Many school leavers cannot fulfil their occupational aspirations when entering vocational education and training (VET), and have to make compromises. This study asks what form these compromises take by examining multiple extrinsic occupational dimensions, and investigates differences by social background. Data for VET entrants from lower and intermediate school tracks from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS-SC4) are combined with occupation-specific data. The cluster analysis reveals four distinct patterns of compromise: 1) upward moves and 2) downward moves in multiple extrinsic attributes, 3) concessions in firm size and wage, and 4) concessions in regular working hours and status. Multinomial logistic regressions indicate that compromise formation is hardly socially stratified in terms of parental education and occupational position. Compared to natives, VET entrants from second-generation migrant families are more likely to move upward into relative better training occupations than occupations originally aspired to.
Many adolescents in Germany are unable to realize their realistic occupational aspirations when they transition from school to vocational education and training (VET). However, little is known about the underlying circumstances and what the compromises look like when these adolescents come to take up a VET occupation. As parents perform an important socialization role, which is also influential in occupational orientation, this article examines the role of divergent parental expectations. Are parental expectations, which differ from adolescents’ realistic occupational aspirations, related to the probability that adolescents will take up different occupations than they originally aspired to? Are relatively higher or lower parental expectations associated with a corresponding direction of compromise formation? Are there differences between men and women in the relationship between divergent parental expectations and compromise formation? This empirical analysis is based on a sample of 1243 VET entrants from the starting cohort 4 of the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS). The compromise formation of the adolescents is measured by comparing their realistic occupational aspirations from ninth grade with their first VET occupation. Results from multinomial logistic regression models show that adolescents adjust their occupational choices to their parents’ divergent expectations. Women are more likely to make compromises that accommodate their parents’ higher expectations.
Many adolescents in Germany are unable to realize their realistic occupational aspirations when they transition from school to vocational education and training (VET). However, little is known about the underlying circumstances and what the compromises look like when these adolescents come to take up a VET occupation. As parents perform an important socialization role, which is also influential in occupational orientation, this article examines the role of divergent parental expectations. Are parental expectations, which differ from adolescents’ realistic occupational aspirations, related to the probability that adolescents will take up different occupations than they originally aspired to? Are relatively higher or lower parental expectations associated with a corresponding direction of compromise formation? Are there differences between men and women in the relationship between divergent parental expectations and compromise formation? This empirical analysis is based on a sample of 1243 VET entrants from the starting cohort 4 of the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS). The compromise formation of the adolescents is measured by comparing their realistic occupational aspirations from ninth grade with their first VET occupation. Results from multinomial logistic regression models show that adolescents adjust their occupational choices to their parents’ divergent expectations. Women are more likely to make compromises that accommodate their parents’ higher expectations.
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