Labour market prospects of Swiss career entrants after completion of vocational education and training

This study seeks to find the reasons for the rising risk of unemployment for people who have completed basic vocational education and training (VET) in Switzerland. We focus on the long-term structural shift on the demand side of the labour market and its consequences for new entrants’ chances of employment in the labour force. A detailed analysis of the development of vacancies for such ‘career entrants’ in the time period 2001 to 2011 suggests that neither a growing occupational mismatch nor a general shift in the level of education to the disadvantage of workers with vocational education can be made responsible for the rising unemployment of labour market entrants. Instead, the available evidence indicates that a diminishing part of the vacancies suited for VET graduates remains open to entrants because of the increasing job requirements with regard to work experience and further education. Basic vocational education and training alone is increasingly less a guarantee for a smooth entry into the working world

Quality doubts as a driver for vocational education and training (VET) reforms : Switzerland’s way to a highly regarded apprenticeship system

Currently, vocational education is being reformed all over the world. On the one hand, this is supposed to provide young people with access to the world of work or at least to make access easier for them, on the other hand vocational education for young adults is also considered an alternative to purely academic education. The latter, it is said, does only prepare for certain professions or is too little specific or not sufficiently relevant for the labour market. Compared to university graduates, young people with workplace training are said to be advantaged when it comes to employability. Furthermore, it is said, vocational education is rather congruent with practical talents and motivations, or vice versa many young people are neither willing nor capable of finding their way through an educational system, which is primarily determined by rewarding performance at school. Another aspect is the clearly higher public expenses connected to rather academic education, and finally one states that there also is the question of over-qualification and wrong qualification. These arguments are well known, not new, and they have been stated for years to justify a selective access to the academic career path. However, also access to vocational education is not simply open for everybody, rather one may point out that also vocational education is of a selective nature. In contrast to school-oriented systems of vocational education, in case of workplace training it is the company, which decides about accepting young people for vocational training

Reif für den Beruf? : Schwierigkeiten und Ressourcen von Jugendlichen im Berufswahlprozess

Für Jugendliche ist die Zeit der Berufswahl eine entscheidende Phase. Dabei stellt sich immer wieder die Frage, wie ausgeprägt die Berufswahlbereitschaft der Jugendlichen in diesem Alter ist und ob sie mit einer Lehrstellenzusage in Zusammenhang steht. Psychische Faktoren und die soziale Unterstützung durch Vertrauenspersonen wie die Eltern beeinflussen den Entscheidungsprozess zur Berufswahl. Entsprechend ist eine realistische Einschätzung der Verhaltensstärken, aber auch der Schwierigkeiten der Jugendlichen wichtig. Dabei ist die Fremdbeurteilung durch Eltern und Lehrpersonen relevant, denn sie geben wesentliche Hilfestellungen in diesem Prozess. In einer ersten Studie konnten wir zeigen, dass Lehrpersonen für externalisierende wie auch soziale Probleme in der Schule wichtige Informanten waren, während Eltern in der Lage waren, sowohl internalisierende als auch externalisierende Probleme zu erkennen. In einer zweiten Studie konnte festgestellt werden, dass soziale Unterstützung, hohe Entschlossenheit und Kontaktfähigkeit einen wesentlichen Beitrag dazu leisteten, eine Lehrstellenzusage zu erhalten. Jugendliche mit und ohne Lehrstelle unterschieden sich zudem hinsichtlich Selbstkonzept, Emotionsregulation und Selbstkontrolle