Apprenticeships are an important way of acquiring vocational skills and competences. However, an individual will decide how and if they participate in vocational learning processes also considering the appreciation of this type of learning. From the perspective of the individual, appreciation depends on the institutional context and the recognition by significant others of learning during work. We will, therefore, analyze changes in the appreciation of vocational learning during work based on institutional and recognition theory taking the apprenticeship system in Germany as an example. We do that referring, firstly, to institutional patterns of the German Vocational and Education Training system as a case study and, secondly, to the current trend of academization with an impact on how participation in apprenticeships leads to recognition. Thus, the chapter shows, how an analysis informed by institutional and recognition theory can explain paradoxical behavior, where opportunities of vocational learning are rejected due to a lack of appreciation. © 2022, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
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