Skill Endowment Through Vocational Education and Training Programmes and Early Career Mobility

Abstract

This article addresses inequalities in short‐ and medium‐term career outcomes of workers with different vocational education and training (VET) programmes during the early career. In particular, we examine how the degree of vocational specificity of VET programmes affects occupational status mobility throughout individuals’ early careers, a topic that has hitherto received little attention. We adopt a life course perspective and combine an individual‐level theoretical approach (human capital and signalling theory) with an institutional approach. The former focuses on individuals’ skill acquisition during VET and across the early career. The latter emphasises that individuals’ allocation to a training programme influences the amount and types of skills they acquire. The multinomial logistic regression analyses are based on a combination of detailed curricula‐based occupation‐level data on the specificity of training programmes and individual‐level data from the Transitions From Education to Employment (TREE) longitudinal dataset. The results show, firstly, that labour market allocation at the beginning of a career has consequences for later labour market outcomes. Second, practical occupation‐specific education and training facilitate status stability at labour market entry, while general skills and knowledge are decisive for long‐term upward mobility.

Data from the Swiss TREE Panel Study (Transitions from Education to Employment)

“…VET trainees in this type of programme sign an apprenticeship contract with the training firm and receive a (modest) salary. Vocational school attendance varies greatly by training profession, number of lessons and type of curriculum (for more detail, see e.g., Gronning & Kriesi, 2022). Upon completion of their training, they obtain a VET diploma which grants access to specific occupational segments of the labour market and/or to further training at post-secondary and tertiary levels.…”

Life Course Justice and Learning

“…Anghel and Fosztó (2022) further argue that in the context of return migration to Romania, young Roma increasingly tend to demand equality and decent treatment, initiating a process of ethnic change. Grønning and Kriesi (2022) address inequalities in vocational education and training programmes. They convincingly show that general skills, as opposed to narrow practical skills, are decisive for long-term upward mobility.…”

Research on the Innovation of Talent Cultivation Mode and Industry-Education Integration Mechanism of College Education in the Internet Era

“…Colleges and universities as a base for training applied talents; at present, some places need to be upgraded and improved. In particular, the problem posed by the faculty [13]. The improvement of the industry-teaching integration system is inseparable from the courses taught in colleges and universities, which should have certain requirements on the faculty strength of colleges and universities.…”