This contribution is based on a recent study carried out in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland, and focusing on young people who drop out of the vocational education and training (VET) system (Lamamra & Masdonati, in press). The research has four main goals: firstly, to gain a better understanding of how young people experience and explain the drop-out in VET; secondly, to explore the links between dropping out and identity issues; thirdly, to understand the different meanings of a drop-out for the apprentices; fourthly to propose measures designed to take action against, to raise awareness of and to prevent apprentices from dropping out. The main interest in using a qualitative approach is to offer an original point of view on that phenomenon. The previous researches on VET drop-out (most of them quantitative) focus on the reasons of the drop-out: an inadequate choice of the trade or the company, difficult working and training conditions, bankruptcy or reorganization of the company, bad work or vocational school performances, insufficient support, and apprentice’s or trainer’s personal reasons. A content analysis of 46) interviews makes also possible to understand what is hidden behind these reasons, what they are made of, how they take place, how they are linked. For example, problems related to the world of work, could mean tough working conditions or health problems at work, but they can also include problems with the work organization. A few case studies have illustrated that certain young people can’t bare the specific domination exerted in the world of work (Dejours, 1999): submission to a hierarchy (Kergoat, 2006), respect of the work division between apprentices and employees or between men and women (Maruani, 2006). Studying what precisely happens during this first VET-experience permit a deeper understanding of drop-out as a process, and also of related subjects – like suffering or strategies used at the workplace to deal with it – which are normally not explored in quantitative researches (Stalder & Schmid, 2006; Amos & Rastoldo, in press). These new informations about what really happens during a VET-experience, which ends with a drop-out, allow to work out improvements. Based on the evidences found out from the research, these improvements can be very precise and effective. We could also speak about a kind of qualitative evidence-based educational measures.

This research is based on a qualitative analysis of 46 semi-structured interviews conducted with young people who dropped out during their first year of VET. A certain heterogeneity was, so we used quota for gender, professional sectors and previous school routes. The apprentices, aged between 15 and 23, were finally involved in different professional sectors, men and women were equally represented and people had different educational background. Two main methods have been used to conduct these analyses: deductive and inductive. These methods have been completed with a few case studies. To answer to the question of how young people explain their drop-out, a deductive analysis was used. To understand the very specific process which leads to the drop-out and for exploring the identity issues, we’ve followed an inductive method. Finally, the different meanings of drop-outs have been explored through an inductive analysis and illustrated through case studies.

First, data from the content analysis of the interviews brought us really precise informations about drop-out. Our results can be compared to other studies, in particular quantitative ones in the purpose of having a wide understanding of the phenomenon. Secondly, the qualitative approach has also permitted to understand the VET drop-out as a process, which may last during a certain period. In certain situations, it may even begin before the apprenticeship. Thirdly, our approach allowed us to consider underestimate topics which are strictly related with drop-out, like suffering in VET, or strategies to deal with it. Fourthly, the heterogeneity of the processes implies that drop-out may have different meanings. In certain situations, it can be understood as a continuity, in other it means a break. On these bases, different measures can be proposed to prevent VET drop-out. These actions can be implemented on various levels: individual, organizational, institutional or political.