IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cog/socinc/v10y2022i2p265-277.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Why Do High‐Performing School Leavers Aspire to Occupations Atypical of Their Qualification?

Author

Listed:
  • Verena Eberhard

    (VET Research and Monitoring, Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training, Germany)

  • Annalisa Schnitzler

    (VET Research and Monitoring, Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training, Germany)

  • Hanna Mentges

    (Educational Careers and Graduate Employment, German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies, Germany)

Abstract

In Germany, the dual system of vocational education and training is an attractive alternative to tertiary programmes for school leavers with a higher education entrance certificate (HEEC). Most adolescents with this qualification opt for training occupations where the majority of apprentices hold an HEEC (e.g., bank clerk). This decision seems sensible considering that such training occupations are difficult for people with lower school‐leaving certificates to access and promise better career outcomes. Nevertheless, some adolescents with an HEEC enter occupations that are not typical of their school‐leaving qualification. This article examines under which circumstances adolescents with an HEEC aspire to training occupations atypical of their level of education and thus accept lower career outcomes. Following the rational choice paradigm, we expect differences in perceived benefit and probability of success between school leavers with an HEEC opting for HEEC occupations as opposed to non‐HEEC occupations. Using data from the 2018 DZHW Panel Study of German School Leavers With an HEEC, our logistic regression models show that the individuals’ self‐assessed strengths and their occupational goals explain why they aspire to training occupations atypical of their qualification. Contrary to our assumption, adolescents from academic families are not less likely to aspire to non‐HEEC occupations.

Suggested Citation

  • Verena Eberhard & Annalisa Schnitzler & Hanna Mentges, 2022. "Why Do High‐Performing School Leavers Aspire to Occupations Atypical of Their Qualification?," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(2), pages 265-277.
  • Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v10:y:2022:i:2:p:265-277
    DOI: 10.17645/si.v10i2.5102
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/5102
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.17645/si.v10i2.5102?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Holtmann, Anne Christine & Menze, Laura & Solga, Heike, 2017. "Persistent Disadvantages or New Opportunities? The Role of Agency and Structural Constraints for Low-Achieving Adolescents’ School-to-Work Transitions," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 46(10), pages 2091-2113.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wiedner, Jonas & Schaeffer, Merlin, 2020. "Career trajectories into undereducation. Which skills and resources substitute formal education in the intergenerational transmission of advantage?," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 68, pages 1-1.
    2. Hartung, Andreas & Wessling, Katarina & Hillmert, Steffen, 2019. "Educational and occupational aspirations at the end of secondary school: The importance of regional labour-market conditions," Research Memorandum 019, Maastricht University, Graduate School of Business and Economics (GSBE).
    3. Grätz, Michael, 2019. "When Less Conditioning Provides Better Estimates: Overcontrol and Collider Bias in Research on Intergenerational Mobility," Working Paper Series 2/2019, Stockholm University, Swedish Institute for Social Research.
    4. Dicks, Alexander & Levels, Mark & van der Velden, Rolf, 2020. "From school to where? How social class, skills, aspirations, and resilience explain unsuccessful school-to-work transitions," ROA Research Memorandum 005, Maastricht University, Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA).
    5. Hartung, Andreas & Wessling, Katarina & Hillmert, Steffen, 2019. "Educational and occupational aspirations at the end of secondary school: The importance of regional labour-market conditions," ROA Research Memorandum 004, Maastricht University, Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA).
    6. Schoon, Ingrid & Heckhausen, Jutta, 2019. "Conceptualizing Individual Agency in the Transition from School to Work: A Social-Ecological Developmental Perspective," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 4(2), pages 135-148.
    7. Laura Guerrero-Puerta & Mónica Torres Sánchez, 2023. "Early Leaving from Education and Training and Related Matters through the Lens of the Life Course Paradigm: A Systematic Review of the Literature," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-29, September.
    8. Holtmann, Anne Christine & Ehlert, Martin & Menze, Laura & Solga, Heike, 2021. "Improving Formal Qualifications or Firm Linkages-What Supports Successful School-to-Work Transitions among Low-Achieving School Leavers in Germany?," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 37(2), pages 218-237.
    9. Ludwig-Mayerhofer, Wolfgang & Pollak, Reinhard & Solga, Heike & Menze, Laura & Leuze, Kathrin & Edelstein, Rosine & Künster, Ralf & Ebralidze, Ellen & Fehring, Gritt & Kühn, Susanne, 2019. "Vocational Education and Training and Transitions into the Labor Market," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 3, pages 277-323.
    10. Holtmann, Anne Christine & Solga, Heike, 2023. "Dropping or stopping out of apprenticeships: The role of performance- and integration-related risk factors," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 26(2), pages 469-494.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v10:y:2022:i:2:p:265-277. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: António Vieira or IT Department (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cogitatiopress.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.