~a~9 known as the ~~e~~f d'ense~e~e~fpfo~es~'onne/ (BEP). . Courses in Britain teading to the status of a qualified sales-person are available at Colleges of Further Education for those over 16, that is, after the com- ptetion of compulsory schooling; the courses last between one year part-time and two years f~~l9-~t9rr~~. As described in section 3 below, standards comparable to those in France CAP and the F~~ 6i~ 6260 Table 1. a u ers gaining vocational qualifi- cations in distribution in France and Britain, 1 Sources: Britain: Annual statistical summaries from the bodies mentioned. France: Ministere de I'Education Nationale, Statistique des Dipl6mes de I'Enseignement Technique: Session 1986 (doc. nos. 5649-50), Paris, 1987. Notes: (a) BEP Commerce: lere option aux empioyes des services de vente (course 3315). (b) Vendeur (course 3304). Many who study for the BEP take the CAP at the same time; to avoid double-counting, the published CAP figure has here been reduced by 82 per cent of the BEP total (as suggested in a personal communication from the French Ministry of Education, consistent with the general overlap noted in the Annuaire Statistique, 1986, p. 295). (c) Commis 6picier (course 3307). (d) Fleuriste (fleurs naturelles) (course 3309). (e) Commis vendeur en charcuterie (course 3311). ). (f) Commis vendeur en librairie (course 3305); commis poissonnier (3306); commis vendeur en quincaillerie (3312); agent de commercialisation: pieces de r6change et accessoires-automobiles (3313); agent de magasi n- age et de messagerie (3330). (g) No recognised vocational qualification in France at this level; based on numbers (unpublished estimate kindly provided by French Ministry of Education) attending courses for 15-16 year-olds at French full-time comprehensive schools (option technologique économique at the Coll6ges) which include retail distribution. These courses appear close in standard to the British courses listed at this level in this table. (h) Coverage of the constituent countries varies slightly (for example, City and Guilds excludes N Ireland; figures for BTEC exclude Scotvec). (k) Certificates and Diplomas (the latter is probably of a higher standard than the BEP; see text). (m) The scope of the BTEC General Certificate is much narrower than the French CAP; since the standard of the courses taken for the BTEC General Certificate are the same as for the Diploma, the numbers have been included here. No deduction has been made for those continuing to National level. (n) Pitman's Retail and Distribution Course, Level 1 1 . (p) Drapers' Chamber of Trade, Buying and Merchandising Course, and Retail Selling Course; National Institute of Hardware Commodity Certificate; National Association of Retail Furnishers, National Certificate and Diploma; National Institute of Fresh Produce, Trade Knowledge Certificate. (q) City and Guilds Retail Distribution Skills (course 9441) and Foundation Certificate in Distribution (course 692, now phased out and replaced by 9441). ). (r) Not externally examined; based on numbers attending CPVE classes in retail distribution (at the 'Exploratory' level) at secondary schools and awarded a final 'profile' by the teacher (Statistics for CPVE Students and Schemes, DES, September 1987). (s) Not external examined; based on number of candidates assessed by employers, colleges, or YTS managing agents, as having satisfactorily completed a range of tasks (now replaced by the Vocational Certificate and Diploma in Retail Distribution, assessed in the same way). (t) Pitman's Retail and Distribution Course, Level 1. (u) National Institute of Hardware Introductory Certificates; Institute of Grocery Distribution Commodity Knowledge Certificate; National Institute of Fresh Produce, Retail Assistant course; Wines and Spirits Educational Trust, Off-license Retail Personnel; City and Guilds Delicatessen and Provisions course; these figures have been reduced to avoid double counting of those who continue to a higher level. somewhere between the General level and the National Diploma level of the Business and Technician Education Council (BTEC) with specialisation in distribution.(12) A number of other bodies in Britain also examine at this level, and some are highly specialised (such as the Drapers' Chamber of Trade and the Institute of Grocery Distribution; further details are given in table 1, footnotes (p) and (U)).(13) The number passing all these courses at this standard in Britain in 1986 totalled some 1,650. Taken together, it seems that about nine times as many now reach this standard each year in France as in Britain. France is far from training as many as Germany in these occupations, but is still well ahead of Britain. This disparity between the current flows of persons qualifying each year in France and Britain is broadly confirmed by population surveys in the two countries which cast light on the 'stock' of those employed as sales persons who have a vocational qualification (see table In France in 1982 some 24 per cent of those employed as sales-persons had vocational qualifications at the level of a CAP or a BEP. (14) in Britain in 1984 about 3 per cent of those employed as salespersons or sales assistants had a corresponding qualification (BTEC National Certificate or Diplorna, or a City and Guilds Certificate); if we include those they had served a trade apprenticeship, without having received a formal qualification, the total rises to 5 per cent. For females alone-who form the great majority of employees in this trade-the proportions were virtually the same as just quoted; for males they were slightly higher in both countries (27 per cent qualified in France, and 8 per cent in Britain for those or having served an apprenticeship). In both countries the range of qualified specia~isations encompassed at this level in these surveys is broader than retailing, and includes others working as retailing assistants who have formally qualified-say, as butchers or office work- 6361 Table 2. Stock of qualified employees in retail- ing in France, and Britain, 1984 Sources: Britain: Labour Force Survey 1984, special tabulations kindly provided by Department of Employment Statistical Division. The figures quoted here relate to Occupation 055.1 (salesmen and sales assistants). France: Recensement gerreral 9~82: Formation, INSEE, table 07 (p.111 ); occupation category 55 ('employ6s de commerce'). Notes: (a) Includes all qualifications of at least two years post-Baccalaurat study. (b) University/CNAA degree, Member of Professional Institution, BTEC Higher National Certificate and Diploma, Teaching qualification. (c) CAP, BEP, BP, BEI, BEC, BEA, Bac Technologique. (d) BTEC National Certificate and Diploma, City and Guilds. (e) The original source unfortunately includes BTEC General in this category ; for our purposes, it should be included with intermediate vocational qualifications. ers-at the same levels (for example,, CAP in France, or BTEC in Britain). The differences between British and French employees in distribution can perhaps be put in this way: in Britain, a qualified employee in distribution is a rarity-with only one in about thirty having a formal qualification; in France the majority of shop employees are also unqualified, but there is a significant proportion-about one in four-who have acquired examined vocational qualifications. They set the standard which helps the shop to be run in a more 'professional way, and provide a larger qualified 'seedbed' for managerial levels. The deficiencies in Britain at the main 'craft' level of qualification are partly compensated by training to lower levels. (15) As part of the current Youth Training Scheme some attend day-release classes or receive equivalent training on employers' premises; others receive short spe~is of instruction in their shops during, for example, the first half-hour on a Thursday morning (the practice in many of the larger stores in London's West End). YTS courses may lead to a variety of qualifications, almost all hitherto-that is, under the one-year YTS arrargements-below anything that would be recognised in France or Germany as a 'vocational qualification' (furthcr details are in sections 4 and below). Together, the total number reaching this initial standard amounted to some 7,000 in 1986.~ These courses should be welcomed for what thcy arc, namely, foundation or pre-vocational courses which raise standards to a limited extent, and may subsequently lead some candidates to higher levels--though so far that has not been evident. At secondary schools in Britain, encouraged by the Government's recent Technical and Vocational Education Initiative, experimental pre-vocational courses have promoted for 14-18 year-o!ds in the fast few years, some of which lead to a Certificate of Pre-Vocational Education in retailing for the over 16s. At present, this is the nearest arrangement in Britain which might, if developed, approach the French full-time vocational schools. Standards aimed at are variable (~9e have seen a very good course at one school) ; but, in genera!, only an introductory level is aimed at, and candidates are not externally examined. Some 1,~~~ completed such courses in retailing in 1986.~ The French general secondary comprehensive schools (the colleges, not the LP with which we have been concerned above) also have introductory pre-vocationai courses which were taken by some 3,000 pupils aged 15-16 in commercial subjects with specialisation in retailing. hilst our concern in this study is with the main vocational qualifications acquired by the broad cross=section of schooHeavers who go on to work in shops, a few words to higher Iwcls of qualification may be offered here for the sake of perspective. The highest British quaiffscation shown in table 1, the BTEC National Certificate or Diploma in distribution, is intended for those who leave school with the equivalent of 0-level qualifications and aspire to middle-management positions in retailing, and eventually to top management. There were some 150 such National awards in Britain in 1986. The nearest French equivalent shown in table 1 because of the wider scope of the course) is probably the ~~~~~~~~~°~~t Technologique G3, Techniques ~®rr~~~~~rci~~~s (till 1987, Baccalauréat de Techni- cien) taken as three-year full-time courses at ages 16-19 at their Lyc6es (section d'enseignement tech- ~~l®giqu~);t,~) this course covers business studies in a broad sense with an emphasis on retail and wholesale distribution. Entry to the course requires that the candidate has previously passed examinations equivalent to our 0-levels. Over 12,000 passed their Bac in this field in 1 ~~6.c,9) 6462 3. h~~ a shop.assistant know? The and depth of knowiedge required by a Ishelf-filler' in order to do his work well in a supermarket obviously differs from that required by someone in a personal-service shop who customers on, for example, the quality of an item of clothing (appearance, washabiiity), and can measure how much a may shortening; or on the various of vacuum cleaners (durability, power, length of guarantee period and conditions); or is involved in re-ordering supplies. Education, training and certification clearly depend on the mix of ultimate objectives: it is necessary to decide, for example, whether most trainees should be given an understanding of some specialty, together with training in wider of retailing with the aim of flexibility amongst the various in z1 shop; or, ®r3 the other hand, whether it is satisfactory that most are instructed barely beyond the immediate tasks on which they are to be employed. Differences of this kind in general objectives are to be detected in the instruction given to distributive trainees in France and Britain. Briefly, French courses are broader and and, in particular, more emphasis on: ~~ ) knowledge of products; (2) practical selling techniques; (3) commercial documentation ; (4) mathematical skills; and (5) the study of general 'academic' subjects, including a foreign language. The paragraphs below explain these differences in more with the help of illustrations from the qualification most frequently in France, the Cer~'ca~ d'aptitude professionnelle (CAP), and the most widely available British equivalents, the BTEC General Diploma and General Certificate. But something needs first to be said on the scope and balance of the Curriculum and of the final examinations. ~carr~~~~a~~~r~ The British BTEC General Diploma and the BTEC General Certificate each cover a common 'core' of three subjects: Length of test l People and communications 2 hours Business calculations 2 hours Elements of distribution 2 hours In addition, the Certificate (based on part-time study) requires one optional subject; and the Diploma (based on full-time study) requires five optional subjects. These are chosen from a range, dependent on the particular college, and include subjects such as: Consumer Legislation, World of 1~®rk, Heaith and Safety, Merchandise Display, Eiements of Data Processing. (20) The of the French CAP courses is'the same whether studying full-time in the LPs or part-time under apprenticeship. Half the study-time is spent on general educational subjects: French, applied math~r~~~~.ti~.~~9 a foreign language, studies, etc-. and half on vocational aspects, including: commercial documentation, organisations of distribution, product- knowledge, typing, and practical selling skills. All studying full-.time at the LPs are required to obtain work-experience (stages) for a minimum of 12 weeks during the and third of their course; an employer's on that experience is on their official record book (camet de stages). The final CAP examination involves some 11 1 hours of written, practical and oral tests, as Mows:— Length of test Industrial knowledge and commercial correspondence 2 hours Product knowledge 1 Selling (practical examination) 1 French 2 Business calculations ~'/2 Organisation of distribution 1 General and socio-economic knowledge (oral) 3 /4 Modem foreign language (oral) 1/4 Display and window dressing 1 Typing '/2 compiementary skills (practical examination)(21) 1 In order to the examination as a whole-and receive his certificate—th6 candidate has to attain zr pass-mark in of the first subjects, and an pass-mark in the next four; the final four subjects to be taken by all but a pass-mark in is not in order to pass the examination as a whoie (for such subject there is an endorsement on the final CAP certificate). A grade---equivalent to distinction, credit or bar pass-'Is awarded in relation to the whole examination (no partial certificates are issued; if only one or two are they may be re-taken, otherwise the whole year has to be r~p~~t~d)° 6~ that grade, the on practical selling receives as much as a quarter of the total marks: this indicates the importance attached in France to instruction in practical selling methods (as discussed further below). Also noteworthy is the French requirement of objective external assessment by examiners who do not know the candidates; in contrast to the current British trend, assessment by the candidate's teacher or employer is not considered adequate in France. The of the British BTEC General Certificate 6563 is clearly narrower than the French CAP; the BTEC General Diploma with its broader coverage of optional subjects is closer to the French course, though some important gaps still exist-particularly, product knowledge and practical selling skills. Since candidates in Britain have to choose from the particular range of options that are ~~~~ii~bi~ at each college, not all of which are related to distribution, there is no necessary correspondence with the broad background relevant to retailing expected of all French candidates. (22) Roughly the same proportions of candidates pass the French and British examinations at this level (60-62 per cent for CAP and BEP, 64 per cent for the BTEC General award in distribution). For lower-level courses in Britain (such as City and Guilds 9441), hardly a candidate fails;(23) and for some courses (such as CPVE) certificates are issued on attendance, and not on final tests. Product knowledge The CAP can be taken both as a course for the general salesperson and for those in specialised shop table 1); the general course-CAP Ven- deur-is the most and is taken all studying full-time in the LPs, while the specialised courses are taken mainly by those in apprenticeship. (24) Even those on the general course are required to study a specialist product (for example, domestic electrical appliances) based on their spell of work- experience. They are required to produce a dossier (coursework file) of product-specific information covering, for example, quality of materials, weight, country of origin, care, uses, selling points, disadvantages, substitutes, accessories. The final written examination includes related questions, such as:- " Should a shop exchange an electric iron under guarantee if the sole plate became rough? The user had scrubbed it with an abrasive powder to remove cloth which had stuck to it (the examinee is provided with a copy of the guarantee, which refers to misuse). (25) - - The essential point of this part of.the course is that the pupit tooks for the different properties and quailties of competing varieties of a product; he learns that a higher price does not simply mean a greater profit margin, but may reflect many aspects of a product which may not be obvious; and he learns that these 'analytical techniques' can be applied to other products-apart from those studied-so that he develops professionalism, pride and justified confidence in relation to his work In Britain the major nearest equivalent courses for sales assistants (the BTEC Certificate and Diploma) do not include a systematic approach to product- knowledge as an obligatory component. Optional subjects in this area are available in some colleges but are taken only by a minority of pupils. The specialised trade bodies (for example Chamber of Trade) however regard commodity-knowledge as an integral part of their courses.(") Practical selling The dossier prepared by the pupil on a particular range of products, as described above, is again in the final French practical selling examination. An examining panel consisting of a shopkeeper and teacher--both of whom must be unknown to the candidate-question him on the products on which he has acquired a deeper practical knowledge, The candidate goes through a selling demonstration of a particular item to a member of the panel; marks are awarded separately on: receiving the customer courteously, ascertaining his requirements, presentation of the product, knowledge of associated products, communication skills, basic mental arithmetic, handting of cash, etc. He is also questioned on broader of retailing, such as the legal obligation of the shop to the customer. The standard of presentation of the dossier and the candidate's ~r~p6~yr~e~t record book due stages) are taken into account in awarding the final mark. Commercial documentation Candidates at CAP level are to be competent in basic administrative and prepare related documents, such as delivery notes, invoices, statements, calculations of customer discounts, re-ordering stock, and the use of computer keyboards. This extends, for example, to asking a candidate, as part of the final to current filing methods with a view to introducing a computer: he is given a specimen list of seven customers and required to construct a five-digit code incorporating the client's nai1Je, county (~~p~rtera~~r~t~, year of first order and method of payment.(28) lp Britain, though the BTEC General qualification is at a fairly b~~ic 9~~~E, the course seems to aim for a greater of responsibiity; the has to deal with things that have gone wrong-but more in a cosmetic than a fundamental way. For example, he has to be able to write a letter to a customer apologis- ing for an error, or a memo to the stockroom manager for an assurance that stock would not in future be 'wrongly labelled and ~r®~gly pric~d' ar~d not 'damaged by careless handling' (but without being to diagnose and remedy the source of these ~rr~r~~,t29~ There is a surprising lack of gradation in responsibilities, probably reflecting the paucity of candidates with formal qualifications. 6664 Mathematical skills In both countries the final tests include question p~.p~r~ on business calculation,,;. in Britain the BTEC paper examines basic arithmetic. (If ~ van sets out at 13.45 on a 3% hour journey, when is it due to ~rr i~a~°~ What is the total cost of two items at £1 ~.~~ each plus six items at 25.50 each? What is the of an item discounted by 35 per cant? on of interest on transactions were included in the BTEC test in ~~®, but r~® in 1 ~~~~,t3o~ Calculators are to be used in Britain in such tests, because they vvould be in practice, and parity such are considered by BTEC to be otherwise unnecessary difficult for most candidates. The standard corresponds to that in England of who not ~tt~r~pt~d ~~ schoo!-!eaving Gratification in math~~~~ti~s5 or attained only low-level at CSE; it recognises the for remedial education in math(making good has not been learnt at secondary school), though many candidates on BTEC Genera! courses would be ~~pab6~ ®f ~ higher level. (31) The French mathematics test aims a little higher. At the simplest level an invoice has to be completed in which values have to be calculated from given and quantities other combinations i~~®i~c ing long di~~i~i~r~~~~ ~ discount has to be allowed from the t~t~C9 and VAT added. These have to be by pencil-arod-paper r~eth®d~, ~~t with a calculator. A more difficult calculation involves between foreign exchange-rates available in the home and destination countries. Occasionally an with is called if only at an etementary the candidate has to express the interest payable (y) as a 'function of the number of months (m)' for which the is draw a of the function, and from that the number of months when the interest reaches a certain sum.(32) The veneer of is not, of course, essential for of this sort in it is a mark of the higher aspiration in France that pupils for occupations are expected to reach this higher mathematical level the fact that many (if not most) previously had low attainments in their secondary schools. Standards in mathematics at CAP for specialised retail (for ironmonger, automobile and for technical courses, such as motor mechanic, are substantial higher than for the general retailing course. (33) General subjects The French educational ideal of making culture available to every leads to in classical French literature included as of the classwork for on retailing courses. The final examination in French thus induces, for example, from the nineteenth century writer Emile Zola, and requires the pupil to explain that a modern-day might not find straightforward. A dictation is also included and may be from such a classical literary source. The nearest BTEC of literacy, labeiled and C~~r~a~~vtc~ta®~a~9 is pitched at a more pr®s~ic iwel9 it requires for to prepare for a telephone call telling X to for Y at an next or to a memorandum staff from in a ~~~ ~h®~r~~~~ota5> The British approach is obviously more ~~rr®~~.~9y to work-tasks; even so, such are a of complaint amongst retailing in Britain since do not usually to write memoranda of this Cot- in Britain not found it to on the right balance; the French explicit of raising general educational as part of vocational training it for them to an accept- able syllabus. The French candidate is also to study a foreign in this is usually English (the pass-mark roughly to a CSE grade 4). It is of obvious practical in with it also the door for who may wish at a later to proceed to higher edu(for which competence in a foreign is a in France). Taken as a whole, the above details clearly the fundamental French view that vocational at those ages be hand-in- with additional general For very many pupils proposing to work in retailing, instruction in such vocational topics is seen-by and teachers-as pfcv'ding an important for simultaneously advancing their of general ~d~~~ti~n;(3~~ for some, it tllso opens the door to higher education. 4. ~~~~~~~~~~~ at other levels So far we have concerned with the main level of q~~~9i~~~~t~~r~ i~ in France and its nearest British equivalent. This section bnef!y two other of qualification: one which is lower, and of growing importance in Britain; and one which is higher, and of growing importance in France. A very qualification in Distribution (City and Guilds no. 9441) was obtained by some 2,300 in Britain in 1986. The intention of this qualification to meet employers' for a reliable confirming an for emptoyment has an acquaintwith basic sales skills. It is usually attained by a 6765 entrant in nine months on the of brief part-time instruction on practical white at work (for example, during half-hour on Thursday mornings one full day's off-the-job instruction (37); no at college is required—which is seen as an for not wishing to be 'sent back to school'. The has to carry out ten specified basic practical such as: using the telephone, re~~~ccki~g ~h~9~~s, handing payments (including cheques and credit cards), and 'handling com- ptaints'.~' The aim is similar to part of the practical selling tests in the French CAP examination described but no commodity-knowledge is for, no written work (comparable to the has to be produced. The completion of these is for by someone by the employer's training supemiisor-a person not required to hold any formal qualifications-whose assessment techniques may, or may not, be 'moderated' by City and Guilds. (39) There is also a final written of an hour's duration, external set by City and Guilds, with fifty multiple-choice questions in which one of four has to be ticked, such as:- -When are from a they become part of the (a) loss (b) perishables, (c) shrinkage, (d) consumer durables. ®if interrupted by a. customer when changing displays, the salesperson should (a) ask the customer to a minute, (b) the to the customer, (c) ask the customer to shout when 9 he/she some help, (d) call for to serve the customer. (40) These multiple-choice questions are marked by the training supervisor; if the candidate attends a a may do the marking. (41) The absence of an external examiner for the practical tasks led some employers to remark to us that the is 'open to abuse', and that they would not engage anyone solely on the of this certificate. The Royal Society of Arts provides a qualification at more or the same level; certification is also on employers'or instructors' and not on examinations. There has been a very growth in Britain in the number of youngsters taking these basic courses- in 1983-86 there was a rise from 600 to 2,300 !n those the City and Guilds course 9441, and other certifying have had similar rises. This is clearly related to the MSC's recognition of qualifications at that as adequate to attract the subsidy for the one-year Youth Training Scheme (discussed in the next section). The main vocational qualification in retailing in France, the CAP, was attained by some 11,000 pupils in 1986 (see table 1); 9 as mentioned in 2, a slightly higher qualification-the Brevet d'6tLides professionelles (BEP (12))_WaS passed by almost 4,000 pupils after a two-year full-time course starting usually at ago 16. It was originally intended for pupils of somewhat higher academic ability aspiring to supervisory positions in (head of department in a large store, manager in a sma)! shop); and it provides to higher-level baccalaureate The BEP has a broader scope the CAP and a somewhat, greater of difficulty (until 1987 it did not require a practical selling but since then the same practical selling test as for the CAP is required). Twelve weeks' work- experier,,ce is now (as for the CAP), together with the production of a a particular range of products. The greater of difficulty of the written examination may be illustrated from the matchematics tests which include, for ~~~~~p9~, calculations of payments by instalment at given rates of interest, and statistical calculations of quartiles from grouped distributions. As from September 1987 the content of the main CAP has been aiinalgamated with the higher- level BEP course; (43) both levels of qualification continue, but a proportion of pupils are now expected to the higher level. 5. Recent developments The growth of of longer shop-opening hours, of electronic cash registers, have all had important in the past on retailers' demand for labour, both in quantity and quality; similarly, the tendency to on at f~~i9~ti~~ schoo!!ng to higher and the introduction of new training schemes, have the supply of labour to this industry. The ir~d~~try9~ actual mix of skills inevitably can adjust only over a period of years to such developments and, while doing so, recruitment of particular types of labour may almost cease. Such short-term imbalances to be distinguished from tong-term objectives. The long-term trend towards self-service is now so fanliliar that it is to overlook its continuing growth in commodity coverl-;ge, the consequential continuing pressures on traditional smaller retailers. Over the the variety of offered by supermarkets has broadened from their original concentration on foodstuffs ('groceries') to include clothing, toys, chemists' sundries, do-it-yourself household items, etc; with increased ownership of cars, out-of-town hypermarkets are being established where larger quantities can be bought at less frequent intervals at lower The goods are almost all prepacked, or and weighed by the customer-no for the shop-keeper or his trai- to out a pound of pearl barley; 6866 and no ~~~~d for anyone to explain differences between since is printed on the The trend pre-packaging and self- service continues in both Britain and Franceg ijvt>ile it now dear from US and expert- ence that there is a residual d~~~r~d for smaller (growing in certain lines-the 'boutiques') and for specialist service-sections within to offer more sendee, and customer gliidance, the net has been for small to decline in number. There has conse- been a fall in demand for trained in the broad mix of skills traditionally in a small shop. (44) This has been very apparent in where a proportion of those qualifying in the past decade with a CAP or BEP in have been very ~i~~~ in securing employment. Of in the final year of their CAP courses in 1985 in all subjects, a survey showed 25 per cent were still seeking employment nine months after qualification; 3- per cent continued in tuft-time education in the Mowing year, so that, of (hose who left school after their I~AP, 54 per cent were unemployed. Amongst ferries who had been on a CAP course in distribution and had sought work, unemployment higher still, at 67 per cent.('5) These figures casi prirrta doubt on the efficacy of French vocational education; they need however to be seen in the perspective that all school (not sirnply amongst those with CAP qualifications) unemployment has risen to 37 per cent (for girls, 47 per when according to the same methods. Changes in education have exacerbated France's probleryi of the initial employment of those leaving vocational courses, ~r9 increasing proportion of now stay on to higher ages in full-time French school (up from 44 per of all 18 year-olds in 'I 968 to 67 per cent in 9 ~~~(~s>~~ and the kind of pupil who to vocational schools to take courses has changed from, being . some\¡vhere near the middle of the range to somewhere nearer the bottom quarter: these are the kind of whom, having dlf~~l~:~ity at school subsequently also have in finding and retaining employment. Even if they attain a vocational qualification, as many do as a of hard work and perseverance, find it difficult to compete with those of higher ability who have taken more advanced general or vocational qualifications Sac these d°sffl~~it~~~~---~~d9 indeed, to them at this time-the qualifying each year with a CAP or BEP in have during the past from some in 1975 to nearly ,0®® in 1 the rate of increase has been slightly greater at the higher level of qualification (BEP). In Britain the same decade the numbers the BTEC l3ei~>eral Certificate and Diploma rose from 300 to but this was almost entirely ~fif~~t by ~ decline at the level-the BTEC National Certificate and fell from 500 to 150. Extended hours One of the most recent changes in labour requirements has resumed from shopping hours and more weekend in response to consumers' demand reflected in changes in legis- latiori. With the help of p~rt-tir~~r~9 employers can match the of staff more to the needs of customers. The increase in the employment of part-timers has been particularly marked in Britain: in 1987 some 61 per cent of ail women in in Britain were p~r~°tirr~ers (three-quarters ~fi whom were married), and 25 per cent in France. (48) Employers the responsibility and maturity of the married woman to the youngster, and married women find such par'~,-tiryie work fits in well with their domestic responsib-t~i~~,ies. Shopping hours in Britain are at present fil~~ib9~ than in France, and is also a tax in Britain in empioying there seem to be ir(iportant why employment has become important in than in France. (49) Alew technology Electronic with central of and have contributed to greater efficiency at checkouts, in stock-recording and in re-ordering; more important for the success of the retailer, in items, is that electronic recording has the rate of adaption of a range to in fashion and to unexpected in weather: of restocking is the essence of success in such Neverthe- these technical developments not greatly effected the work of the great of retail-ng Retraining of checkout operators to use electronic point-of-sale seems to require between half a and three and much of that training to be concerned with what to do when the operator makes a mistake or equipment goes wrong!(5')) On some electronic the ~~~r~ of checkout initial became more complex since they were to enter more numerical information than previously,- the use of bar-coding, and associated devices for the automatic recognition and pricing of items at the is now considerably and their tasks. Much of the saving of direct costs with such systems arises not at the but at an ~~~°6i~r in that 6967 individual price-ticketing of products in supermar- kets-a labour-intensive process hitherto required to speed the work of the checkout operator--can now be dispensed with: a single label on the relevant shelf-edge is now adequate for the customer, and the electronic till finds the latest price from its memory after reading the bar-code. The net effect of these factors requires a distinction to be drawn between small shops, larger department stores, and supermarkets. For smaller, more specialised, shops a greater economy today in the use of labour favours the employment of those with the capability to adapt quickly and responsibly to a variety of tasks. Smaller in France with whom we discussed the problem of the unemployment of CAP and BEP pupils fully endorsed the continuing value of the education and training provided by these courses, especially in product-knowledge and approach to the customer; they continue to regard these qualifications as the r~ar~~o~~r~ for their staff.(5') But they have not recently recruiting additional staff for expansion, presumably because of growing competition from department and supermarkets, and of efficiency in labour store-tayout. Among department (grands maga- sins) there is little doubt in both France Britain that the prime characteristics required today for the majority of those as sales assistants is a weicoming manner (while maintaining a 'proper distance'), the abiiity to and answer, good tapped and communication, and arithmetical competence ; someone with a good general education (to ~ac~~l~~re~~~ is at often to someone with vocational qualifications of lower general ability. In supermarkets, she~f-fil~ing can be done with hardly any training; and at the checkout, the main requirement to be the ability to work under pressure to withstand tedium. Most retailing thus no longer require a high of vocational preparation, extending over years, in the way that working in, say, engineering today find beneficial or even These may weft-worn truths; they nevertheless need re-stating in view of the problems currently experienced by qualified retailing trrinees in France. Comparison with Germany France's of training for retaking in remarkable contrast with Germany's. Nearly 100,000 young persons, almost seven times as many as in France, qualified in Germany in 1986 as retail assistants ; and the number qualifying in Germany has increased by about a third in the past decade. The German trainees benefit in many ways from their system of day-release (obligatory for all school-leavers under 18 wishing to take ernployment); those benefits extend well outside the skills required for retailing, and have to be assessed in terms of increased responsiveness to technical change, increased workforce flexibility between trades, and raised general standards of education .(52) The German unemployment rate, six months after the completion of a two-year retailing course, was only 8 per cent (the latest statistics for this occupation relate to 1985; the present position is similar according to informed opinion).c~3~ The most apparent difference between the French and system of vocational training is that the German is almost entirely work-based, while the French rely-for just over half their retailing trainees-on a school-based system. In other words: in Germany a youngster seeks his training-place with an employer before arranging his vocational schooling ; if he cannot find a place in he will seek a place in another branch'of activity, and will be trained in that other branch.(54) But in Franc for those at full..time vocational schools-the for employment is postponed till after the trainee has completed his course. French surveys of entering the labour market confirm that those ~~h® had fbilowed the apprenticeship route had a better employment experience (28 per cent unemployed nine months than those .4uho had the full-schooling route (46 per cent unerr~ployment); even so, unemployment amongst the apprenticeship-trained seems very high.(55) It is clear that radical changes are in progress in French sc.hooling and training. The greater numbers now educated to levels in France have not yet found their optimal path into employment; at present they are propsred to take work in retailing, so displacing those who have been trained for that occupation. All this may change in the coming years. At the beginning of the 1980s an OECD report concluded that there was a need in France to 'reconcile a school-leaver's uninformed or ill-formed perceptions of what he or she wants to learn or become, with his or her capacities the of the labour ~'°~~,~°kot'ec56) There seems also to be a greater lag in the oaf the French vocational schooling system to the changing requirements of the labour market; in Germany, the vocational schooling system inevitably becomes aware more rapidly of changes in employers' openings for apprenticeships. Though it is often suggested in Germany that the content of many vocational courses needs to be updated more frequently, the present course in retailing seem to be as highly satisfactory. (57) The French response so far to the problems faced 7068 by youngsters training for retailing, and to employers' demands for better qualified personnel, has to encourage higher- of qualification through the f~iimtir~~ route and to our increase the work-experience required on or existing courses. They have done this by (a) amalgamating the CAP and BEP so that a greater proportion of pupils may the (higher) BEP level; (b) the BEP as a for yet higher-level vocational courses (the or vocational to which about a third now proceed; (58) (c) more pupiis with higher levels of general education to proceed to full-time vocational education at higher levels. in effect, the French seem increasingly to regard extended vocational education with specia,lisation in retailing as the route leading eventually to positions of responsibility in the trado9 while for a surprisingly high proportion of other jobs in retailing, the employ. ment of someone with a ~~~~ah~~°~~~-m~h~thor in general or technical subjects-has become increasingly usual (for e~~rr~ple, for shop assistants in larger stores in Paris, and even cashiers). There is, however, considerable flux, and there is also much self-questioning as to whether more needs to be learnt from the employment-led German system. (59) Development of in Britain In Britain fundamental changes have been brought about in this industry by the Youth Training Scheme, originally introduced in response to general youth unemployment and later to help the need for a better trained workforce. Since 1984 a subsidy has been paid to those taking on school-leavers (whether in the status of 'trainees' or 'employees') and providing them with 'approved' training: the current (April 1989) is nearly C40 a week for each 16 and "17 year-old trainee, and is payable for two years (for only one year under the original arrangements that applied till April 1986). The training requirements amount to an of one day a week of approved `off®tr~o®j®b5 training, together with the 'opportunity' to gain any of the great variety of 'recognised vocational qualifications', but without distinction as to the level of q4,JJ~E96~~a~ta699 A° In 0 this industry, under the original one-year YTS arrangements, requirements were not too strictly applied, reflecting the novelty of the scheme and a lack of in the details of what is properly required by way of further and training. 'Off-the-job' was usually carried out within the store, but sometimes ivivolved working with other employers-not necessarily retailers-for a few weeks. Attendance at college was not favoured because-so told ~s~-~~~h of the col- was not related to the specific work of the (in clear contrast to the French and German which progress in general educational and because of lack of effective means of ensuring attendance at college. Requirements to qualifications were as part of YTS in April 1986, with requirements for off-the-job training (job is no !onger for this purpose). In 1986-88 (according to preliminary returns) only about a of those. YTS in had attained additional vocational or educational qualifications, mostly well below the French CAP level. Of those who had been on YTS in retailing in ~~6, 30 per cent were nine months after leaving the this is a wony!iig!y high proportion b~t, if anything, lower than shown by the French surveys mentioned above (low response rates to these in both countries prevent a more prec'2se judgement). About 30-40,000 have been taken on as trainees each year in under- the Youth Training Scheme since 1984 (now includes 4,000 in their second This is some four times as many as attained vocational qualifications at any level in retailing i~ 1986 (as shown in table 1); retailing has become one of the sectors benefiting from YTS (8 per cent of all ~°~~ trainees in 9~~). Some improvements in work-force skills must be as a result of all this, even if only a small proportion of trainees attain examined vocational at the levels considered in earlier sections of this p~.pero In practice the scheme is still evolving, with unemployment pressures changing from year to year, and new training procedures becoming more and clearer. YTS has provided in this trade with better poss~bi~ities of choosing, on the basis of practical experience, amongst those who might their staff. The vocational standards ~tt~i~~d by the majority of trainees are however so modest-so very much below the standards of France and Germany-that it is difficult to see why the YTS subsidy in this trade r~~~d extend to a second year to press the point further, is it ~~~tir~iy clear that the amount of training received in Britain at present in the first year justifies a for the whole of the first year). (60) That judgement would be changed in two circumstances. First, looked at from the of view of the efficiency of retailing, a second subsidy might be justified if it was for aiming to progress to a higher qualification (for example, a BTEC National award), and condstiona! on attaining a tower-ievei quaMcation at the end of the first year. from the broader point 7169 of view of raising general educational standards and of increased flexibility in careers, if it came to be accepted in Britain-as it is in France and Germany-that all youngsters under 18 who are at work need to pursue both vocational and general education, then a coherent programme of studies could be developed to cover a two-year period, and might justify a continued subsidy. Important steps are being taken towards bringing the great variety of vocational qualifications available. in Britain into a more coherent hierarchical framework comparable, in principle, to the French system of three broad, and understood, vocational levels applicable to all occupations;461) this is part of the task of the National Council for Vocational Qualifications established in 1986. By making British vocational qualifications more both to employers and trainees, it was hoped that they would become more popular. The retailing industry's initial difficulties in deciding which elements of training were desirable in modem conditions led to in NCVQ accrediting qualifications for the retail sector.(") At the beginning of 1988 one of the larger associations representing mainly supermarkets and departmental a voluntary called the National Training Council, proposed a new introductory qualification-the Retail ~~rtifi~~t~t® be taken at two corresponding to National Vocational Qualifications levels 1 and 2 respectively. These require no than a list of basic practical to be s~~~~~~~d9 ~h®liy in the by the trai- nee's supervisor. For example, at Level the candidate has to payments (cash, cheques, credit cards), and replenish at Level 2 the candidate has to set up and dismantle a sales display, and receive and make telephone c~ll~.~s3) and product are opt~ona~ rather than essential elements as in France. This scheme was approved by NCVQ in September and these ,qualifications' are required as a condition for the of the YTS subsidy from April 1989. The expressed was that this will lead to a tentold increase in the numbers receiving qualifications. (64) Taking into account the limited tradition of training in retailing in Britain, of progress may seem but it has to be her that the scope and level of such pr®posed initial qualifications are far below current in France (described earlier in this and below those tsken by even larger numbers in Germany. (65) The MSC in its general for vocational fications seems to have fixed its mind (too in our view) on the performance of specified in the assessed buy rather than on a judicious combination of practice and courses on general principles taught in colleges, in which written tests and external examinations have a large pa~.~s6~ There is a need for further and fuller consideration : are Britain's policies in these matters right in being so different from those of France and Germany ? The danger is that an administrative apparatus is being set up which will have the effect of enshrining low standards as acceptable 'qualifications'. A policy of this sort is likely to inhibit the progress of many individual trainees who will be inadequately stretched, and insufficiently prepared to train to higher levels; it will also inhibit the transferability of skills and, in turn, the future efficiency of the economy as a whole. (67) 6. Summary and conclusions Retailing is a diverse and rapidly changing industry, with consequent diverse and changing requirements for manpower training. From our comparisons of France and Britain, the following are the main points that have emerged; they relate to standards of training, numbers trained, standards of education in relation to vocational qualifications, changes in the labour and for the year of the Youth Training Scheme subsidy. (a) France and Britain differ much more in the standards of qualification required for salespersons than -~lor,1-,echnical (such as mechanics, electricians or building craftsmen) whero-as previous studies in this series have shown-broadly similar standards prevail in the two countries. The typical qualified French salesperson is trained in specialised product-knowledge, has examined in practical selling, and progressed further in general educational subjects (native language, mathematics, a foreign language) as part of his vocational course. in Britain are lower: little i~ for the main corresponding retail training qualifications by way of prod uct- knowledge, and educational subjects are rarely pursued. To put it in practical terms: the reason British shop assistants so often know hardly anything about what they are ~9~11~~~ is that no one has taught them; and those four the main British courses in retailingontinue to such knowlodge as less than essential. The of the French courses and qualifying tests means that someone with a CAP or BEP diploma-even from a full-time vocational school-is closer to being fully 'operational' from the first day of employment. It may not be ne~cessary for all workin in supermarkets to have as lar®ad a training as is in France; with an understanding and commitment to a career with prospects of advancement, there is much to be said in favour of the French of instructing all 7270 qualified salespersons in the acquisition of product- knowledge, and how to draw upon it when helping a customer. (b) The numbers attaining qualifications each year as salespersons in France after their 2-3 year full-time courses at commercial secondary schools have doubled in the past decade and are now about nine times greater than the reaching the nearest equivalent standard here. There has recently been considerable unemployment in France amongst those qualifying in these occupations at this level, and the current trend there is towards vocational qualifications at yet higher levels-. !~ Britain the Youth Training Scheme has increased greatly the numbers undergoing some form of basic training in retailing; but the numbers attaining 'recognised' vocationa) qualifications here have increased only ~t lower levels of qualification, mainly based on slh®rt part-time courses--at which the French regard as the pre-vocational level. (c) The work of the National Council for V'ocati®na! Qualifications is intended to hclp towards a dearer ladder of qualifications; progress in systematising retailing qualifications has focused on standards that are low in comparison to both France and Germany. Their proposed lower levels of qualification for these trades are narrowly job-specific ('competence based'); their exclusion of externally-marked written tests of technical knowledge and of general educational subjects will, we fear, lead to a certificated semi-literate under-class-a section of the workforce inhibited in job-flexibility, and inhibited in the possibilities of progression. (Matthew ~o~~®!d's remark may be recalled: 'Philistinism! We have not the expression in English. Perhaps we have not the word because we have so much of the thing9.) It will not encourage, and perhaps ultimately discourage, the raising of basic school-leaving standards amongst low.attaining pupils. Our comparisons suggest the need for reconsideration of the NCVQ's heavy concentration on practical skills assessed in the workplace, as against written and practical tests which are externally marked-and which in France and Germany form a large part of the essential basis of qualification. Wide of social policy are involved, and a public enquiry into these matters may now be appropriate. (d) The preparation for work provided by French retailing courses shows-as for Gcrrnany®~that high standards in vocational courses are appropriate even for youngsters who have had difficulties in other school subjects. Clear policy conclusions for Britain cannot however at present be drawn without hesitation from French training in this industry. This is because the doubling of retailing places in full-time vocational schools in France in the past decade coincided with a rise in youth unemployment at virtually all educational levels. The impact has been particu!ar)y serious for those qualifying in retailing. The numbers of school-leavers with edu-cational attainments corresponding to our A-~evels (their Baccalauréat) increased considerably in this period, and many failed to find the type of employment they for; they increasingly took jobs thai might otherwise have been available to those with basic vocational qualifications. It seems likely that some years have yet to e~apse before something approaching equilibrium is reached in France in the flows of teenagers of different through the education and training systernsy ti!! then it wil! be difficult to obtain a clear view of the correct balance of high- and low-level skills required in retailing as a of the continuing trend towards sclfese~i~c. The German vocational training system-which provides retailing qualifications for even greater numbers than the French-has not experienced such serious of to changing demand as the French system; the reason probably is that the German trainee is required to secure a place with an employer before he his training (as under our rather than after corn- pleting it as under the French full-time system. (e) The subsidy provided by the Youth Training Scheme for the first years of alter leaving school has increased considerably the numbers receiving introductory training in this industry jn Britain. From the of view of the retailing ernp!®yer9 ®ne year of training may seem than adequate for his from the point of view of the employee, and of the economy as a whole, the of job flexibility and long-term adaptability might justify the longer period of training in France and Germany. However, justification of a subsidy for a second year of training requires a clearer and broader ladder of progression in vocational standards than has so far been developed here; a second year's should be made dependent on the acquisition of a recognised vocational qualification at the end of the first-year, and perhaps should also require highcr gcnoral educational standards for those in the YTS age-range. 7371 NOTES (1) Based on returns from employers (Employment Gazette, January 1987, pp.38,44; and Annuaire Statistique, 1986, p.716). The great number of casual and part-time employees in this industry, and of family members attached formally or informally to smaller shops, makes it difficult to speak with precision of the total numbers employed. Some part-timers may work in a number of shops and are duplicated in these statistics. Under-counting of casual employees is more than likely in both countries. Estimates of numbers employed in this industry are sensitive to the statistical definitions used, and should be treated with caution. (2) From the population censuses of Britain in 1981 and of France in 1982. (3) Despite its obvious importance for the economics of training, no statistical survey seems to have been carried out in Britain to establish rates of leaving of new employees in this industry. Some pointers to the current position are given in a recent report by NEDO, Part-time working in the Distributive Trades (Vol. 1, Training Practices and Career Opportunities, Vol.2, Evidence from Company Case Studies and Employee Attitude Survey, NEDO, 1988-9). The analytic approach based on 'survival curves' was explored in articles some thirty years ago (and still worth reading) by H Silcock in J. Roy. Stat. Soc., 1954, p.429; K F Lane and J E Andrew, ibid., 1955, p.296; and by D J Bartholemew, ibid., 1959, p.232. See also A Gregory, The growth of part-time work in grocery in Britain and France, Retail and Distribution Management, September 1987. (4) The prohibition of resale price maintenance agreements in the UK at the end of the 1950s permitted price-competition between different kind of shops, in place of the previous attenuated competition in accompanying service at fixed prices. Following the abolition of RPM, consumers were able to express their choice in the market as between a lower price combined with less service, on the one hand, and a higher price with more service on the other; they clearly preferred more of the former. The continued trend in that direction—thirty years after the change in legislation—must however be attributed to costs and other factors as suggested above. (5) National Institute Economic Review, May 1986, May 1987, and National Institute Discussion Paper No. 130. (6) National Institute Economic Review, August 1983, pp.61-3. (7) See, for example, the books for Arbeitslehre courses on textiles and statistics produced by teachers in Berlin for their comprehensive school pupils (available from the Pedagogisches Zentrum, Berlin 31). (8) The present study is based mainly on comparisons of qualifications in the two countries (in distinction from the more resource-intensive studies of matched plants carried out for our associated comparisons with Germany). Discussions were held in 1987-88 with eleven vocational colleges and schools, and with representatives of the ministries, training organisations and examining bodies in the two countries. in addition, we visited nineteen employers (mostly large and raiddle-sized shops with a particular interest in draining). Detailed comparisons of the qualifying examinations in the two countries were made with the help of teachers in vocational colleges. For a previous, very brief, comparison of the systems of retail training in France and Britain, see Tony Parkinson Associates, Review of Distributive Industry Education and Training Needs (Further Education Unit, RP245, 1985), Appendix 4, pp.28-29; it also summarised the main vocational provisions for this sector in the Netherlands, US, New Zealand and Japan. Recent useful studies of British training for retailing are to be found in two reports prepared for the Distributive Trades EDC, Youth Training and the Distributive Trades (NEDO, 1986) and C Trinder, Young People's Employment in Retailing (NEDO, 1986); also relevant are Retailing and NVQ:A study of the application of the four-level structure to the retail industry (Further Education Unit, 1987), and Education and Training at Sainsbury's: A report by HMI (HMSO, 1987). The current French situation is described in the CEREQ Dossier, Formation et Emploi—Les emplois du commerce et de la vente (Collection des Etudes no. 22, April 1986). (9) Till 1986 known as Lycées d'enseignement professionnel (LEP). (10) See, for example, Board of Education, Report of the Consultative Committee, The Education of the Adolescent (HMSO, 1926), esp.pp.31-2. (11) See M-C Combes, L'Apprentissage en France (CEREQ, Paris, 1987); and J Biret, M-C Combes, P Lechaux, Centres de Formation d'Apprentis et Formes d'Apprentissage (CEREQ, Collection d'etudes, no.9, Paris, 1984). (12) The position described here relates to mid-1986; since then the BTEC 'General' courses have been replaced by the Certificate of Pre-vocational Education and BTEC 'First' courses. The latter are still in the process of change and development, and it seems too early to attempt an assessment here. There is also the complication that the previous nationwide externally-set and externally-marked examinations for core subjects under BTEC General have been replaced by tests and coursework set and marked by each local collego. The consequent lack of uniformity amongst colleges in content and standards has been a worry to employers and teachers—though BTEC remains confident of the correctness of its approach (see, for example, the letters in The Times Educational Supplement for 3 June 1988 under the heading 'BTEC students let down by amateur moderation system'; and complaints from the universities originating in the lack of 'external moderation' of marking, which have reached an 'impasse' in discussions with BTEC, reported in The Times Higher Education Supplement, 10 June 1988). Perhaps the time has come for an independent inquiry into the principles governing the development of BTEC courses and testing (as part of the inquiry suggested in section 5 below). (13) A comprehensive enumeration of all specialised trade bodies has not proved possible here, but we believe that the numerically most important have been covered. For further qualifying bodies, see the study by the Further Education Unit, Retailing and NVO (1987), pp. 29-30 and 53-4. The total of 1,552 successful students in 1985-86 reported there (p.20) is higher than our total of 600 in table 1 mainly because they have included some 800 who have qualified at the Institute of Meat (the French had 5,000 qualifying at this level in that year); the latter have been excluded here because the retailing elements of these courses are subsidiary to craft aspects. (14) The tabulations that are available in both countries relate to employees (that is, exdude the self-employed); note that table 2 is based on the occupation of the respondent, not his industry, since we are here concerned particularly with the training of the great majority of those entering the industry as sales assistants. Alternative statistical analyses by industry of employment were available to us on a comparable basis only for retailing and wholesaling combined; they show similar results except for the top educational categories (which rise to 6 per cent in France, and 5 in Britain), and the lowest category (which falls to 59 per cent in France, and 87 in Britain). (15) In addition in both countries there is much informal training—difficult to measure—and learning by experience ('the university of life'); all this lies outside the scope of the present study, the concern of which is with training which provides the youngster with a recognised standard of competence and transferable skills. (16) Some duplication is possible with those mentioned above as qualifying at higher levels. (17) This relates to the number completing the main intermediate phase of these courses, known as the 'exploratory module'; about double that number took an 'introductory module', which seems to require attendance at only two or three lessons; and under half that number completed a more specialised 'preparatory module' (for exampte, in display). These developments seem to be guided by the best of intentions and are still in an early developmental phase; the published material produced for the guidance of teachers is unfortunately marred by the curiosities of fashionable educational theorisirig in Britain, and is often too general to be useful (the reader with a taste for humour of this kind may wish to look at CPVE Assessment—Core Competence Statements with the exaggerated and vague requirements for these young, mostly non-academic, pupils to 'recognise the impact of science/technology on society', and to 'suggest appropriate solutions to technical/scientific problems'). 7472 (18) The nearest corresponding institutions in Britain are probably those 'tertiary colleges' offering both A-level courses and vocational qualifications such as BTEC National. (19) Pupils on associated Bac courses—the G1 which specialises in business administration, and the G2 which specialises in business and finance—to some extent compete on the labour market with the G3 pupils mentioned above. It is therefore worth noticing that the number qualifying in these three specialisations in France in 1986 totalled some 51,000. The comparable scope in Britain is probably given by those passing BTEC National Certificates and Diplomas in Business Studies; the number passing totalled some 19,000 in that year. (20) Under the revised arrangements for BTEC 'First Courses', the equivalent of two weeks of work experience is now also required for those taking full-time courses (compared with 12 weeks in France, as mentioned below). (21) Based on work experience. A candidate working in a clothing retailer, for example, may be asked to advise on what can and cannot be altered on a coat, and take measurements for shortening a sleeve. From our recent case book: only one in a half dozen assistants in the clothing deparment of a leading department store in London's West End knew how to to measure for a sleeve alteration (and even that required four visits, because he was not yet in, got it wrong first-time, etc). (22) Though it is not possible to survey the variety of the courses available in Britain, it deserves to be mentioned that the Pitman Diploma in Retailing and Distribution (level II) is closer to the French examinations in the scope of subjects covered and levels of competence demanded. (23) For example, 2,168 passed out of an entry of 2,172 in 1986 in the City and Guilds course just mentioned. (24) The account given here reflects the situation till the summer of 1986; since then there have been modifications as noted in section 5 below. (25) Académie d'Orléans-Tours, CAP 1983, Vendeur: Travail sur Fiche Analytique de Produit, question 2a. (26) Another example from our recent case book: modern fluorescent lamps are of the 'quick start' variety, and a shop assistant should be able to inform the customer who returns a lamp purchased there—because it turned out to be of the old-fashioned slow-starting (thunder and lightning) type—that it was of the older type containing cheaper circuitry; the assistant should not simply offer the customer a replacement subject to the same limitations (in fact, neither the assistant nor her immediate superior in this leading West End store—not the one in note 21—had any idea of the difference between the two types of lamps). (27) The Pitman's Retailing and Distribution Course requires candidates to demonstrate familiarity with specific products through coursework assessed by their teachers, but it is not externally examined; an ability to describe verbally a chosen product in terms of colour, size and selling points is all that is usually demanded (see the notes given to centres offering Pitmans' courses in their handbook, Retailing and Distribution Course Assessment and Examination Regulations, January 1984, pp.15-16). (28) CAP Vendeur: Connaissance de l'entreprise et documents commerciaux, Toulouse, 1986. (29) BTEC General, Elements of Distribution (paper H200), June 1981. (30) BTEC General, Business Calculations, October 1985. The paper for 1980—but not for 1985—included a question on compound interest. It appears that there has been a lowering of 'expectations' in relation to this group of candidates. (31) Some of the larger retailing employers in London whom we interviewed have become sufficiently dissatisfied with shop assistants having only a CSE pass grade in mathematics that they now often look for an O-level or equivalent pass (the standard for the top third of school-leavers) recruiting shop assistants; the expected rapidly declining numbers of school-leavers from 1988 to 1993 may well make it more difficult for retailers to recruit youngsters of this calibre. Decreasing emphasis in the past generation on basic numerical skills in English school-mathematics syllabuses must carry a large part of the blame. (32) CAP Vendeur: Calculs commerciaux, Strasbourg and Besançon, 1983 (Annales Vuibert, Paris, 1983, pp.70,122). The examination for Besançon seems a little harder than average, but serves to indicate the range of competence envisaged. (33) The motor mechanics test includes, for example, questions on volumes of cylinders and on applications of Pythagoras (CAP Mécanicien Réparateur, Opt. A, B, D, Academie de Paris-Créteil-Versailles, 1986). (34) CAP Vendeur: Expression Française, Caen, 1983 (Annales Vuibert, Paris 1984). (35) BTEC, People and Communications, October 1983. (36) As one French teacher of vocational subjects put it to us: 'un véhicule par lequel on enseigne la culture générale'. (37) Not one full day per week, but just one full day at some point in the whole 'course'! (38) This may simply require referring an aggrieved customer to a superior, if that is the employer's policy. (39) 'Moderation' is educationalist jargon for steps to equalise different examiners' marking. In the present context it has not, to our knowledge, amounted to anything of substance in practice. (40) Quoted from the sheet of Sample Items issued by City and Guilds; there is a curious (unnecessarily cautious?) warning attached to the sheet that they are not representative of the entire scope of the examinations in either content or difficulty'; no indication is given of where a more representative selection is to be found. (41) The pass-mark is set at 64 per cent. This is not as high as it may seem since, with four alternative answers to each question, a candidate can achieve 25 per cent simply on the basis of random guessing. As noted above (note 23), almost all entrants pass. (42) More fully: BEP Commerce: option aux employés des services de vente. (43) Now revised and known as BEP Vente: Action marchande. (44) It would take us too far from our main theme to consider why self-service initially advanced more rapidly in Britain than in France, and why France is now further ahead in the development of hypermarkets; a full study would need to refer, on the lines of the eminent French social historian Braudel, to the residual effects of walled cities in France on town-planning patterns (leading to living in apartment blocks with local shops, rather than the separation of residential and commercial areas required in Britain), and to the strength of associations of shopkeepers in France in restraining permission for the establishment of supermarkets. For a more detailed account of recent trends in retailing (though inadequately emphasising the changing costs of distribution in relation to manufacturing, as discussed in section 1 above) see N Alexander, Contemporary perspectives in retail development, Service Industries Journal, 1988, p.77. (45) From tables 2 and 5 of Note d'Information, Ministre de I'Education nationale, 24 August 1987. That it seems to take a long time for French youngsters to find the right first job was suggested by a survey of 1981, unfortunately not repeated more recently. This compared unemployment amongst those completing CAP and BEP courses a year previously and five years previously. The older cohort showed no more than 'frictional' unemployment rates (5 per cent for men, 10 per cent for women), while the recent cohorts showed very high rates (21 and 45 per cent) partly because it takes time to find the 'right job', and partly because unemployment in general had risen in those five years (P Marchal and X Viney, Les premières années de vie active des jeunes sorties en 1975 des classes terminales de CAP et BEP, Formation Emploi, no.2, 1983). (46) Note d'Information, Ministère de I'Education nationale, 28 May 1985. (47) The greater competition in recent years on the youth labour market, with those of higher qualifications displacing those with lower qualifications, is a repeated theme of a series of articles in Formation Emploi, no.18, April 1987. The notion of déclassement (devaluation of qualifications?) has become almost an idée fixe with these writers, though neither its economic causes nor educational significance are adequately examined by them. It seems to come to this: education standards have risen throughout the ability-range; consequently persons 7573with higher educational standards are today often doing jobs that yesterday were done by those with lower qualifications. On the whole, that should prove an advantage, varying from trade to trade. A summary of the French discussion, translated into English, has been provided by J F Germe, Employment policies and the entry of young people into the labour market in France, Brit. J. Ind. Relations, 1986, p.29. (48) The definitions are not quite the same (under 20 hours a week in Britain, under 30 in France), but do not affect the substance of the comparison (Employment Gazette, October 1987, pp.12,17; and Enquête surl'Emploi 1987 Collections de I'INSEE, série D p.59). On recent British trends, see I Brodie, Distributive Trades, ch.3 of Technological Trends and Employment, vol.5, Commercial Service Industries (ed. A D Smith, Gower, 1986), pp.187-8; a comparison with France has been attempted by A Gregory, The growth of part-time work in grocery in Britain and France, Retail and Distributive Management, September 1987, p.18. Those who take a 'Saturday only' job in Britain are mostly youngsters, such as students, or those on a second job, and account for about a tenth of the total number of names on the payroll (a much smaller proportion, of course, of the full-time equivalent workforce; see Trinder, op. cit., p.24). (49) Trinder (op. cit. p.25) draws particular attention to the advantages in taxation and national insurance contributions of employing part-time women for under nine hours a week. The tax-advantage is not of course the sole reason, but has made it easier for shops to respond to consumer demand for shopping outside hitherto 'normal' hours. (50) I Brodie, op. cit., pp. 133,140; and Distributive Trades EDC, Technology and Training in the Distributive Trades (NEDO, 1987), especially the case studies on pp.84-87 which refer to very short retraining times. Other firms told us of 2-3 days' retraining for electronic cash registers. (51) A comparison of recruitment into commercial occupations in 1976-78 with a period only four years later, 1980-82, showed a rise in the proportion of recruits with CAP, BEP or higher qualifications (niveaux II-IV) from 54 to 76 per cent (M-H Gensbittel and X Viney, Formation et accès aux emplois, Formation Emploi, April 1987, p.61). (52) The German approach still supports a course of 2-3 years' length for adequate skill-training in this trade, and there is considerable debate whether two years are adequate and whether three years are advantageous. The three-year course (for Einzelhandelskaufmann) seems to provide more flexibility between trades than the two-year course (for Verkaufer). This was confirmed by a survey of those who had acquired these qualifications and subsequently were employed outside those occupations; 56 per cent of those following the longer course had found their training helpful in their present work, but only 24 per cent of those from the shorter course were of this view (Ausbildung und berufliche Eingliederung, Haupterherbung 1984-85, table 4.414b, Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung, Bonn, 1987; and H Herg et al, Berufsaufbildung abgeschlossen—was dann? BibB, 1987, pp.119-127). The discussion of these issues in Germany is explicit and helpful; see G Kutscha and H Schanz (eds) Berufsbildung in Einzelhandel, esp. the paper by P Schenkel (Holland and Josenhans: Stuttgart,1988), p.49 etseq., and the series of papers (which appeared after the article on German vocational training in National Institute Economic Review, August 1983) for a conference on retail training, Einzelhandelstag 1982 (Bundesverband der Lehrer an Wirtschaftschulen, Berlin), esp. pp.13,37. (53) German Federal Ministry of Education, Berufsbildungsbericht 1987, p.191; we have consulted trade unions and employers on the present position. (54) This is not to say that there are no problems of occupational imbalances in training in Germany (the excess numbers trained in baking are well-known); but the problems are localised and much smaller than in France. (55) These figures relate to CAPs in all trades in 1983 (N Coeffic, Les jeunes a la sortie de l'école, Formation Emploi, April 1987, p.15). For commercial occupations, the published information is not so recent, but shows the same contrast: of females who had been on CAP courses in Commerce, 38 per cent of those completing an apprenticeship in June 1978 were unemployed nine months later, and 58 per cent of those completing their full-time school courses in June 1980 were unemployed nine months later (these figures do not seem altogether consistent with 55 per cent unemployed amongst those following both routes combined in 1979, as shown in the same source, CEREQ Dossier 22, op. cit., pp. 140,153,163). The sampling methods for these surveys are not described in these sources and, verb.sap., they merely refer to la faiblesse de l'echantillon (see, for example, Coeffic, op. cit. p.19); it is not inconceivable that response rates amongst the unemployed were higher. (56) The Future of Vocational Education and Training (OECD, Paris, 1983), p.56. (57) So we were assured by retailing employers in Germany. See also Einzelhandelstag, op. cit. A fuller study of French youth unemployment seems to be required, extending beyond retailing, which takes into account the levels of trainee allowances, how they relate to unemploy ment benefits, and the initial wages of those who have completed their training. Regretfully this has not proved possible within the confines of the present research project. (58) Until 1987 most young people having attained their BEP and wishing to take a higher level qualification would have been required to re-enter the mainstream educational system, joining pupils who are about two years younger, and study for a Bac Technologique G3 (Techniques Commerciales). Since 1987 teenagers having specialised in distribution subjects have had the option of studying for the newly-created Bac Professionnel: Vente Représentation, intended primarily for industrial representatives. This vocational Baccalauréat offers those who have formerly experienced difficulties in the traditional more 'academic' education the chance to gain a Baccalauréat qualification, and to study with pupils closer to their own age and schooling background. (59) See Gensbittel and Viney, op. cit., p.48, esp.n.4. The demographic decline in school-leavers in France in the next five years may also lead to changes in recruitment patterns as expected in Britain (see p.17 above, fn.2). (60) The opinions of large retailing employers in 1986 were that 'it is difficult to use all of the existing first year in some cases' on training, and 'it is not clear that a two-year course on the present basis is a good idea' (Trinder, op. cit., p.36). (61) CAP, BEP, and Bac. (62) It was originally hoped that the NCVQ would complete its work on retailing by April 1987 (Distributive Trades EDC, op. cit., 1986, p.32); on the industry's lack of clarity as to its needs, see also the HMI report, Education and Training at Sainsbury's (DES, 1987, esp. p.10). (63) City and Guilds (Certificate no. 6760), The Retail Certificate: Levels I and II, Assessment Document (City and Guilds, 1989). (64) The Training Information Base for the Industry Agreed Training Provision, MSC, National Association of Colleges for Distributive Education and Training, and National Retail Training Council, December 1986; and Financial Times, 11 April 1988. The Royal Society of Arts new vocational certificates are organised on the same principles. (65) Most young people ought to complete the 'competences' for the award of the proposed retailing NVQ Level 1 in less than three months—so we were assured by retailing experts in Britain and France. (66) Training for Skills: Qualifications in YTS (MSC, 1987). (67) The Secretary of State for Education, Mr Kenneth Baker, very recently called for agreed 'core skills'—written and oral communications, numeracy, etc—to become an essential part of all vocational qualifications (in his speech on Further Education, 15 February 1989, para. 42); but, in contrast to what we have seen of the French system, he does not want them as separate courses ('bolt-on extras', is his phrase!). Thus the difference from the Continental system is likely to remain, supported by the highest political authority in the land. 7674 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ' Our thanks are due to the many retailers in Britain and France who cooperated in this inquiry. In addition we should like to thank the following members of educational institutions and related organisations: In Britain: A Ayling, Rowan High School, Merton; A Bellamy, National Council for Vocational Qualifications; J-F Boca, Commercial Department, French Chamber of Commerce, London; G Brown, G Banfield, M Lewis and D Thorne, College for the Distributive Trades; T Darlington, National Institute of Hardware; R Hutton, Drapers' Chamber of `~'rade; P Johnson, HMI, Department of Education and Science; D fv9c~rorie, National Association of Retail Furnishers; P Morely, National Retail Training Council; J Phillips CBE, former chair, Distributive Industries Training i3oard; I Strachan, Cassio College; C Thorne, Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers; C Walker, Further Education Unit, Department of Education and Science. _ In France: F Amat, Christine Beduwe, Marie-Christine Combes, Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches sur les Qualifications; B Bogaert, LP 'Jeanette Verdier', Montargis; P le Borgne, LP de I'Ecole Nationale Normale à l'Appreniissage, Antony; B de Ciercy, Observatoire des entr6es dans la vie active; J du Closel, F6d6ration nationale des Entreprises à Commerces Multiples; R Espenel, Relations inter- nationales, Ministere de I'Education nationale-. M-F,van der Gucht and J Rouchon, LP 'Pierre et Marie Curie', Sens; JB Jeffreys, International Association of Department Stores, Paris; M L6oneiii, LP Duperre, Paris; J Martinez, Lyc6e Commercial Mixte, Paris; JG Meilhac, Centre de Formation Technologique, Osny; W Mettoudi, Collbge et CFA Rabelais, Vitry; A Roumengous, Secretariat des Commissions Professionnelles Consultatives, Minist6re de I'Education nationale; P Saint-L6ger, Syndicat national des Maisons d'Alimentation a Succursales, Supermarch6s; D Siwek, Bureau Etudes et Recherches, Ministere de I'Economie; M Sponem and J Taupin, Lyc6e Professionel 'Albert Camus', Clamart; G Veil, Direction des Lyc6es sur I'Fnseigtlement de la Vente en France, Ministere de I'Education nationale. Financial support for this inquiry was provided by the Nuffield Foundation and by the Manpower Services Commission (now Training Agency of the Department of Employment) together with the Department of Employment and the Department of Education and Science; we are grateful to officials from the Government Departments mentioned for much helpful comment (but they are not responsible in any way for the views expressed in this paper). Our colleagues at the National Institute, Hilary Steedman and Karin Wagner, have kindly saved us from many pitfalls, large and small. The authors alone are responsible for any remaining defects of fact and judgement.</meta-value></custom-meta></custom-meta-wrap></article-meta></front><back><notes><p>(1) Based on returns from employers <italic>(Employment Gazette,</italic> January 1987, pp.38,44; and <italic> Annuaire Statistique,</italic> 1986, p.716). The great number of casual and part-time employees in this industry, and of family members attached formally or informally to smaller shops, makes it difficult to speak with precision of the total numbers employed. Some part-timers may work in a number of shops and are duplicated in these statistics. Under-counting of casual employees is more than likely in both countries. Estimates of numbers employed in this industry are sensitive to the statistical definitions used, and should be treated with caution.</p><p>(2) From the population censuses of Britain in 1981 and of France in 1982.</p><p>(3) Despite its obvious importance for the economics of training, no statistical survey seems to have been carried out in Britain to establish rates of leaving of new employees in this industry. Some pointers to the current position are given in a recent report by NEDO, <italic>Part-time working in the Distributive Trades</italic> (Vol. 1, <italic>Training Practices and Career Opportunities,</italic> Vol.2, <italic> Evidence from Company Case Studies and Employee Attitude Survey,</italic> NEDO, 1988-9). The analytic approach based on 'survival curves' was explored in articles some thirty years ago (and still worth reading) by H Silcock in J. <italic>Roy. Stat.</italic> Soc., 1954, p.429; K F Lane and J E Andrew, ibid., 1955, p.296; and by D J Bartholemew, <italic>ibid.,</italic> 1959, p.232. See also A Gregory, The growth of part-time work in grocery in Britain and France, <italic> Retail and Distribution Management,</italic> September 1987.</p><p>(4) The prohibition of resale price maintenance agreements in the UK at the end of the 1950s permitted price-competition between different kind of shops, in place of the previous attenuated competition in accompanying service at fixed prices. Following the abolition of RPM, consumers were able to express their choice in the market as between a lower price combined with less service, on the one hand, and a higher price with more service on the other; they clearly preferred more of the former. The continued trend in that direction—thirty years after the change in legislation—must however be attributed to costs and other factors as suggested above.</p><p>(5) <italic>National Institute Economic Review,</italic> May 1986, May 1987, and National Institute Discussion Paper No. 130.</p><p>(6) <italic>National Institute Economic Review,</italic> August 1983, pp.61-3.</p><p>(7) See, for example, the books for <italic>Arbeitslehre</italic> courses on textiles and statistics produced by teachers in Berlin for their comprehensive school pupils (available from the Pedagogisches Zentrum, Berlin 31).</p><p>(8) The present study is based mainly on comparisons of qualifications in the two countries (in distinction from the more resource-intensive studies of matched plants carried out for our associated comparisons with Germany). Discussions were held in 1987-88 with eleven vocational colleges and schools, and with representatives of the ministries, training organisations and examining bodies in the two countries. in addition, we visited nineteen employers (mostly large and raiddle-sized shops with a particular interest in draining). Detailed comparisons of the qualifying examinations in the two countries were made with the help of teachers in vocational colleges. For a previous, very brief, comparison of the systems of retail training in France and Britain, see Tony Parkinson Associates, <italic> Review of Distributive Industry Education and Training Needs</italic> (Further Education Unit, RP245, 1985), Appendix 4, pp.28-29; it also summarised the main vocational provisions for this sector in the Netherlands, US, New Zealand and Japan. Recent useful studies of British training for retailing are to be found in two reports prepared for the Distributive Trades EDC, <italic>Youth Training and the Distributive Trades</italic> (NEDO, 1986) and C Trinder, <italic>Young People's Employment in Retailing</italic> (NEDO, 1986); also relevant are <italic> Retailing and NVQ:A study of the application of the four-level structure to the retail industry</italic> (Further Education Unit, 1987), and <italic> Education and Training at Sainsbury's: A report by HMI</italic> (HMSO, 1987). The current French situation is described in the CEREQ Dossier, <italic>Formation et Emploi—Les emplois du commerce et de la vente</italic> (Collection des Etudes no. 22, April 1986).</p><p>(9) Till 1986 known as <italic>Lycées d'enseignement professionnel</italic> (LEP).</p><p>(10) See, for example, Board of Education, Report of the Consultative Committee, <italic>The Education of the Adolescent</italic> (HMSO, 1926), esp.pp.31-2.</p><p>(11) See M-C Combes, <italic>L'Apprentissage en France</italic> (CEREQ, Paris, 1987); and J Biret, M-C Combes, P Lechaux, <italic>Centres de Formation d'Apprentis et Formes d'Apprentissage</italic> (CEREQ, Collection d'etudes, no.9, Paris, 1984).</p><p>(12) The position described here relates to mid-1986; since then the BTEC 'General' courses have been replaced by the Certificate of Pre-vocational Education and BTEC 'First' courses. The latter are still in the process of change and development, and it seems too early to attempt an assessment here. There is also the complication that the previous nationwide externally-set and externally-marked examinations for core subjects under BTEC General have been replaced by tests and coursework set and marked by each local collego. The consequent lack of uniformity amongst colleges in content and standards has been a worry to employers and teachers—though BTEC remains confident of the correctness of its approach (see, for example, the letters in <italic>The Times Educational Supplement</italic> for 3 June 1988 under the heading 'BTEC students let down by amateur moderation system'; and complaints from the universities originating in the lack of 'external moderation' of marking, which have reached an 'impasse' in discussions with BTEC, reported in <italic>The Times Higher Education Supplement,</italic> 10 June 1988). Perhaps the time has come for an independent inquiry into the principles governing the development of BTEC courses and testing (as part of the inquiry suggested in section 5 below).</p><p>(13) A comprehensive enumeration of all specialised trade bodies has not proved possible here, but we believe that the numerically most important have been covered. For further qualifying bodies, see the study by the Further Education Unit, <italic> Retailing</italic> and <italic>NVO</italic> (1987), pp. 29-30 and 53-4. The total of 1,552 successful students in 1985-86 reported there (p.20) is higher than our total of 600 in table 1 mainly because they have included some 800 who have qualified at the Institute of Meat (the French had 5,000 qualifying at this level in that year); the latter have been excluded here because the retailing elements of these courses are subsidiary to craft aspects.</p><p>(14) The tabulations that are available in both countries relate to employees (that is, exdude the self-employed); note that table 2 is based on the occupation of the respondent, not his <italic>industry,</italic> since we are here concerned particularly with the training of the great majority of those entering the industry as sales assistants. Alternative statistical analyses by industry of employment were available to us on a comparable basis only for retailing and wholesaling combined; they show similar results except for the top educational categories (which rise to 6 per cent in France, and 5 in Britain), and the lowest category (which falls to 59 per cent in France, and 87 in Britain).</p><p>(15) In addition in both countries there is much informal training—difficult to measure—and learning by experience ('the university of life'); all this lies outside the scope of the present study, the concern of which is with training which provides the youngster with a recognised standard of competence and transferable skills.</p><p>(16) Some duplication is possible with those mentioned above as qualifying at higher levels.</p><p>(17) This relates to the number completing the main intermediate phase of these courses, known as the 'exploratory module'; about double that number took an 'introductory module', which seems to require attendance at only two or three lessons; and under half that number completed a more specialised 'preparatory module' (for exampte, in display). These developments seem to be guided by the best of intentions and are still in an early developmental phase; the published material produced for the guidance of teachers is unfortunately marred by the curiosities of fashionable educational theorisirig in Britain, and is often too general to be useful (the reader with a taste for humour of this kind may wish to look at <italic>CPVE Assessment—Core Competence Statements</italic> with the exaggerated and vague requirements for these young, mostly non-academic, pupils to 'recognise the impact of science/technology on society', and to 'suggest appropriate solutions to technical/scientific problems').</p><p>(18) The nearest corresponding institutions in Britain are probably those 'tertiary colleges' offering both A-level courses and vocational qualifications such as BTEC National.</p><p>(19) Pupils on associated <italic>Bac</italic> courses—the G1 which specialises in business administration, and the G2 which specialises in business and finance—to some extent compete on the labour market with the G3 pupils mentioned above. It is therefore worth noticing that the number qualifying in these three specialisations in France in 1986 totalled some 51,000. The comparable scope in Britain is probably given by those passing BTEC National Certificates and Diplomas in Business Studies; the number passing totalled some 19,000 in that year.</p><p>(20) Under the revised arrangements for BTEC 'First Courses', the equivalent of two weeks of work experience is now also required for those taking full-time courses (compared with 12 weeks in France, as mentioned below).</p><p>(21) Based on work experience. A candidate working in a clothing retailer, for example, may be asked to advise on what can and cannot be altered on a coat, and take measurements for shortening a sleeve. From our recent case book: only one in a half dozen assistants in the clothing deparment of a leading department store in London's West End knew how to to measure for a sleeve alteration (and even that required four visits, because he was not yet in, got it wrong first-time, etc).</p><p>(22) Though it is not possible to survey the variety of the courses available in Britain, it deserves to be mentioned that the Pitman Diploma in Retailing and Distribution (level II) is closer to the French examinations in the scope of subjects covered and levels of competence demanded.</p><p>(23) For example, 2,168 passed out of an entry of 2,172 in 1986 in the City and Guilds course just mentioned.</p><p>(24) The account given here reflects the situation till the summer of 1986; since then there have been modifications as noted in section 5 below.</p><p>(25) Académie d'Orléans-Tours, CAP 1983, <italic>Vendeur: Travail sur Fiche Analytique de Produit,</italic> question 2a.</p><p>(26) Another example from our recent case book: modern fluorescent lamps are of the 'quick start' variety, and a shop assistant should be able to inform the customer who returns a lamp purchased there—because it turned out to be of the old-fashioned slow-starting (thunder and lightning) type—that it was of the older type containing cheaper circuitry; the assistant should not simply offer the customer a replacement subject to the same limitations (in fact, neither the assistant nor her immediate superior in this leading West End store—not the one in note 21—had any idea of the difference between the two types of lamps).</p><p>(27) The Pitman's Retailing and Distribution Course requires candidates to demonstrate familiarity with specific products through coursework assessed by their teachers, but it is not externally examined; an ability to describe verbally a chosen product in terms of colour, size and selling points is all that is usually demanded (see the notes given to centres offering Pitmans' courses in their handbook, Retailing and <italic>Distribution Course Assessment and Examination Regulations,</italic> January 1984, pp.15-16).</p><p>(28) <italic>CAP Vendeur: Connaissance</italic> de <italic>l'entreprise et documents commerciaux,</italic> Toulouse, 1986.</p><p>(29) BTEC General, Elements of Distribution (paper H200), June 1981.</p><p>(30) BTEC General, <italic> Business Calculations,</italic> October 1985. The paper for 1980—but not for 1985—included a question on compound interest. It appears that there has been a lowering of 'expectations' in relation to this group of candidates.</p><p>(31) Some of the larger retailing employers in London whom we interviewed have become sufficiently dissatisfied with shop assistants having only a CSE pass grade in mathematics that they now often look for an O-level or equivalent pass (the standard for the top third of school-leavers) recruiting shop assistants; the expected rapidly declining numbers of school-leavers from 1988 to 1993 may well make it more difficult for retailers to recruit youngsters of this calibre. Decreasing emphasis in the past generation on basic numerical skills in English school-mathematics syllabuses must carry a large part of the blame.</p><p>(32) CAP <italic> Vendeur: Calculs commerciaux,</italic> Strasbourg and Besançon, 1983 (Annales Vuibert, Paris, 1983, pp.70,122). The examination for Besançon seems a little harder than average, but serves to indicate the range of competence envisaged.</p><p>(33) The motor mechanics test includes, for example, questions on volumes of cylinders and on applications of Pythagoras (CAP <italic>Mécanicien Réparateur,</italic> Opt. A, B, D, Academie de Paris-Créteil-Versailles, 1986).</p><p>(34) CAP Vendeur: <italic> Expression Française,</italic> Caen, 1983 (Annales Vuibert, Paris 1984).</p><p>(35) BTEC, People and <italic>Communications,</italic> October 1983.</p><p>(36) As one French teacher of vocational subjects put it to us: 'un <italic>véhicule</italic> par lequel on enseigne la <italic>culture générale'.</italic></p><p>(37) Not one full day per week, but just one full day at some point in the whole 'course'!</p><p>(38) This may simply require referring an aggrieved customer to a superior, if that is the employer's policy.</p><p>(39) 'Moderation' is educationalist jargon for steps to equalise different examiners' marking. In the present context it has not, to our knowledge, amounted to anything of substance in practice.</p><p>(40) Quoted from the sheet of Sample Items issued by City and Guilds; there is a curious (unnecessarily cautious?) warning attached to the sheet that they are not representative of the entire scope of the examinations in either content or difficulty'; no indication is given of where a more representative selection is to be found.</p><p>(41) The pass-mark is set at 64 per cent. This is not as high as it may seem since, with four alternative answers to each question, a candidate can achieve 25 per cent simply on the basis of random guessing. As noted above (note 23), almost all entrants pass.</p><p>(42) More fully: <italic> BEP Commerce: option aux employés des services de vente.</italic></p><p>(43) Now revised and known as <italic>BEP Vente: Action marchande.</italic></p><p>(44) It would take us too far from our main theme to consider why self-service initially advanced more rapidly in Britain than in France, and why France is now further ahead in the development of hypermarkets; a full study would need to refer, on the lines of the eminent French social historian Braudel, to the residual effects of walled cities in France on town-planning patterns (leading to living in apartment blocks with local shops, rather than the separation of residential and commercial areas required in Britain), and to the strength of associations of shopkeepers in France in restraining permission for the establishment of supermarkets. For a more detailed account of recent trends in retailing (though inadequately emphasising the changing costs of distribution in relation to manufacturing, as discussed in section 1 above) see N Alexander, Contemporary perspectives in retail development, <italic>Service Industries Journal,</italic> 1988, p.77.</p><p>(45) From tables 2 and 5 of <italic>Note d'Information,</italic> Ministre de I'Education nationale, 24 August 1987. That it seems to take a long time for French youngsters to find the right first job was suggested by a survey of 1981, unfortunately not repeated more recently. This compared unemployment amongst those completing CAP and BEP courses a year previously and five years previously. The older cohort showed no more than 'frictional' unemployment rates (5 per cent for men, 10 per cent for women), while the recent cohorts showed very high rates (21 and 45 per cent) partly because it takes time to find the 'right job', and partly because unemployment in general had risen in those five years (P Marchal and X Viney, Les premières années de vie active des jeunes sorties en 1975 des classes terminales de CAP et BEP, <italic>Formation Emploi,</italic> no.2, 1983).</p><p>(46) <italic>Note d'Information,</italic> Ministère de I'Education nationale, 28 May 1985.</p><p>(47) The greater competition in recent years on the youth labour market, with those of higher qualifications displacing those with lower qualifications, is a repeated theme of a series of articles in Formation Emploi, no.18, April 1987. The notion of <italic>déclassement</italic> (devaluation of qualifications?) has become almost an <italic>idée fixe</italic> with these writers, though neither its economic causes nor educational significance are adequately examined by them. It seems to come to this: education standards have risen throughout the ability-range; consequently persons with higher educational standards are today often doing jobs that yesterday were done by those with lower qualifications. On the whole, that should prove an advantage, varying from trade to trade. A summary of the French discussion, translated into English, has been provided by J F Germe, Employment policies and the entry of young people into the labour market in France, <italic>Brit. J. Ind. Relations,</italic> 1986, p.29.</p><p>(48) The definitions are not quite the same (under 20 hours a week in Britain, under 30 in France), but do not affect the substance of the comparison <italic>(Employment Gazette,</italic> October 1987, pp.12,17; and <italic>Enquête surl'Emploi</italic> 1987 Collections de I'INSEE, série D p.59). On recent British trends, see I Brodie, Distributive Trades, ch.3 of <italic>Technological Trends and Employment, vol.5, Commercial Service Industries</italic> (ed. A D Smith, Gower, 1986), pp.187-8; a comparison with France has been attempted by A Gregory, The growth of part-time work in grocery in Britain and France, <italic>Retail and Distributive Management,</italic> September 1987, p.18. Those who take a 'Saturday only' job in Britain are mostly youngsters, such as students, or those on a second job, and account for about a tenth of the total number of names on the payroll (a much smaller proportion, of course, of the full-time equivalent workforce; see Trinder, <italic> op. cit.,</italic> p.24).</p><p>(49) Trinder <italic> (op. cit.</italic> p.25) draws particular attention to the advantages in taxation and national insurance contributions of employing part-time women for under nine hours a week. The tax-advantage is not of course the sole reason, but has made it easier for shops to respond to consumer demand for shopping outside hitherto 'normal' hours.</p><p>(50) I Brodie, op. cit., pp. 133,140; and Distributive Trades EDC, <italic>Technology and Training in the Distributive Trades</italic> (NEDO, 1987), especially the case studies on pp.84-87 which refer to very short retraining times. Other firms told us of 2-3 days' retraining for electronic cash registers.</p><p>(51) A comparison of recruitment into commercial occupations in 1976-78 with a period only four years later, 1980-82, showed a rise in the proportion of recruits with CAP, BEP or higher qualifications <italic>(niveaux II-IV)</italic> from 54 to 76 per cent (M-H Gensbittel and X Viney, Formation et accès aux emplois, <italic>Formation Emploi,</italic> April 1987, p.61).</p><p>(52) The German approach still supports a course of 2-3 years' length for adequate skill-training in this trade, and there is considerable debate whether two years are adequate and whether three years are advantageous. The three-year course (for Einzelhandelskaufmann) seems to provide more flexibility between trades than the two-year course (for <italic>Verkaufer</italic>). This was confirmed by a survey of those who had acquired these qualifications and subsequently were employed outside those occupations; 56 per cent of those following the longer course had found their training helpful in their present work, but only 24 per cent of those from the shorter course were of this view (<italic>Ausbildung</italic> und berufliche Eingliederung, Haupterherbung 1984-85, table 4.414b, Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung, Bonn, 1987; and H Herg <italic>et al,</italic> Berufsaufbildung <italic>abgeschlossen—was dann?</italic> BibB, 1987, pp.119-127). The discussion of these issues in Germany is explicit and helpful; see G Kutscha and H Schanz (eds) Berufsbildung in Einzelhandel, esp. the paper by P Schenkel (Holland and Josenhans: Stuttgart,1988), p.49 etseq., and the series of papers (which appeared after the article on German vocational training in <italic>National Institute Economic Review,</italic> August 1983) for a conference on retail training, <italic>Einzelhandelstag 1982 (Bundesverband der Lehrer an Wirtschaftschulen, Berlin),</italic> esp. <italic>pp.13,37.</italic></p><p>(53) <italic>German Federal Ministry of Education, Berufsbildungsbericht 1987,</italic> p.191; we have consulted trade unions and employers on the present position.</p><p>(54) This is not to say that there are no problems of occupational imbalances in training in Germany (the excess numbers trained in baking are well-known); but the problems are localised and much smaller than in France.</p><p>(55) These figures relate to CAPs in all trades in 1983 (N Coeffic, Les jeunes a la sortie de l'école, <italic>Formation Emploi,</italic> April 1987, p.15). For commercial occupations, the published information is not so recent, but shows the same contrast: of females who had been on CAP courses in Commerce, 38 per cent of those completing an apprenticeship in June 1978 were unemployed nine months later, and 58 per cent of those completing their full-time school courses in June 1980 were unemployed nine months later (these figures do not seem altogether consistent with 55 per cent unemployed amongst those following both routes combined in 1979, as shown in the same source, CEREQ Dossier 22, <italic>op. cit.,</italic> pp. 140,153,163). The sampling methods for these surveys are not described in these sources and, <italic>verb.sap.,</italic> they merely refer to <italic>la faiblesse</italic> de <italic>l'echantillon</italic> (see, for example, Coeffic, op. <italic> cit.</italic> p.19); it is not inconceivable that response rates amongst the unemployed were higher.</p><p>(56) <italic>The Future of Vocational Education and Training</italic> (OECD, Paris, 1983), p.56.</p><p>(57) So we were assured by retailing employers in Germany. See also <italic>Einzelhandelstag, op. cit.</italic> A fuller study of French youth unemployment seems to be required, extending beyond retailing, which takes into account the levels of trainee allowances, how they relate to unemploy ment benefits, and the initial wages of those who have completed their training. Regretfully this has not proved possible within the confines of the present research project.</p><p>(58) Until 1987 most young people having attained their BEP and wishing to take a higher level qualification would have been required to re-enter the mainstream educational system, joining pupils who are about two years younger, and study for a Bac <italic> Technologique G3 (Techniques Commerciales).</italic> Since 1987 teenagers having specialised in distribution subjects have had the option of studying for the newly-created <italic>Bac Professionnel: Vente Représentation,</italic> intended primarily for industrial representatives. This vocational <italic>Baccalauréat</italic> offers those who have formerly experienced difficulties in the traditional more 'academic' education the chance to gain a <italic>Baccalauréat</italic> qualification, and to study with pupils closer to their own age and schooling background.</p><p>(59) See Gensbittel and Viney, <italic>op. cit.,</italic> p.48, esp.n.4. The demographic decline in school-leavers in France in the next five years may also lead to changes in recruitment patterns as expected in Britain (see p.17 above, fn.2).</p><p>(60) The opinions of large retailing employers in 1986 were that 'it is difficult to use all of the existing first year in some cases' on training, and 'it is not clear that a two-year course on the present basis is a good idea' (Trinder, <italic> op. cit.,</italic> p.36).</p><p>(61) CAP, BEP, and Bac.</p><p>(62) It was originally hoped that the NCVQ would complete its work on retailing by April 1987 (Distributive Trades EDC, <italic>op. cit.,</italic> 1986, p.32); on the industry's lack of clarity as to its needs, see also the HMI report, <italic>Education and Training at Sainsbury's</italic> (DES, 1987, esp. p.10).</p><p>(63) City and Guilds (Certificate no. 6760), <italic>The Retail Certificate: Levels I and II, Assessment Document</italic> (City and Guilds, 1989).</p><p>(64) <italic>The Training Information Base for the Industry Agreed Training Provision,</italic> MSC, National Association of Colleges for Distributive Education and Training, and National Retail Training Council, December 1986; and <italic>Financial Times,</italic> 11 April 1988. The Royal Society of Arts new vocational certificates are organised on the same principles.</p><p>(65) Most young people ought to complete the 'competences' for the award of the proposed retailing NVQ Level 1 in less than three months—so we were assured by retailing experts in Britain and France.</p><p>(66) <italic>Training for Skills: Qualifications</italic> in <italic>YTS</italic> (MSC, 1987).</p><p>(67) The Secretary of State for Education, Mr Kenneth Baker, very recently called for agreed 'core skills'—written and oral communications, numeracy, etc—to become an essential part of all vocational qualifications (in his speech on Further Education, 15 February 1989, para. 42); but, in contrast to what we have seen of the French system, he does not want them as separate courses ('bolt-on extras', is his phrase!). Thus the difference from the Continental system is likely to remain, supported by the highest political authority in the land.</p></notes></back></article></istex:document></istex:metadataXml><mods version="3.6"><titleInfo lang="en"><title>Two Nations of Shopkeepers: Training for Retailing in France and Britain</title></titleInfo><titleInfo type="alternative" lang="en" contentType="CDATA"><title>Two Nations of Shopkeepers: Training for Retailing in France and Britain</title></titleInfo><name type="personal"><namePart type="given">Valerie</namePart><namePart type="family">Jarvis</namePart><affiliation></affiliation><role><roleTerm type="text">author</roleTerm></role></name><name type="personal"><namePart type="given">S.J.</namePart><namePart type="family">Prais</namePart><affiliation></affiliation><role><roleTerm type="text">author</roleTerm></role></name><typeOfResource>text</typeOfResource><genre type="research-article" displayLabel="research-article"></genre><originInfo><publisher>Sage Publications</publisher><place><placeTerm type="text">Sage CA: Thousand Oaks, CA</placeTerm></place><dateIssued encoding="w3cdtf">1989-05</dateIssued><copyrightDate encoding="w3cdtf">1989</copyrightDate></originInfo><language><languageTerm type="code" authority="iso639-2b">eng</languageTerm><languageTerm type="code" authority="rfc3066">en</languageTerm></language><physicalDescription><internetMediaType>text/html</internetMediaType></physicalDescription><abstract lang="en">Previous comparisons of French and British vocational training, published by the National Institute in this series, have focused on mechanics, electricians, construction workers and office workers; these drew attention to the importance of French full-time vocational secondary schools for 14-18 year-olds. This article compares training for the retail trades in the two countries during the present period of structural change brought about by the advance of self-service. in the light of French experience, current British policies for raising the numbers trained in retailing occupations, and for more coherent training standards, are critically examined.</abstract><relatedItem type="host"><titleInfo><title>National Institute Economic Review</title></titleInfo><genre type="journal">journal</genre><identifier type="ISSN">0027-9501</identifier><identifier type="eISSN">1741-3036</identifier><identifier type="PublisherID">NER</identifier><identifier type="PublisherID-hwp">spner</identifier><part><date>1989</date><detail type="volume"><caption>vol.</caption><number>128</number></detail><detail type="issue"><caption>no.</caption><number>1</number></detail><extent unit="pages"><start>58</start><end>74</end></extent></part></relatedItem><identifier type="istex">CE87F1287CC84AD9B9A982A71C82AD0F0B77B66E</identifier><identifier type="DOI">10.1177/002795018912800105</identifier><identifier type="ArticleID">10.1177_002795018912800105</identifier><recordInfo><recordContentSource>SAGE</recordContentSource></recordInfo></mods></metadata><serie></serie></istex></record>Pour manipuler ce document sous Unix (Dilib)
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