On Tuesday, June 7, 2012, NEPS invited two highly acclaimed researchers from the field of vocational education. Prof. Francis Green, Head of the Department for Lifelong and Comparative Education at the University of London, started off with a demonstration concerning the perceived job quality in 34 European countries. As part of his project “European Working Conditions Survey”, he examined, among other thiongs,  the satisfaction regarding working hours, working environment and vocational prospects. For this matter, the leading role of the Northern European countries was confirmed once more. This leadership does not only become more than apparent in education in general but also in educational returns as well. Prof. Linda Clarke holds the Chair for European Industrial Relations at the Westminster Business School. She discussed the comparability of vocational education throughout Europe, which could not be any more different due to the lack of a common definition, the diverging responsibilities and the various contents and qualifications – all those therefore facts which constrain the comparability of vocational qualifications across Europe.