Induction processes in work are crucial not only to become able to fulfil all relevant tasks but also to enable professional development as well as social and value oriented integration into the new organization. Furthermore, we assume that induction varies according to occupations, work organization and (vocational) education and training settings. As it is very demanding to analyse all occupations, forms of work organization and educational settings, it is worthwhile to concentrate at one occupation and select cases with a highest possible difference in terms of educational setting and work organisation. Therefore, the focus is on car mechatronics, in two countries, that involve different educational systems and traditions and in company organization. Thus, Germany and France were selected. Although in France there is a possibility to graduate from IVET via an apprenticeship, most of the youth choose a school-based setting leading to a professional secondary school leaving certificate (“baccalauréat professionel”). In contrast, in Germany, the dual model still is a very important and popular pathway to access midlevel qualifications. Furthermore, cultural differences can be determined, according to (Hofstede 2010) in terms of hierarchical organisation and of implicit and explicit norms and values. These two aspects are supposed to influence all day work organisation heavily which leads to the assumption that work is organised differently in the two countries. Therefore the question is if there are differences in induction processes between France and Germany and how they can be explained.

As there is only scarce research on the induction of job entrants with a midlevel qualification, a single theoretical framework is difficult to define. Mostly, research focuses on graduates with higher educational diplomas (i.e., university degrees Leuze 2007) or threatens the induction process and learning within this process as a black box (Grollmann 2009). Therefore, several approaches from various disciplines (pedagogics, psychology, sociology, and economics) have to be respected by creating the theoretical framework. Especially research on work-based learning (Malloch et al. 2010) or communities of practices (Smith 1999, Lave und Wenger 2008) can serve as theoretical background from a pedagogical point of view. Looking at economic theories, aspects of human resource development (HRD) have an important impact, especially those dealing with e.g., inplacement, personal development, or employer branding (Rosenstiel 2009, Kieser 2009). Looking at sociology, especially theories of organisational and professional socialisation have to be respected (Lempert 2002). Especially for the case of induction of job entrants, the aspect of socialisation into the world of adults could also be relevant. In the field of psychology, the sub stream of working and organisational psychology could play a role for the process of induction (e.g., motivation, employee retention; Mudra 2010). Based on these literature reviews, a proper definition of induction and induction processes could be developed: Induction thereby is understood as a period up to two years. The main aim of induction is to support the new employee to fulfill the tasks described by the relevant job profile (professional induction). Furthermore, it aims at supporting the new employee to integrate into the existing staff (social induction)  and to identify with the enterprises’ norms and values (value oriented induction)

The focus is on learning aspects during the induction process, reflecting the pedagogical approach.

 In contrast and as an enlargement of other existing studies in the field of VET research (e.g. Grollmann 2012, 2013;  Baethge 2009) the study combines the employers’ and the employee’s point of view.

Some main questions of the study are:

• How is the induction process for job entrants in car service?
• What are the differences between Germany/France and between employers’ / employees’ point of vue?
• How to explain these differences?

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