“You can’t always get what you want”: Prevalence, magnitude, and predictors of the aspiration–attainment gap after the school-to-work transition

Nießen, Désirée; Wicht, Alexandra; Schoon, Ingrid; Lechner, Clemens M.

doi:10.1016/j.cedpsych.2022.102091

Cited by 13 publications

(18 citation statements)

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“…A recent study of adolescents beginning VET in Germany reported that lower levels of Big Five Emotional Stability, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness, and higher levels of Big Five Openness were associated with a higher likelihood of experiencing an occupational AAG/a higher risk of a larger AAG [ 1 ]. Moreover, across different studies, the Big Five dimensions have consistently been found to be positively related to domains of SWB—for example, satisfaction with VET [ 29 ], job satisfaction (for a review, see [ 30 ]), and life satisfaction [ 31 ]—although not all dimensions were always equally relevant.…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Three possible constellations can be distinguished: (a) falling short of one’s occupational aspirations (i.e., negative AAG or simply underachievement); (b) exactly realizing one’s occupational aspirations (i.e., no AAG or simply perfect match); and (c) surpassing one’s occupational aspirations (i.e., positive AAG or simply overachievement). Experiencing an AAGs is a widespread but unequally distributed phenomenon among adolescents in vocational education and training (VET) in Germany [ 1 ]. Previous studies have shown that, when accessing VET, young people have to make several compromises—for example, in terms of qualification level, SES, career opportunities, job stability, and gender typicality [ 1 – 3 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Experiencing an AAGs is a widespread but unequally distributed phenomenon among adolescents in vocational education and training (VET) in Germany [ 1 ]. Previous studies have shown that, when accessing VET, young people have to make several compromises—for example, in terms of qualification level, SES, career opportunities, job stability, and gender typicality [ 1 – 3 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…But what are the consequences of experiencing an AAG? Although several scholars have argued that experiencing an AAG—at an early career stage—likely entails unfavorable long-term consequences for career development [ 1 , 4 ], only a few studies have investigated the extent to which occupational AAGs have negative consequences for individuals’ subjective well-being (SWB) as well [ 5 , 6 ]. The consequences of occupational AAGs for SWB are relevant both for individuals and for employers for two reasons: first, because SWB is an important outcome in its own right; and second, because SWB predicts outcomes such as work motivation [ 7 ], goal engagement [ 8 ], and goal striving [ 9 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Aspiration–attainment gaps predict adolescents’ subjective well-being after transition to vocational education and training in Germany

2023

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An occupational aspiration–attainment gap (AAG) is defined as a discrepancy between the socioeconomic status (SES) of the aspired occupation and the one attained. We investigated how experiencing an occupational AAG after transition to vocational education and training (VET) affects three domains of subjective well-being (SWB) among adolescents in Germany (general life, job, and income satisfaction). Using longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), we could track respondents’ SWB during the transition to and during VET. Results from latent growth curve models revealed that both under- and overachievement of aspirations (i.e., negative and positive AAGs) reduced initial levels of SWB after VET entry—especially work-related satisfaction (i.e., income and job satisfaction). Individuals with an AAG (both negative and positive) tended to experience a slightly larger increase in SWB during VET than those who met their aspirations. Overall, our results suggest that the decisive factor for adolescents’ SWB is not the SES of the VET position they attain, but rather whether that position is the exact type of position to which they aspired.

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Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Aspiration–attainment gaps predict adolescents’ subjective well-being after transition to vocational education and training in Germany

2023

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“…In such a context, a relatively high proportion of women aspires to enter occupations for which a higher education entrance qualification is required. In addition, these high educational aspirations are related to the tertiarisation of many women's occupations over recent decades (Buchmann et al, 2008 ; Kriesi and Imdorf, 2019 ; Basler et al, 2021 ; Becker and Blossfeld, 2021 ; Nießen et al, 2022 ; Wicht et al, 2022 ). If the proportion among women striving for academic education is relatively high, we assume that the room for ethnic choice effects is confined.…”

Section: Gendered Ethnic Choice Effects— Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gendered ethnic choice effects at the transition to upper secondary education in Switzerland

Glauser

Becker

2023

Front. Sociol.

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Positive ethnic choice effects, namely a higher likelihood of attending more demanding educational tracks among students of immigrant origin compared to their native peers, are observed in many countries. Immigrant optimism, and thus the striving for upward social mobility, is seen as a key mechanism for explaining ethnic choice effects. However, research on this topic often ignores gendered educational pathways and trajectories. Based on data from German-speaking Switzerland on two school-leaver cohorts, our interest is on whether ethnic choice effects are observable for both female and male students whose parents were born in the Balkans, Turkey or Portugal. In addition, we examine the extent to which aspirations contribute to explaining ethnic choice effects for both genders. To disentangle the direct effect of a migration background and the mediating effect of aspirations on educational attainment at upper secondary level, we apply the reformulated KHB method in our analyzes. Overall, our findings indicate that migrant women have made up ground on their native peers between the two school-leaving cohorts, contributing to the widening of the gender gap within the migrant group of interest. Of particular importance, however, is our finding that ethnic choice effects are observed only for men, while we do not observe any evidence of ethnic choice effects in the sample of women. Consistent with previous findings, our results show that aspirations mediate part of the ethnic choice effect. Our findings support the consideration that the room for ethnic choice effects is related to the proportion of young men and women striving for academic education, with gender differences in this regard being particularly pronounced in education systems with a high degree of vocational specificity.

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Träume ändern sich: Mixed-Methods Längsschnittstudie zu Orientierungsmustern Jugendlicher

Vogl,

Valls,

Kogler

et al. 2023

Österreich Z Soziol

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At the end of secondary general track schooling, young people experience an important transition; in Austria, they have to decide on further schooling or vocational training. Aspirations shape this transition and decisions herein. In this contribution, we explore patterns in formation, change or stability of educational and occupational aspirations. Based on an exploratory longitudinal mixed-methods approach with adolescents aged about 14 years in wave 1, we untangle the multidimensional phenomenon of (educational and occupational) aspirations. We analyze three waves of qualitative longitudinal interviews and develop a typology of young people’s educational and occupational orientation processes over time. In a statistical analysis of three waves of the panel survey data with the same age group, we compare and integrate findings on stability and change of aspirations and analyze the influence of sociodemographic characteristics on these patterns. With this mixed-methods longitudinal design, we gain an in-depth understanding of young peoples’ thoughts, ideas and worries during this transitional phase. We also learn about the resources that shape the orientation process and related patterns in time.

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“You can’t always get what you want”: Prevalence, magnitude, and predictors of the aspiration–attainment gap after the school-to-work transition

Cited by 13 publications

References 73 publications

Aspiration–attainment gaps predict adolescents’ subjective well-being after transition to vocational education and training in Germany

Aspiration–attainment gaps predict adolescents’ subjective well-being after transition to vocational education and training in Germany

Gendered ethnic choice effects at the transition to upper secondary education in Switzerland

Träume ändern sich: Mixed-Methods Längsschnittstudie zu Orientierungsmustern Jugendlicher

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