Dropping out in VET in Finland – risks and explanatory factors
Author(s):
Marja-Leena Stenström (presenting / submitting)
Conference:
ECER 2013
Network:
02. Vocational Education and Training (VETNET)
Format:
Paper

Session Information

02 SES 05 A, Drop-Out, Pathways and Later Educational Outcomes

Paper Session

Time:
2013-09-11
11:00-12:30
Room:
A-101
Chair:
Simone Haasler

Contribution

In the Nordic universalistic regime, which is dominant in Finland, education and training pathways are planned to be inclusive and flexible to individual choice (Walther 2006, 2009). Young people are not regarded just as a future resource but they are supported in their individual choices and transitions, and the purpose is to provide everyone with a secondary level education at least (Sweet, 2009; Walther, 2006). The Finnish model encourages lifelong education, so that transitions between educational levels and to work would be as flexible as possible (Stenström, Virolainen, Vuorinen-Lampila & Valkonen, 2012).

According to annual statistics for post-compulsory education in Finland, nearly all comprehensive school graduates apply for further studies, as barely 2% do not do so. Respective admission statistics show that a total of 91% go on for further studies aiming at a qualification or degree after comprehensive school (Statistics Finland 2012, Myrskylä 2011). However, the proportion of untrained young people is higher than these figures would suggest, because of dropping out from upper secondary education. During the academic year 2009/2010, a total of 6% of students attending a qualification or degree programme discontinued their studies and did not resume them in any other education leading to a qualification or degree (Statistics Finland, 2012). Drop-out rates in VET seem to be increasing; in 2010 it was 9%.

To tackle the exclusion of young people, the Finnish Youth Guarantee (Nuorten yhteiskuntatakuu 2013; Ministry of Education and Culture, 2013) was launched in the beginning of 2013. Its intention is to ensure that young people have access to education, training and employment and to prevent them from being excluded from society. For the engagement and inclusion of youth in our education-driven society, a major categorisation is based on their attainment or non-attainment of secondary education. 

In society where the significance of education and qualifications is highlighted, young people without such attainments have less choice of jobs available so that they often end up to low pay jobs with little educational demands and poor prospects for career advancement (Christle, Jolivette & Nelson, 2007).  For this reason dropping out is associated with a risk of exclusion (Komonen, 2012; Stenström et al., 2012).

The present study investigates dropping out from vocational secondary education and the factors involved therein during a five-year survey period. Here, dropping out refers to totally discontinued studies in a qualification or degree programme.

 The research questions are as follows:

  1. What factors would explain drop outs in VET?
  2. What kind of differences are there in employment (unemployment) status between the drop out students and graduated students? 

 

Method

The project was implemented in 2011 and financed by the Finnish Ministry of Education. The data were collected by Statistics Finland drawing on several national registers: student database (annually 2004 – 2009), qualification registers, qualification data, employment statistics, population register. A randomised sample (n=6500) was drawn from students having started their vocational studies in 2004. By its size the sample was about 13.3% of the total number of new vocational students of that year and was representative in terms of the average relative distribution across different fields. The students’ study careers were followed from the year 2004 until 2009, as the stipulated standard duration of VET programmes is 3+1 years. The results will be described e.g. by cross-tabulations and variance-analysis.

Expected Outcomes

Of the students starting in vocational education in 2004, almost a quarter (23%) discontinued their studies at some point in 2004–2009. The results indicate that a primary factor connected to graduation or drop out was student’s starting age. The older the students were when starting, the more likely they discontinued their studies. The background factors had different connections to graduation for different age groups. The youngest were more likely to complete their studies, especially if the older ones had a basic education higher than just the compulsory school. In other age groups also previous education had a connection to the completion of the VET programme. These results are consistent with earlier research findings (Mehtäläinen, 2001). Besides age, dropping out was connected with gender. Dropping out was more typical of male students than of their female peers in all age groups. Also previous education showed a connection to dropping out. Those having already a vocational qualification before pursuing another one ended up discontinuing their studies more often than others. Dropping out also seems to be connected with employment, Compared to the graduated students, the drop-outs were more often unemployed 5 years later, counting from the start of their studies.

References

Christle, C.A., Jolivette, K. & Nelson, C.M. (2007). School characteristics related to high school dropout rates. Remedial and Special Education 28(6), 325-229. Komonen K. (2012). Paha pudokas? Koulutuksellisen syrjäytymisen tarkastelu yhteiskunnallisessa keskustelussa. [The bad drop- out? A review of educational exclusion in social discussion] Ammattikasvatuksen aikakauskirja Mehtäläinen, J. 2001. Joustavat koulutusväylät ja uranvalinta. Osaraportti 1. Koulutusväylän valinta ja ensimmäinen lukuvuosi toisella asteella. [Flexible educational pathways and career choice. Report Part 1. The choice of educational pathway and the first year in secondary education] (Helsingin kaupungin opetusviraston julkaisusarja No. A12). Helsinki. Ministry of Education. (2013). The youth guarantee in Finland. Helsinki: Author. Myrskylä, P. (2011). Nuoret työmarkkinoiden ja opiskelun ulkopuolella [Young people outside the labour market and education]. (Työ- ja elinkeinoministeriön julkaisuja No. 12). Helsinki: Edita Publishing Oy. Nuorten yhteiskuntatakuu 2013. [The Finnish Youth Guarantee 2013]. (TEM raportteja No. 8). Helsinki: Työ- ja elinkeinoministeriö. Statistics Finland. (2012). Discontinuation of education 2010. Helsinki: Author. Stenström, M.-L., Virolainen, M., Vuorinen-Lampila, P., & Lampila, P. (2012). Ammatillisen koulutuksen ja korkeakoulutuksen opiskelijoiden opintourat [Educational pathways of VET and higher education students]. The Finnish Institute for Educational Research. University of Jyväskylä. Sweet, R. (2009). Apprenticeship, pathways and career guidance: A cautionary tale. In F. Rauner, E. Smith, U. Hauschildt & H. Zelloth (Eds.), Innovative apprenticeships. Promoting successful school-to-work transitions. Conference Proceedings, 17–18 September 2009 Turin, Italy. http://www.inap.uni-bremen.de/ Walther, A. (2006). Regimes of youth transitions. Choice, flexibility and security in young people´s experiences across different European contexts. Young 14(2), 119-139. Walther, A. (2009). ´It was not my choice, you know?´Young people´s subjective views and decision-making processes in biographical transitions. In Schoon, I. & Silbereisen, R. K. (Ed.), Transitions from school to work. globalisation, individualisation and patterns of diversity. (1st ed., pp. 121-144). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Author Information

Marja-Leena Stenström (presenting / submitting)
University of Jyväskylä
Finnish Institutute for Educational Research
Jyväskylä

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