Life Course in the Making. Educational and Labor Market Trajectories Through the Lens of the Swiss TREE Panel Survey

TREE (Transitions from Education to Employment) is a prospective interdisciplinary multi-cohort panel survey following up on the (post-compulsory) education and employment trajectories of two large samples of Swiss compulsory school leavers. The first TREE cohort (TREE1) was launched in 2000, drawing on the sample tested on the occasion of Switzerland’s first-time participation in PISA (Nt0 = 6,343, Nt10 in 2020: approx. 3,900). Since then, the sample has been followed up by means of 10-panel waves, the most recent one conducted in 2019/20. Further panel waves are planned at 5 years intervals. To date, TREE1 respondents have reached an average age approaching 40 and have been surveyed for a period of over 20 years, spanning from early adolescence up to early middle age. Under a replication design allowing for cohort comparison, the second TREE cohort (TREE2) covers a comparable population of school leavers who left compulsory education in 2016. As its baseline survey, it draws on a national large-scale assessment of mathematics skills. Since then, the TREE2 sample (Nt0 = 8,429, Nt6 in 2022: approx. 4,500) has been re-surveyed six times at yearly intervals, up to the average age of 21. Further panel waves at 2–5 years intervals are planned. The present contribution includes a detailed description of TREE’s study and survey design as well as a synoptic summary of salient results from some of the several hundred publications that draw on the TREE data

The Interplay between Educational Achievement, Occupational Success, and Well-Being

Many studies have examined the effect of life events, education, and income on well-being. Conversely, research concerning well-being as a predictor of life course outcomes is sparse. Diener's suggestion "to inquire about the effects of well-being on future behavior and success” has, with some exceptions, not yet come to fruition. This article contributes to this body of research. We conceptualize and analyze the interplay between educational achievement, occupational success, and well-being as a complex process. The relationship between these domains is examined drawing on a structure-agency framework derived from Bourdieu and Social Comparison Theory. Social comparison between adolescents and their parents is suggested to be the mechanism explaining the effects of successful and unsuccessful intergenerational transmission of educational achievement and occupational success on well-being. It is further argued that well-being may serve as an individual resource by fostering educational and occupational outcomes. Panel data from the Transition from Education to Employment (TREE) project, a Swiss PISA 2000 follow-up study, was used. The interplay between well-being and successful and unsuccessful intergenerational transfer of educational attainment was analyzed in an autoregressive cross-lagged mixture model framework. Social comparison was found to be related to well-being, while well-being proved to significantly increase the probability of successful intergenerational transfer of educational attainmen

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

TREE (Transitions from Education to Employment) is a prospective inter-disciplinary mixed-mode panel study following up on post-compulsory education and employment trajectories of two Swiss compulsory school leavers’ cohorts: TREE1 was launched as a PISA follow-up survey in 2000 (nt0 = 6343, nt10 in 2020 = 3882). TREE2 started in 2016 and draws on a national large-scale assessment of mathematics skills (nt0 = 8429, nt6 in 2022 = 4461). The panel is ongoing, further panel waves being planned for both cohorts. Data from both cohorts are available at the Swiss data archive SWISSUbase

Introduction to the Special Issue: Exploring Life Courses in Their Making

Up to the end of the 1990s, the scientific and political representation of the Swiss education and transition system’s functioning and underlying mechanisms had been at best fragmentary, largely relying on patchy, mostly cross-sectional data that hardly lent themselves to even adequately describe the system as a whole – let alone providing explanations as to the how and why of its functioning. The launch of TREE was one of the initiatives marking a shift of paradigm with respect to these substantial gaps. TREE gradually expanded into a life-course data infrastructure, now including two cohorts of school leavers (one from 2000 and one from 2016) whose pathways are followed over time. On the occasion of the panel study's twentieth anniversary, a call for papers was launched for a special issue of the Swiss Journal of Sociology (SJS) titled "20 Years of TREE, Transitions from Education to Employment: Exploring Life Courses in Their Making". The issue comprises seven contributions drawing on a wide range of theoretical, analytical and methodological approaches and, in four cases, on TREE data

Pourquoi les femmes deviennent-elles si rarement des professionnelles des STIM? L’importance de la différence entre les compétences mathématiques et l’image de soi

Um den Fachkräftemangel im MINT-Bereich zu bekämpfen, bemühen sich Bund und Kantone, auf allen Bildungsstufen Interesse an Mathematik, Informatik, Naturwissenschaften und Technik zu wecken. Unter anderem soll dabei geschlechtsspezifischen Unterschieden hinsichtlich der Lehrstellen- bzw. Fächerwahl entgegengewirkt werden. Der vorliegende Beitrag setzt hier an und analysiert anhand der Daten der "ÜGK 2016", wie viele Jugendliche am Ende der obligatorischen Schulzeit denken, dass sie im Alter von 30 Jahren einen Beruf im Bereich der MINT-Fachkräfte ausüben werden. Dabei wird deutlich, dass bei jungen Frauen die Unterschätzung ihrer mathematischen Kompetenzen dazu beiträgt, dass sie sich seltener eine berufliche Zukunft im MINT-Bereich vorstellen können als junge Männer. (DIPF/Orig.)Pour lutter contre la pénurie de main-d’oeuvre qualifiée dans le secteur des STIM (sciences, technologies, ingénierie et mathématiques), la Confédération et les cantons s’efforcent de susciter l’intérêt pour les STIM à tous les niveaux de l’enseignement. Cette mesure vise notamment à contrecarrer les différences entre les sexes lors du choix des apprentissages et des matières. Dans ce contexte, nous utilisons les données "ÜGK 2016" pour analyser la part de jeunes en fin de scolarité obligatoire qui pensent avoir un emploi dans le secteur des STIM à l’âge de 30 ans. Les résultats montrent clairement qu’en raison d’une sous-estimation de leurs propres compétences en mathématiques, les jeunes femmes sont moins susceptibles que les jeunes hommes d’imaginer une carrière dans le domaine des STIM. (DIPF/Orig.

Parental Investment in Children’s Education. A TREE2 mixed methods study. Technical Report

PICE is an in-depth study of TREE that deals with the educational pathways of young adults and is particularly interested in how they are accompanied by their families on their way to professional life: PICE analyses what educational aspirations young people in Switzerland have and how they are supported by their parents. This technical report provides an overview of the theoretical framework of PICE, the research questions, and the study design of the mixed method study PICE: It documents the data collection and processing, the structure of the data, and the relationship to the TREE study (Transitions from Education to Employment)

Trotz allem erfolgreich - Bildungswünsche erfolgreicher Jugendlicher und ihrer Eltern aus schlechter gestellten Familien; La réussite malgré tout - Désirs de formation des jeunes réussissent et de leurs parents issus de familles défavorisées

Die meisten Eltern wünschen sich für ihre Kinder, dass diese «es später einmal gut haben sollen». Ein wichtiger Meilenstein auf diesem Weg ist eine gute Ausbildung. Aber wie in anderen Ländern auch, ist der Bildungserfolg in der Schweiz nicht nur von den Fähigkeiten und Wünschen der Jugendlichen abhängig, sondern zum grossen Teil von familiären Ressourcen und den Strukturen des Bildungssystems. So schneiden Jugendliche aus finanziell eher schlecht gestellten Familien im Schweizerischen Bildungssystem tendenziell schlechter ab und haben grössere Probleme auf dem Arbeitsmarkt. Trotzdem gelingt es einigen, erfolgreich zu sein. Weshalb ist das so? Und welche Ausbildungswege gelten als erstrebenswert? Gibt es Unterschiede zwischen Familien mit und ohne Migrationshintergrund? Diesen Fragen geht der vorliegende Artikel anhand einiger Ergebnisse des Forschungsprojekts PICE nach. La plupart des parents souhaitent « un bon avenir » pour leurs enfants. Un jalon important sur cette voie est une bonne formation. Mais en Suisse comme dans d’autres pays également, le succès de formation ne dépend pas uniquement des aptitudes et désirs des jeunes, mais en grande partie également des ressources familiales et des structures du système éducatif. Ainsi, en tendance, les jeunes de familles financièrement défavorisées obtiennent de moins bons résultats dans le système éducatif suisse et ont davantage de problèmes sur le marché du travail. Néanmoins, certains parviennent à réussir. Pourquoi ? Et quelles formations sont jugées souhaitables ? Y a-t-il des différences entre les familles avec et sans origine migratoire ? C’est sur ces questions que se penche le présent article, sur la base de quelques résultats du projet de recherche PICE

Are low achievers necessarily dropouts? PISA scores as predictors of upper secondary graduation. Findings from the Swiss PISA follow-up TREE

Dieser Beitrag untersucht den Zusammenhang zwischen den PISA-Lesekompetenzen und der Bildungslaufbahn nach Beendigung der Pflichtschulzeit unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der kompetenzschwächsten Schülerinnen und Schüler. Mit Daten des Schweizer Jugendlängsschnitts TREE wird gezeigt, dass die bezüglich Weiterbildungsfähigkeit als potenzielle Risikogruppe eingestuften Jugendlichen mit Lesekompetenzen unterhalb der Kompetenzstufe 2 deutlich häufiger als erwartet auf Sekundarstufe II reüssieren. (DIPF/Orig.)This article discusses the relationship between PISA reading literacy scores and post-compulsory educational pathways with a specific focus on low achieving students. Using data from the Swiss youth panel TREE, it can be shown that a surprisingly high percentage of the potential risk group (youths below literacy level 2) complete upper secondary education and training with a basic VET degree. (DIPF/Orig.

Wer aus der Geschlechterreihe tanzt, ist oft ein Talent

Männer in frauentypischen Berufen und Frauen, die in männerdominierte Branchen gehen, verfügen über bessere Schulleistungen als der Durchschnitt. Es lohnt sich für Betriebe, ihnen Stolpersteine aus dem Weg zu räumen

Data from the Mixed Methods Project PICE (Parental Investment in Children’s Education)

The Parental Investment in Children’s Education (PICE) study focuses on Switzerland and investigates parental strategies, resources, and aspirations and how they shape their children’s educational pathways. It contrasts families with a migration background to those without. PICE is a mixed-methods add-on-study of TREE (Transitions from Education to Employment). Within PICE one interview with young adults (N = 73, around age 20) and two interviews with one of their parents (N = 50) were conducted. The data are available for scientific analyses via SWISSUbase. They have reuse potential for analyses on parental investments, migration biographies as well as for methodological research on mixed methods