Transition from school to work is a particular challenge for young people with disabilities in Switzerland: They usually face more difficulties finding a suitable apprenticeship, fulfil the requirements at school and at the company (Felkendorf & Lischer, 2005) and they have a higher risk for “drop-out”. In light of this, the University of Applied Sciences of Special Needs Education Zurich and the Swiss Federal Institute of Vocational Education and Training Lausanne teamed up to conduct a quantitative longitudinal study to follow the vocational paths of these young people (2016-2019). Participants of the study are 788 young adults who started their VET in two different special two-year vocational programs (Hofmann, Duc, Häfeli & Lamamra, 2016). The study is financed by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI). The first survey took place three months after beginning their training: The apprentices were asked about their background (family, migration), about their school careers, their career choice and the time between finishing school and entering the apprenticeship. Furthermore the written questionnaires included questions about their experiences in the first months of their apprenticeship (e.g. satisfaction, motivation, stress at school and at the company). This period is especially challenging for different reasons: The young apprentices have to get used to a new work rhythm and social environment in the VET-company and in VET-school. On the other hand fit perceptions and organizational commitment have an important influence on the adjustment process (Nägele & Neuenschwander, 2014). In this presentation we will focus on the question how different experiences with career choice (exploration, participation in the process), social support and characteristics of the transitional process (directly, gap between) are related to later fit perceptions and satisfaction with the apprenticeship. We suppose that commitment to the profession and to the company (both as a hoped-for result of a successful career choice) help to cope with the upcoming demands in the new situation. Furthermore family support is an important protecting factor, e.g. reduces self-devaluation during transition period (Neuenschwander, Frey & Gasser, 2007; Vignoli, 2009). Results so far show that a high percentage (around 80%) of the apprentices is satisfied and states that the situation fits well to their needs. Nevertheless some groups had long and difficult transitions, have low support and experience stress in VET. Further analyses are aimed to identify such groups and compare different patterns of transition in view of later outcomes.

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