Search

(Coordination of the Consortium: University of Bamberg)

The German so-called “transition system” offers a range of different educational measures below the level of fully qualifying vocational education and training programs. These measures do not lead to state-approved formal qualification.

We know little about effects und effectiveness of these prevocational measures in term of skill acquisition, certificates or placement rate in regular apprenticeship. Several studies have analyzed participation in single measurements but we only have little knowledge about short- and long-term outcomes of this participation.

Our research wants to broaden this knowledge: Does the transition system mitigate the risk of educational poverty? Why - against the odds - do some young people successfully enter qualifying vocational training?

“Underachievement” is a well-established educational research field. However, both longitudinal and interdisciplinary studies on the interplay between individuals’ learning potential and educational attainment are rare, as are analyses of life course consequences of underachievement. This psychological, sociological, and economic longitudinal study aims to contribute to our knowledge of social disparities in the processes of discovering youths’ learning potential—and its development—in families, schools, and vocational training markets. We are less interested in replicating well-researched variations in the achievement-ability-relationship between social classes.

Wie wollen die Menschen in Deutschland leben und wie sehen sie sich selbst? Wo zeigen sie Bereitschaft zur Veränderung und wo gibt es Blockaden? Diese Fragen beantwortet die Vermächtnisstudie von DIE ZEIT, infas Institut für angewandte Sozialwissenschaft und dem Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung (WZB). Befragt wurden 3.104 repräsentativ ausgewählte Personen im Alter von 14 bis 80 Jahren in der gesamten Bundesrepublik. Die Befragung fand zwischen Anfang Juli und Mitte Oktober 2015 statt.

Für die Vermächtnisstudie wurde ein innovatives Forschungsdesign entwickelt, das aus einem Dreiklang von Erhebungsdimensionen besteht.

1. Das Hier und Jetzt.

Laura Menze’s dissertation explores the labour market entry of graduates of apprenticeship training in Germany. While their vocational certificates are formally considered to be of equal value, the labour market opportunities differ substantially within this group. In her dissertation, Laura Menze asks how structural characteristics of the training occupation impact such differences. The dissertation, thus, contributes to the literature on how individual employment trajectories are structured by occupational characteristics.

In a first step, the project analyses the impact of characteristics of training occupations on the labour market opportunities directly after graduating from apprenticeship training.

Dissertation project

Theoretical background and objectives

Students whose parents do not have an academic background are still underrepresented in German universities, although many achieve a higher education entrance qualification (“Abitur”). Which education policy measures might convince them to decide in favour of university enrolment? This question is explored by a joint research project of the DIW Berlin and the WZB.