Career success of low-achieving VET graduates

Author(s):

Barbara E. Stalder(presenting / submitting)Marlise Kammermann(presenting)

Conference:

ECER 2015

Network:

02. Vocational Education and Training (VETNET)

Format:

Paper

Session Information

02 SES 05 C, Transitions: Apprenticeships, Learning and Sense of Self

Paper Session

Time:

2015-09-09

11:00-12:30

Room:

238. [Main]

Chair:

Vidmantas Tutlys

Discussant:

Leif Christian Lahn

Contribution

While European comparative VET research has praised the apprenticeship system for providing young people with relatively smooth school-to-work transitions (Raffe, 2008), more recent research has illustrated increasing transition risks for those young people, who seem to lack the skills and resources to successfully finish VET and to find gainful and stable employment afterwards (Beicht & Walden, 2014; CSRE, 2014; Stalder, 2012).

To promote secure labor market transitions of lower-achieving youth, two-year apprenticeship programmes leading to a VET Certificate have been introduced in Switzerland (Swiss Confederation, 2002). Like the traditional three to four-year apprenticeships with VET Diploma, the two-year apprenticeships are standardized at the national level and regulated by ordinances, which determine profiles for qualified professionals in occupation-specific curricula. Profiles of two- and three- or four-year apprenticeship mainly differ in the extent and complexity of and responsibility for tasks’ execution: VET Certificate apprenticeships focus more on specific and less complex practical activities and include support measures if needed (OPET, 2007). The first two-year apprenticeships started in 2005 in the retail sales and hospitality sector, and in 2007, the first cohort obtained their VET Certificate.

Employability and upward mobility are major goals of the two-year apprenticeships. They should ensure that graduates not only have the needed skills to be employed as a qualified worker, but also the ability and willingness to transfer to a three- or four- year apprenticeship with VET Diploma. Thus, dead ends should be avoided and life-long learning promoted.

Up to date, little is known about the career outcomes of graduates from two-year apprenticeships (CSRE, 2014). No research has studied yet, to what extent the new type of apprenticeship fosters employability and upward mobility.

Based on findings in career success research, this paper analysed the short- and mid-term career success of VET Certificate graduates in comparison to VET Diploma graduates. In line with recent definitions, a career is defined as “...sequence of employment related positions, roles, activities and experiences encountered by a person” (Arnold & Randall, 2010, p. 594). Career success is defined as “as the accomplishment of desirable work-related outcomes at any point in a person’s work experiences over time” (Arthur, Khapova, & Wilderom, 2005, p. 179). Such outcomes include objective indicators of success (e.g., salary attainment, promotion, prestige level) and subjective indicators of success (personal evaluation of the career, e.g., job or career satisfaction).

Research has shown that objective career success is strongly related to human capital (e. g., educational level, work experience) and socio-demographic variables (e.g. gender, age, ethnic background). In turn, subjective career success is more related to individual differences (e. g., personality, self-efficacy, career advancement goals), and organisational factors (e. g., training and skill development possibilities, supervisor support) (Arthur et al., 2005, p. 179; Ng, Eby, Sorensen, & Feldman, 2005). Studies about predictors of career success are often based on cross-sectional designs. This has been criticized, for instance by Gunz and Mayrhofer (2011), who argued that the major interest should be on the career itself and not only the career success at a certain moment.

Following Gunz and Mayrhofer (2011), this paper, first, investigated the careers of the former apprentices over a period of 5 years. Second, the objective and subjective career success of apprentices with VET Certificate and VET Diploma was analysed.

We assume

that careers after VET are linked to apprentices VET qualification, socio-demographic background, and career prospects before graduation; and
that objective and subjective career-success is related to the specific career types of the apprentices.

Method

To test our assumptions we rely on data from a) a sample of 87 apprentices surveyed by the VET Certificate-Career Study who graduated from the two-year apprenticeship with Federal VET Certificate in the hospitality or the retail sales sector in 2007 (Kammermann, 2010; Kammermann, Balzer, & Hättich, 2013; Kammermann & Hättich, 2010), and b) a sample of 123 apprentices surveyed by the Swiss longitudinal youth survey Transition from Education to Employment (TREE) (Stalder, Meyer, & Hupka-Brunner, 2011), who finished a three-year apprenticeship with a VET Diploma in retail sales or hospitality in the years 2002 to 2005. Both studies assessed apprentices’ background variables and career-related career prospects at the end of VET and gathered detailed information of employment and education activities and career outcomes after VET. Careers after VET were observed over a period of five years by means of episode data, which described types of educational and employment situations (e.g., employment, education or training, unemployment) or other situations (e.g., housework and childcare, sickness leave, holidays). For this paper four career types were distinguished: Two types of careers include linear careers, which are characterized by stable employment (“work career”) or longer periods of additional education and training (“further education career”). The other two types are nonlinear careers with longer spells of unemployment (“at-risk career”) or inactivity (e.g., housework) (“discontinuous career”). Career prospects before graduation were assessed using a composite measure which indicates whether apprentices had already secured employment or a (further) training place (1 “secure career prospects, i.e. employment contract confirmed or VET-program assured”; 0 “insecure career prospects”). Objective success was measured by the employment situation five years after graduation (in employment vs. unemployed; if employed: type of contract) and the acquisition of a (second) VET Diploma. Subjective career success was measured by life satisfaction (4 Items, e.g., “I am happy with the way my life plan unfolds“, range 1 “totally disagree” to 6 “totally agree”) and – for apprentices with VET Certificate – fit-perceptions and career satisfaction five years after graduation.

Expected Outcomes

Overall, the findings give mixed evidence with respect to the goals of the two-year apprenticeship. All in all, 68% of the careers were classified as linear and 32% as nonlinear. Supporting our first assumption, apprentices with a VET Certificate were significantly more often in a nonlinear at-risk career (32%) with seven or more months of unemployment than apprentices with VET Diploma (14%). This could mainly be explained by apprentices’ career prospect at the end of VET. Apprentices, who had secured a job or (another) training place, were more likely to follow linear careers (work or further training). Those without secure career prospects – which included 56% of the VET Certificate holders, but only 40% of VET Diploma holders – were significantly more likely to experience nonlinear careers. Regarding objective career success five years after graduation, 85.0% of all apprentices were in employment, and 25% had obtained a (or a second) VET Diploma. VET Certificate holders and VET Diploma holders did not differ. Regarding subjective career success it was found that life satisfaction increased over time and that the development was different for linear and nonlinear careers. The increase was most positive for VET Certificate graduates in further education careers. For VET Certificate graduates it could be shown that careers and career success five years after graduation are closely linked. Supporting our second assumption, the results highlight the unfavorable situation of young professionals with nonlinear, and particularly with at-risk pathways: Life satisfaction increased significantly for people with linear careers, whereas there was no significant change in the case of nonlinear careers. More specifically, VET Certificate graduates with at-risk pathways were more often in unstable employment situations (e.g., fixed-term contract), were less satisfied with their career and perceived their (job) situation as not fitting to their academic or job skills.

References

Arnold, J., & Randall, R. (2010). Work psychology. Understanding human behavior in the work place. (5th ed.). Essex: Pearson Education. Arthur, M. B., Khapova, S. N., & Wilderom, C. P. M. (2005). Career success in a boundaryless career world. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26, 177-202. doi: 10.1002/job.290 Beicht, U., & Walden, G. (2014). Einmündungschancen in duale Berufsausbildung und Ausbildungserfolg junger Migrantinnen und Migranten. Ergebnisse der BIBB-Übergangsstudie 2011. BIBB Report, 8(5), 1-16. CSRE (Ed.). (2014). L'éducation en Suisse / rapport 2014. Aarau: Centre suisse de coordination pour la recherche en éducation (CSRE). Gunz, H., & Mayrhofer, W. (2011). Re-conceptualizing career success: a contextual approach. Journal for Labour Market Research, 43(3), 251-260. doi: 10.1007/s12651-010-0049-z Kammermann, M. (2010). Job or further training? Impact of the Swiss Basic Federal Vocational Education and Training (VET) Certificate on the careers of low achieving young people. Education + Training, 52(5), 391-403. Kammermann, M., Balzer, L., & Hättich, A. (2013). Des professionnels satisfaits de leur AFP. Panorama, 27(6), 16. Kammermann, M., & Hättich, A. (2010). Mit Berufsattest in den Arbeitsmarkt. Ergebnisse einer schweizerischen Längsschnittstudie über die Berufsverläufe nach einer zweijährigen beruflichen Grundbildung. Berufsbildung in Wissenschaft und Praxis, 39(5), 11-14. Ng, T. W. H., Eby, L. T., Sorensen, K. L., & Feldman, D. C. (2005). Predictors of objective and subjective career success: a meta-analysis. Personnel Psychology, 58(2), 367-408. OPET. (2007). Individuelle Begleitung von Lernenden in der beruflichen Grundbildung. Bern: Federal Office for Professional Education and Technology (OPET). Raffe, D. (2008). The concept of transition system. Journal of Education and Work, 21(4), 277-296. Stalder, B. E. (2012). School-to-work transitions in apprenticeship-based VET systems: the Swiss approach. In S. Billett, G. Johnson, S. Thomas, C. Sim, S. Hay & J. Ryan (Eds.), The experience of school transitions: policies, practice and participants (pp. 123-139). Berlin: Springer. Stalder, B. E., Meyer, T., & Hupka-Brunner, S. (2011). TREE Project documentation. In M. M. Bergman, S. Hupka-Brunner, A. Keller, T. Meyer & B. E. Stalder (Eds.), Youth transitions in Switzerland: Results from the TREE panel study (pp. 66-87). Zürich: Seismo. Federal Act on Vocational and Professional Education and Training of 13 December 2002 (2002).

Author Information

Barbara E. Stalder (presenting / submitting)

University of Teacher Education, Switzerland

Marlise Kammermann (presenting)

Swiss Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (SFIVET)

Zollikofen

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