Why are qualifications frameworks so ineffective? The role of academic drift in their implementation in Bangladesh and Switzerland

Based on an analysis of Bangladesh and Switzerland, and focusing on vocational education and training, the article discusses why qualifications frameworks often do not have the impact that policymakers expect them to have. Drawing on an historical-institutionalist reading of the literature, it argues, in general terms, that this lack of effective implementation stems from existing institutions and from key actors in the respective VET systems who cling to and benefit from these existing institutions. On a more specific level, the article adds to this institutionalist reading by arguing that ineffective implementation of NQFs needs to be interpreted in the broader context of educational expansion and the social conflicts manifested in this process. Particular attention should be paid to the phenomenon of academic drift, which, as the two case studies suggest, affects the implementation of NQFs in different ways.