The potential role of vocational education in Austria, Germany and Switzerland was the topic of the Fifth Austrian Conference on Vocational Education and Training Research 2016 (5. Österreichische Berufsbildungsforschungskonferenz 2016). The debate revolved around the expectations of vocational education, for example whether it promotes social integration and mobility, if it can be understood as a driver of innovation and whether it is capable of providing employment impulses.