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This Campbell systematic review examines the effectiveness of technical and vocational education intervention (‘TVET’) in developing countries on employment and employability outcomes of young people. The review summarises findings from 26 studies conducted in Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, East Asia, South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Participants were between the ages of 15 and 24. Ten studies were used for statistical meta-analysis. Overall, TVET interventions have a small but positive effect on all but one of the employment outcomes measured. However, there was considerable variation in effects between studies. A main factor driving these differences was study quality. Lower quality studies find a significantly larger effect. Hence the meta-analysed effect size is inflated, and should be based on studies of at least medium quality. No one model of TVET intervention was found to be better than others and there was inadequate statistical power to detect moderating effects of the variables tested. Executive summary BACKGROUND The increase of low-income, low-skilled youth in the labour market, particularly in developing countries, is a major concern internationally. In some regions of the world, young people are nearly three times as likely as adults to be unemployed. They are also more likely to work in the informal labour market than adults, in low quality jobs that offer limited socio-economic security, training opportunities, and working conditions. This enormous unlocked potential represents a substantial loss of opportunity for both individuals and society. With increasing emphasis being given to work- and skills-based solutions to economic competition and poverty in the developing world, comes a renewed focus on technical and vocational education and training (TVET) as a means to expand opportunities for marginalised youth. Although several reviews have attempted to summarise the existing research in this area, there are a number of limitations to these reviews. There is a need to systematically examine the evidence base to provide a picture of the types of TVET interventions being used to raise employment, to identify those that are effective and ineffective, and to identify areas in which more research needs to be conducted. OBJECTIVES The main objective of this systematic review was to summarise the available evidence on the effects of TVET interventions for young people in developing countries to inform policy, practice, and research. The questions guiding this study were: • What are the effects of different models of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) interventions on the employment and employability outcomes of young people, aged 15-24 years, in low- and middle-income countries? • What do the findings suggest about moderating effects? SEARCH STRATEGY A systematic and comprehensive search was used to locate both published and unpublished studies. A wide range of major bibliographic databases were electronically searched, along with specialist and grey literature databases, and websites of relevant organisations. Reference lists of previous reviews and included studies were examined. In addition, we conducted forward citation checking exercises and attempted contact with authors and other relevant stakeholders. SELECTION CRITERIA Studies eligible for inclusion in the review were required to meet several eligibility criteria. First, studies must have evaluated a TVET intervention. Second, studies must have investigated outcomes for young people aged 15-24 years. Third, the geographical location of the studies must have been a low-or middle-income country. Fourth, studies must have utilised an experimental or quasi-experimental research design, including random assignment, quasi-random assignment (and groups generated were shown to be equivalent, or there was sufficient information to permit calculation of pre-treatment group equivalence), non-random assignment with matching, or non-random assignment with statistical controls. Fifth, studies must have reported at least one eligible outcome variable measuring employment (e.g., gaining paid employment) or employability (e.g., changing attitudes to work, or gaining job search skills). Finally, the date of publication or reporting of the study must have been between 2000 and 2011. No language restrictions were applied. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS The electronic literature search yielded a total of 8072 potentially relevant reports, 145 of which were retrieved for full-text screening and nine were judged relevant. Handsearching identified a further 46 eligible reports. A total of 30 studies, reported in 55 publications, met the eligibility criteria. However, due to resources limitations, four of the eight eligible Spanish language papers we identified were not included in the review. Of the 26 studies included in the review, 3 utilised a randomised controlled trial (RCT) design, and 23 utilised a quasi-experimental design. The studies were coded independently by pairs of reviewers using a structured coding tool. Descriptive analysis was undertaken to examine and describe data related to the characteristics of the included studies and interventions. Ten of the 26 studies had data that allowed calculation of effects sizes. The findings from these 10 studies were statistically combined using meta-analytic techniques. The effect sizes were calculated using the standardised mean difference, corrected for small sample bias (i.e., Hedges' g ). Analysis of the mean effect size, the heterogeneity of effect sizes, and the relationship between effect size and characteristics of the studies, participants and interventions was conducted. RESULTS The 26 included studies assessed the effectiveness of 20 different TVET interventions from various countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, East Asia, South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Publication dates ranged between 2001 and 2011. Study settings included ten upper-middle income countries (Argentina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Latvia, Mexico, Panama and Peru); two lower-middle income countries (India and Bhutan); and one low-income country (Kenya). The following summary of evidence focuses on the results of the statistical analyses of 10 studies included in the review. Employment • The overall mean effect of TVET on paid employment was positive and significant; however, significant heterogeneity was observed (Q = 23.8; df = 7; p = 0.00124; I 2 = 70.6%; tau 2 = 0.0153). • Four variables were tested for moderating effects. • Evidence of a statistically significant relationship between study quality and effect size was observed (Q b = 6.49; p = 0.0108). It is reasonable, therefore, to conclude that the overall mean effect may be inflated and that our conclusions about treatment effect on paid employment should be based only on those studies rated medium quality ( g =
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