g 1 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries Authors: Samo Pavlin, Božidar Grigić Publisher: University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Social Sciences Copyright©FDV, 2013. Photocopying and reproduction in parts and in whole is prohibited. All rights reserved. Reviewed by: Tomaž Deželan, Alojzija Židan Technical work, editing and assistance: Tine Jerman, Lea Lebar, Peter Cimprič Proof-read by: Murray Bales Cover design: Peter Cimprič Cover photo: Božidar Grigić Accessible at: www.fdv.uni-lj.si/zalozba The 7EU-VET Project – A Detailed Methodological Approach to Understanding VET Educa- tion – key source of this book – has been funded with the support from the European Com- mission. This communication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. Technical preparation of this book has been co-funded with support from the Slove- nian Research Agency. CIP - Kataložni zapis o publikaciji Narodna in univerzitetna knjižnica, Ljubljana 377(4)(0.034.2) PAVLIN, Samo Comparative analysis of vocational education and training in seven European countries [Elektronski vir] / authors Samo Pavlin, Božidar Grigić. - El. knjiga. - Ljubljana : Faculty of Social Science, 2013 ISBN 978-961-235-630-9 (pdf) 1. Grigić, Božidar 265776896 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................................ 3 LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................................................. 5 LIST OF CHARTS.................................................................................................................................. 6 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... 8 1.2 Background .............................................................................................................................. 8 1.3 Theoretical and conceptual framework .................................................................................. 10 1.4 Purpose, goals and structure of the book ............................................................................... 17 1.5 Short methodological overview ............................................................................................. 18 2 SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF VET LEARNERS IN THE 7EU COUNTRIES ......................................................................................................................................... 20 2.2 Place of living and country of origin ..................................................................................... 27 2.3 Gender and programme sector orientation ............................................................................. 28 2.4 Parents’ education and socio-economic status ....................................................................... 30 2.5 Conclusions and starting points ............................................................................................. 33 3 THE TRANSITION FROM EARLIER EDUCATION TO VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING ................................................................................................................................... 35 3.1 Perceived status of Vocational Education and Training in the EU-27 countries ................... 35 3.2 Which factors affected the decision making of learners with respect to VET programmes?. 38 3.3 How do learners judge the importance of different information sources in relation to choosing their VET programmes? ....................................................................................................... 44 3.4 Choosing a VET programme – how wide is the choice, and why?........................................ 51 3.5 Conclusions............................................................................................................................ 54 4 ACQUIRED COMPETENCIES .................................................................................................. 56 4.1 Relationship between school success and other acquired competencies................................ 56 4.2 Relationship between school success and other acquired competencies................................ 64 4.3 Conclusions............................................................................................................................ 67 5 FUTURE CAREER ASPIRATIONS AND FURTHER EDUCATION ................................... 69 5.1 The context ............................................................................................................................ 69 5.2 What drives VET students towards their professional career?............................................... 78 3 5.3 Which employment sectors do learners aspire to work in? .................................................... 81 5.4 Further education ................................................................................................................... 83 5.5 Conclusions............................................................................................................................ 91 6 CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF VET POLICIES .............................................................................................................................................. 93 REFERENCES .................................................................................................................................... 101 INDEX .................................................................................................................................................. 104 APPENDIX .......................................................................................................................................... 106 Appendix 1: Descriptors for less and more demanding programmes for each country ..................... 106 ENDNOTES ......................................................................................................................................... 107 4 LIST OF TABLES Table 1.1: Realised N net sample size ..................................................................................................... 19 Table 2.1: Adult participation in lifelong learning (in percent) ............................................................... 21 Table 2.2: Percentage of youth education attainment level, by country .................................................. 22 Table 2.3: Students participating in general and vocational education, by country (in percent) ............. 24 Table 2.4: Percentage of the population (aged 18 to 24) with at most lower-secondary education without further education or training, by country ................................................................................................. 26 Table 2.5: Settlement of students, by country (in percent) ...................................................................... 27 Table 2.6: Students’ place of birth, by country (in percent) .................................................................... 28 Table 3.1: Factors influencing students' choice of their vocational pathway (in percent) ....................... 39 Table 3.2: Factors affecting students’ decision making about the programme, by countries (in percent) ................................................................................................................................................................. 41 Table 3.3: Percentage of VET students reporting the strong relevance of selected information sources in the process of enrolling in the VET programmes, by country ................................................................. 46 Table 3.4: Effects of selected characteristics on considering alternatives to enrolment in the current VET programme, by 7EU-VET countries........................................................................................................ 53 Table 4.1: Percentage of VET students who acquired selected generic competencies to a large extent, by country .................................................................................................................................................... 61 Table 4.2: Percentage of VET students who acquired certain competencies to a large extent, by country and gender ............................................................................................................................................... 62 Table 4.3: Percentage of VET students who acquired certain competencies to a large extent, by country and sector of the programme ................................................................................................................... 63 Table 4.4: Percentage of VET students who acquired certain competencies to a large extent, by country and school success ................................................................................................................................... 65 Table 5.1: Drivers of VET students’ professional development, by country (in percent) ....................... 78 Table 5.2: VET students’ drivers of professional development, by country and gender (in percent) ..... 80 Table 5.3: Students’ preferences for working in major employment areas, by country (in percent) ....... 81 Table 5.4: Students’ preferences for working in major employment areas, by country and sector (in percent) .................................................................................................................................................... 82 Table 5.5: Students’ main drivers for continuing education, by country (in percent) ............................. 86 Table 5.6: Students’ main drivers of continuing education, by country and gender (in percent) ............ 87 Table 5.7: Students’ main drivers of continuing education, by country and school success (in percent) 89 Table 5.8: Effects of selected characteristics on students' plans to continue schooling, by 7EU-VET countries .................................................................................................................................................. 90 5 LIST OF CHARTS Chart 2.1: Students’ gender distribution, by country ( in percent) .......................................................... 28 Chart 2.2: Type of programme students are enrolled in, by country (in percent) .................................... 29 Chart 2.3: Percentage of gender distribution between industry and service, by country ......................... 30 Chart 2.4: Parents’ level of schooling, by country (in percent) ............................................................... 31 Chart 2.5: Level of family’s income, by country (in percent) ................................................................. 32 Chart 2.6: Parents’ employment status, by country (in percent) ............................................................. 33 Chart 3.1: Perception of the image of vocational education and training (in percent) ............................ 36 Chart 3.2: Percentage of students who agree that VET positively contributes to the economy of their country .................................................................................................................................................... 37 Chart 3.3: Importance of “The programme offered good job prospects”, by country and socio-economic status (in percent) .................................................................................................................................... 42 Chart 3.4: Importance of “The programme provides a good foundation for further education”, by socioeconomic status and country (in percent) ........................................................................................ 43 Chart 3.5: Students’ opinion about the statement that young people in their country receive enough advice concerning their learning and career opportunities from schools and employment services ....... 45 Chart 3.6: Importance of 'Information days', by country and type of programme (in percent) ............... 47 Chart 3.7: Importance of “friends and classmates”, by country and type of programme (in percent) ..... 49 Chart 3.8: Importance of 'Information days', by country and programme sector (in percent) ................. 50 Chart 3.9: Importance of “online information”, by country and programme sector (in percent) ............ 51 Chart 3.10: Percentage of VET students considering more than one alternative when selecting programme, by country ........................................................................................................................... 52 Chart 4.1: Percentage of citizens agreeing with the statement: “People in vocational education and training learn skills that are needed by employer” .................................................................................. 57 Chart 4.2: Percentage of citizens agreeing with the statement: “Vocational education and training does not prepare people to set up their own business” .................................................................................... 59 Chart 4.3: Percentage of VET students who acquired competencies overall to a large extent, by country and students’ success ............................................................................................................................... 66 Chart 5.1: Transition from formal education to the labour market for medium-level VET graduates, by type of VET, 20- to 34-year-olds, EU-27+, 2009 .................................................................................... 70 Chart 5.2: Minimum duration of periods without employment after leaving formal education for the last time for medium-level VET graduates, by type of VET and age, EU-27+, 2009 ................................... 70 Chart 5.3: Employed medium-level graduates, by orientation and sector of activity, 15- to 34-year-olds, EU-27+, 2009 .......................................................................................................................................... 71 Chart 5.4: Percentage of citizens' beliefs about whether people who have completed vocational education and training are more or less likely to find a job after their studies compared to those who have completed general secondary or higher education .......................................................................... 73 Chart 5.5: Percentage of citizens agreeing with statement: “Vocational education and training enables people to continue with university studies afterwards” ........................................................................... 75 6 Chart 5.6: Percentage of people agreeing with statement: “Vocational education and training enables people to continue with university studies afterwards” by percentages of people believing VET graduates are more like to find a job compared to graduates of general education ................................. 77 Chart 5.7: Percentage of VET students considering continuing schooling, by country .......................... 84 Chart 5.8: Percentage of VET students considering continuing schooling, by country and gender ........ 84 Chart 5.9: Percentage of VET students who consider to continue schooling, by country and school success ..................................................................................................................................................... 85 7 1. Introduction 1 INTRODUCTION 1.2 Background Over the last few years, research into the development of vocational education and training (VET) sys- tems in both Europe has addressed two main objectives: first, contributing to competitiveness and economic growth by providing specific and generic competencies and, second, promoting social inclusiveness. These two objectives are becoming increasingly interrelated. Empirical evidence regarding the differences and similarities of VET students’ career aspirations, school success in relation to acquired competencies and their socio-demographic characteristics is in- dispensable for adjusting VET curricula to learners and employers. One of the key reasons highlighting the need to strengthen research into VET students’ learning processes and careers is the persisting mag- nitude of profiles in the labour market that gravitate towards VET-related occupational structures. The incentives for this are related to the complementarities between formal qualifications and acquired skills, occupational regulations, employment protection, training focus and the implementation of dual and apprentice systems. In the context of an economic downturn and the growing flexibilisation of the economy, qualification processes are also influenced by demographic pressures, including migration and the problem of the social inclusiveness of the deprivileged population which increasingly embraces young people. In this context, European policy developments in the area of VET in Europe1 address the following four main categories: Curricular developments. Modernisation of the VET system is understood in many countries as pro- gramme modularisation and implementation of the learning outcome approach. However, in many cases this is accompanied by the question of whether systems are based on the proper number of programmes. In the event there are too many programmes for too few pupils, on what basis can the programmes be integrated? The question of VET’s fusion with general education is particularly sensitive. To some extent, this is also related to the system permeability between VET schools and HE. Stakeholders’ positioning and functions. There is a lot of discussion on how VET can raise its status and reputation. This is linked to the question of the falling enrolments in VET institutions. The problem 1 As summarised in CEDEFOP 2009 (p. 21), The Helsinki communiqué set four priorities as from 2007: (a) policy focused on improving the attractiveness and quality of VET; (b) development of common instruments and tools to enhance a European area of VET and a European labour market; (c) strengthening learning from others; and (d) taking all stakeholders on board. Priority 1 refers to policy focused on improving the attractiveness and quality of VET (European Commission, 2006, p. 5), which includes links between VET and working life, better counselling and information in preparation for working life, permeability between VET systems and other structures of education, excellence in skill development. 8 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries targets all groups of VET stakeholders such as employers, social partners, deprivileged groups, immi- grants and adults, and seeks answers to how the system can better match their needs. Implementation of policy tools. The key EU tools currently on the agenda in the EU are the European qualification framework (EQF), the European credit system for VET (ECVET), the European quality assurance framework for VET (EQAVET), and Europass. They aim to support the quality2 and attractiveness of VET. Other issues involve problems and challenges arising in interrelated areas. Examples encompass credentialism and social protection, over-qualification, vertical and horizontal mismatches, along with various problems of employment and employability. Phenomena related to these issues are already being studied by different employability measures such as educational level attainment, the participation of marginal groups or drop outs. In addition, over the last few years several researchers have been conducting studies on skill anticipation and striving to understand the relations between acquired key competencies and employers’ requirements. Yet the sustaina- bility of indicators is difficult since they occur in the context of flexibilisation and the types of constant uncertainties that have emerged. There are several ways to approach the question of how to construct the most important ‘reference- comparison’ points for surveying the VET system and learners on the EU level. We mention three of them here. The first approach encompasses comparisons from within. This approach explores the internal characteristics of a broad domain-specific VET cohort in one country. The elements of comparison are the socio-demographic characteristics of VET students and programme types referring to duration and permeability paths and their sectorial orientation. The second is a comparison from above. Clearly the VET population can be compared with the population in general education, and only in some respects with the population in primary education, the labour market and other post-secondary educational structures. The third group encompasses country comparisons from the viewpoint of the variety of VET systems. This issue is particularly sensitive since the VET system relates to both education but also various as- pects of the world of work. However, some conceptual frameworks have already been developed. One of them is the CATEWE consortium that explored variations and particularities of different national education systems. Some of the consortium’s recommendations on country comparisons are related to (CATEWE General Results, 2011-): a) economic developments and labour market characteristics where national value systems play an important role; b) tensions between standardisation and differentiation which includes (inter)national vs. local governance or general vs. vocational orientations; c) vocational- ism in education which is predetermined by historical developments, dynamic relationships and labour market regulations. The extent to which VET related characteristics can be compared across nations 2 See, for example, Parsons et al., 2009: 90-94 for an overview of qualification requirements (entry, and post-qualification work experience, continuous professional development). 9 1. Introduction varies to a large extent and in relation to other comparative reference points, including several aspects such as (CEDEFOP, 2009) the recognition of personal growth through learning engagement, prepara- tions for further learning or subject areas, confirming occupational competencies and licensing for prac- tice and updating and continuous professional development. 1.3 Theoretical and conceptual framework When considering a broad overview of developments in VET, the list of disciplines and theories that can contribute to designing the conceptual and interpretative frame goes far beyond the concerns pre- sented in the earlier section. In addition to methodological theories and approaches, some of the entry points we considered during the 7EU VET project and preparation of this book include: (a) studies on pedagogy that in particular focus on VET teachers and the learning modes of VET students; (b) socio- logical perspectives studying the overall role of education, labour market dynamics, gender and migra- tion issues; (c) psychological perspectives with studies on individual learning, decision-making pro- cesses and motivation that bring particularly important contributions to surveying careers and the de- terminants of professional success and to the development of the guidance and counselling domain; and (d) in the last year strong interdisciplinary approaches have emerged focusing on competency modelling and work process analyses which is related to establishing the European and national qualification frameworks. Some of these approaches have referred to the social mobility triangle principle, the so-called Origin, Education and Destination (OED), that is widely accepted by sociologists (e.g. Jackson et al., 2009). It explores causalities among origins, education and professional destinations. The model questions the relative impact of education in comparison to family background and other factors, namely issues wide- ly addressed by several projects and communities (e.g. DECOWE, 2011-), since it addresses one of the basic theoretical questions on how much education really matters, and why (Wolbers and Velden, 2002). The OECD’s Network B, for example, developed a framework for transition systems defined as "the social institutions and processes through which a society provides its members to make the transition from the education system to the employment system" (van der Velden, Wolbers, 2008: 13), focusing on proportions of school-level completion, the level of acquired competencies, the share of school leav- ers and quality of employment, to mention just a few. Other studies concentrate more on educational processes and school success. One of the more elaborated holistic developmental models distinguishes between individual success factors and subjective concepts in terms of individual contexts related to career factors. In this way, it studies how career success is influenced by four main components, namely the context of origin which 10 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries refers to a person’s cultural, social, class and educational background as well as their work history, the context of education referring chiefly to teaching and learning modes and organisational characteristics, the context of work experiences encompassing different issues of work characteristics, and positions and the context of society and culture that involves societal and biographical data. The model has been designed in line with the theoretical premises of Mayrhofer et al. (2007). Related to these developments, the book considered various contributions classified by different subject areas. Below we briefly describe only the most generic ones. Socio-demographic characteristics of VET students Surveying the socio-demographic characteristics of the VET population in broad terms relates to its gender, age, habits and values. These characteristics are related to so-called neighbourhood determi- nants (Kauppinen, 2008; Gunz and Peiperl, 2007) starting with parents’ education, occupation, other employability determinants and income material and residential status, along with household density and tenure. These issues importantly impact behavioural and social aspects of VET students, placing concepts such as “the family stress model”, “parental investments” or “environmental toxins” highly up on the research agenda (Brooks-Gunn et al., 2007: 414). These concepts are on a more general level widely framed by studies of social stratification (differentiating social groups by material, occupational and educational status) and social mobility (processes that determine social shifts within and among generations) studies and thus offers a great contribution to understanding the social inclusiveness and functions of VET systems and their status. A special focal point in this area relates to social cohesion and inclusion. In relation to the VET process, this area poses several research challenges which we will not be able to address in very much detail. Some of them are discrimination, ethnic and racial stereotypes, religious and cultural differences, ethnic identity formation, assimilation processes and identity development (Graham & Hudley, 2007: 392). Career Perspectives and Professional Choice The term “career” is often defined as a sequence of positions and roles the individual occupies during their lifespan (Super, 1957). Key issues in the domain are (Gunz and Peiperl; 2007: 55-56): (a) the link between personality and career success based on the so-called big 5 model; (b) complementary and supplementary approaches to occupational choice between individuals’ own perspectives and the envi- ronment, including the decision-making process; (c) career counselling development; and (d) the rela- tionship between subjective and objective career success3; and (e) its intersection with social marginali-sation. These issues are addressed by four key approaches: a) Holland's (1973) person-environment typology fit approach; b) various economic perspectives; c) developmental career theories; and d) stud- ies on decision-making processes. In this short overview we limit ourselves only to the approaches relevant to our study. 3 For individuals, the meaning of careers and success vary as they progress between life stages and contexts. 11 1. Introduction The paradigm of traits and environment is conceptualised on the idea of fitting the right candidates to proper vocational paths, and was designed already in the early 20th century by Parson (1907). The author stressed the fact that in order to make a proper vocational choice one needs to: a) have knowledge of one’s own self, capabilities and interests, (…); b) requirements and conditions of success in work and education related to a certain vocational domain; and c) there should be an established link between both. At that time this approach was contradictory to Taylor's views from early 20 century that focused solely on improving workers’ efficiency. Person-environment approaches were further developed by Holland's (1973) career theory on vocational personalities. This theory establishes the link between personal fit and vocational types: realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising and conventional. On this basis (ibid: 81), one can elaborate further theoretical and practical developments, namely, personal approach (the person and environment provide what others want) and supplementary (resemblances between the individual and the environment), which can be interrelated to different extents. Many models address career stages and the links among them. Super (1975), for example, explains how the first exploration stage (birth to adolescence; 0–16) relates to personality formulation, and the devel- opment of capacities, interests and attitudes and the broad, second stage (exploratory stage, 15–24) is important for the development of professional interest, early work experiences and hobbies and the third “establishment” stage (25–44) of the implementation of professional expertise and stabilisation. While each of these overviews and models introduce distinctive approaches and a number of career development stages, they all agree that the age cohort of 17–18 (this population is survey in this book) is still in the exploratory phase. However, there is a large difference between the VET and the general populations. While the population in general education mostly still has time to decide what vocational and career path to follow, the VET population is to some extent determined, at least by a broad profes- sional field, despite the increasingly varied possibilities offered in continuous professional develop- ment. Lastly, it is important to mention that the early stage of vocational identity formation starts already in the family and on this basis continues on the secondary level of vocational education, or post-secondary educational levels. In these stages, students begins with early socialisation and indoctrination into an occupation, which is related to developing vocationally related values, norms and behavioural patterns of a future working environment. Decision-Making Processes and Factors of Occupational Choice While the approaches mentioned in the previous section focus on congruency between the person, the environment, and career developmental stages, other approaches stress occupational choice and stages of decision-making processes. The known conception comprehends four phases: orientation, explora- tion, implementation through to stabilisation (Savickas, 2007: 89). These stages can be observed either 12 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries within various positions of an individual career or throughout one’s whole career. In our case, the con- text of career decisions will be limited to the studied population and their particularities related to pu- berty and biological changes, cognitive changes (the development of abstract thinking), changes in social relations, and the gradual transition towards the labour market (Wagner & Wigfield, 2007: 222). In the processes described above the role of parents’ inclusion plays a very central role. The time and ways they spend with children impact autonomy, achievement motivation and value creation (Grolnick et al., 2007: 259). Another important factor characterising this developmental stage is peers as they gradually take over the parents’ role and represent an important reference point. These theoretical foundations eventually lead towards identification of the determinants that impact vocational decisions. Approaches to this vary. Thurow (1975), for example, claims that the prevailing logic for the selection of an educational and vocational path gravitates towards economic dimensions: the probability of getting employment and expected earnings in the first place. Other authors (for exam- ple Holland, 1973; Miller, 1984; Thomas and Thomas, 2002) stress personal predispositions and inter- ests are a prime motive. Velden and Wolbers (2004) focus on both, and in addition strongly stress past educational and work experiences. Another holistic approach to conceptualising the factors of vocational choice has been developed by Grubb (2002). It is, in addition, very much aware of socio-economic trends and accidental events of a certain moment. Author pool of factors includes: the economic component of children, the relative scope of alternatives, personal estimation of the future success of a certain career path, the ‘presence’ of various events in the decision-making process, and the absence of knowledge which the individual should have been interested in in order to make a proper decision. In addition, the author indicates fac- tors such as the availability of proper information, a network of family and friends, adolescent difficul- ties in identity formation etc. Other authors, such as for example Lucas (1997), primarily concentrate on the social environment and reference peers. They both have a crucial impact on the intellectual, social and emotional components of personal development. The aspirations and motives of parents can also be negative as parents often (Pregelj-Arčon, Skrt-Leban, 1998): project their own aspirations on to their children, instil too high ambitions in children or limit children with their own limited knowledge of the employment and work situation. These issues are particularly critical in instances where pupils want to act outside the family tradition. Theories on motivation Motivational theories that explain learners’ behaviour are best classified in two broad groups. Content theories, that study the typology of individual motives and needs, and process theories that focus on external factors reinforcing individual behaviours. Hence, the first group studies the personal motivation system and the second environmental factors. 13 1. Introduction Maslow's (1982) theory on hierarchical needs assumes that all individual needs can be classified in a hierarchical system of physical needs, needs for security and protection, belonging, self-respect and self-realisation – the last is on the top of the hierarchy. It is important to stress that Maslow never claimed that a person always satisfy their lower needs first and then needs of a higher order, only that higher needs cannot be satisfied when lower ones are not realised to a minimum extent (Kline and Ule, 1996: 163). Aldefer’s three-level hierarchical theory (1969) is similar but reduces the categories to three, namely needs for existence, relatedness, and growth, while McClelland's differentiation is be- tween achievement, affiliation and the need for power. Comparable to Maslow’s and Aldefer’s theories is Herzberg's (1959) two factors theory which states that the behaviour of all individuals abides by the principles of satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Follow- ing Herzberg, satisfaction and dissatisfaction represent two distinct paradigms which are mutually inde- pendent, hence the opposite of satisfaction is the absence of satisfaction. Satisfaction is dependent on true motivations, labelled intrinsic motivations, while dissatisfaction depends on extrinsic hygienic factors. According to the author, the first group depends on the school and work environment, while the second on the content of work. An important conclusion is therefore that the absence of hygienic factors does not imply a higher motivation (at least not in the longer term), while they can decrease motivation. Another author in the content theories group is McClelland (1988), with his theory of acquired needs. In contrast to Maslow, Aldefer and Herzberg, the author claims that, rather than individual factors of moti- vation, there are distinct types of individuals with inherently embedded motivational systems. The three basic types or affiliations are related to achievements, social ties and power. One of the best known process theories is Vroom's expectancy theory (Vroom, 1995). With this theory the author explains behaviour within organisations. Following Vroom, three key processes that complement each other are expectancy, instrumentality and valence. Valence can be positive, negative or indifferent towards an individual’s behaviour or role in general. In this way, an individual follows posi- tive situations and avoids negative ones. In this, he estimates the possibility of how well a given task can be accomplished. Instrumentality is the relationship between personal expectations of a proper re- ward and opinions on the fairness of the rewards. Other authors in this theoretical stream include Locke (1991) with the goal theory and feedback process, and Adams (1963) with equity in which the key focus is on reference points (e.g. the school grades of one’s peers). In the book we have related these theories to the development of indicators for satisfaction, and in rela- tion to learning. Theories on Learning In this book we consider learning from information process and situation perspectives. Information process learning theories best describe how learning takes place in the classroom, at home and during assessment processes so, put simply, it explains very well the encoding of external information along with the storage and recall of such information. Encoding relates to the processes of perception and 14 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries interpretation which are vital for transforming external stimuli into cognitive perceptions. Learning solely based on external stimulation can be explained as the »bottom-up« principle, while learning that is a result of external stimulation and previous knowledge can be explained as the »top-down« principle (Anderson, 1995). The described topics have a long tradition in cognitive psychology. Among the best known, it is worth mentioning Cyert and March (1963) who concentrated on the »acquiring of information from the envi- ronment«, the »distribution of information in the organisation«, the »condensation of outgoing infor- mation« and on the different modes of the »transmission of reshaped information from the organisa- tion«. The connection between the abovementioned elements was later studied by several other authors (for instance, Huber, 1991; Lundberg, 1989). Recent psychological approaches have continued this tradition. They focus on studying the optimising of the systems of decoding, memorising, recalling and utilisation of information in various learning situations. Information process learning is a successful approach in simple contexts where the change of learned behaviour is obvious and consistent. However, in everyday life people often find themselves in situa- tions with no obvious connection between cause and effect or where the reason is unknown. Learning in such contexts is more effectively explained by situation learning theories. In the case of this kind of learning, the key question is how people establish causal connections in new situations via experiences and general rules. The situation learning theories are based on learning via observation (Bandura, 1969), unlike classical and instrumental conditioning. If the individual recognises that a certain way of behaving is rewarded, he will most likely imitate that behaviour. The level at which this phenomenon unravels can be indivi- dual or in a group of people. However, the crucial factor is experience that is often gained in a sponta- neous way. Such an experience exchange often happens in various situations: between the master and the appren- tice, between parents and their children, among adolescent peers (classmates), soldiers in the army etc. That is why learning is often connected to the problem of »forgetting« which is most obvious when the individual tries to replace the knowledge he has gained over a longer time in the past. The basic communication of this theoretical paradigm says that situation learning most often happens in a non-formal way, possibly as an integrated part of some other activity (Revans 1980). In this sense, Wenger (1999) and Grosjean (2003) draw attention to the difference between »knowing the practice« and »knowledge about the practice«. Within this spirit, Maier and others (2003: 24-25) state that learn- ing is not always intentional, individuals imitate the behaviour of those like them, preliminary knowledge is always important (either as an accelerator or inhibitor of learning), learning is formed on the basis of causal connections, and learning is a motivated form of behaviour. 15 1. Introduction The concept of so-called knowledge management models that link both approaches – information pro- cess learning and social learning – hold important implications for our research: they state that the development of occupational competencies is a simultaneous result of information process learning and situation learning. Gherardi and Nikolini (2003) claim that situation learning is distinctively connected to the process of participation in the way an individual becomes a member of the environment. Contrary to the concept of participation, the complementary concept of reflection separates the subject of knowledge and the object of this knowledge: the individual is aware of his knowledge which means he is closer to information process learning. It is only the combination of both learning methods that repre- sents what can be called occupational or professional knowledge. We can thus conclude that the quality of learning and working depends greatly on suitable learning combinations. Even though the models overlap each other to some extent, each brings a somewhat dif- ferent stress on the contents. Competencies and School Success Studying the determinants of competencies and school knowledge and success represents a focal point of this book. In this way we define competencies as the generators of potential for an individual’s performance, personal characteristics (traits) as physical characteristics and methods of an individual’s response to a situation, self-concept in the sense of habits, values and knowledge in the sense of infor- mation that someone has in specific areas (Spencer and Spencer, 1993: 9-10). This definition mostly describes individually acquired competencies, while employers’ expectations are labelled required competences. Since the modernisation processes in education in line with the lifelong learning policy principles, competencies have been introduced into education processes. For individuals, the meaning of professional success moves along their career and life stages (Hall, 2002 cf. Demeter, 2010) and encompasses a sharp distinction when it shifts from education to the world of work. However, in both contexts the basic observation of careers distinguishes between objective and subjective career dimensions (Gunz & Peiperl, 2007). Following Mayrhofer et al. (2007), professional success is always relational, referring to person-related aspects of a career, the individual’s social origin, work and societal and cultural dimensions. However, there is a clear distinction between success attained at school and success in the labour market. Several authors believe that the theoretical back- ground gained in formal education only has a minor connection with the real work situation (e.g. Svens- son, 1990: 52-56). This book focuses in particular on differences and similarities between school grades and perceived acquired competencies during the education process. We should stress that on the most general level our survey seeks to explore what determines school success in relation to acquired competencies. On the conceptual level, it tries to understand how school success, acquired competencies (vocational expertise, foreign languages, ICT and some generic compe- tencies) and school satisfaction are interrelated. 16 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries 1.4 Purpose, goals and structure of the book The initial scientific and research goals of this book were related to questions regarding: (a) perceptions of young people about VET systems and how they see their future possibilities relating to employment, career building and mobility; (b) the efficacy and successfulness of systems in advising and informing; and (c) similarities and differences across countries in the way they should react to the emerging social challenges. Due to recent economic and policy priorities in the EU, ICT tools warranted special attenti- on. The project entitled “Detailed Methodological Approach to Understanding Vocational Education and Training”, which represents the formal basis of this book, stresses the fact that all findings and recom- mendations are based on very well elaborated empirical steps, in particular the development of the rese- arch instrument and implementation of the large-scale survey in seven EU countries4, which are supported by a secondary sources review (legislation, organisation of VET programmes, employment possibi- lities and permeability with higher education), focus groups, workshops and interviews among VET students, teachers, headmasters and policy makers. This allows an analysis of contextual factors as well as a deeper understanding of the different national contexts of the various education systems. In line with these premises, the following key research goals have been identified, relative to particular rese- arch areas, exploring country differences and similarities: The Transition from Previous Education to VET - Which are the main drivers of enrolment in VET? How much in fact is the decision to select a particular VET programme predetermined, and in particular what is the impact of socio- demographic characteristics? Do students strive for material rewards or do they respond to intrinsic motives of professionalism? - What is the relative freedom of VET students in selecting further education in relation to school success, family determination and personal characteristics? - What is the role of career guidance services and other formal channels in supporting VET stu- dents’ career choices? Acquired Competencies - How well do VET students acquire generic competencies, and to what extent do curricula con- tribute to their development? - How are school success and acquired competencies interrelated? Future Career and Further Education - Which are VET students’ career aspirations? How are they related to types of programmes and their sectoral orientation? 4 7 EU countries: Austria, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia and the UK 17 1. Introduction - In which sectors would they like to work? How are these aspirations related to the sectoral ori- entation of their VET programmes? - How do VET students see their employability prospects and how do they perceive further edu- cation permeability paths? - How many of them experience international exchange programmes, and what are their experi- ences? General Issues The book explores how gender, parents’ education and other socio-demographic characteristics charac- terise VET systems and their programmes. In particular, it looks for varieties and complementarities between subsystem levels and similarities and differences across countries. This issue is explored on the levels of VET students, schools, national subsystems, and internationally. Structure of the Book This book comprises six main chapters. In Chapter 2 we first provide an overview of Socio- demographic characteristics in the 7EU countries. Here we look at place of living and country of origin, gender and programme sector orientation and parents education and socio-economic status. In the Chap- ter 3 we study the transition from earlier education to vocational education and training what includes perceived status of vocational education and training, factors affecting the decision making of learners with respect to enrolments into VET programmes and considering how do learners judge the importance of different information sources in relation to choosing their VET programmes. In this chapter we con- sider how wide is the occupational choice of VET learners and, and why. In the Chapter 4 we look into the relationship between school success and other acquired competencies. Chapter 5 explores the future career aspirations and further education of VET students towards their professional career. In this chap- ter we also look which employment sectors do learners aspire to work in. In the last chapter we draw key conclussions and implications for the development of vet policies. 1.5 Short methodological overview The approach in this book builds on a review of secondary sources and analyses on the national and EU levels in the development and implementation of quantitative and qualitative studies. The main method- ological steps gradually developed during the 7EU VET project’s lifespan and different workpackages were: (a) an analysis of key secondary sources and databases of VET developments and policy issues on the EU and national levels; (b) the conducting of over 100 national valorisation workshops and inter- views with VET stakeholders; and (c) implementation of the large-scale survey comprising approxi- mately 17,600 VET students, including the holding of workshops with VET learners and the develop- ment of an international database. 18 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries The target population of 7EU VET was defined as 17–18-year-old pupils in initial VET, as this popu- lation instersects most VET programmes in 7 EU countries. The target population can be found in a variety of VET educational pathways and grades within the education systems (see appendix 1 - De- scriptors for less and more demanding programmes for each country for more detailed information). Two-stage random sample design was applied to the 7EU-VET study and the survey has been done either online or with a paper-and-pencil questionnaire, instruments for both modes were developed. Table 1.1: Realised N net sample size Realised N net sample size Austria 2097 Germany 5377 Greece 2396 Latvia 2926 Lithuania 2641 Slovenia 1197 England 997 (UK) Total 17631 Source: Dahmen, Neuert and Fuchs, 2012. Overall response rates (considering school level, class level, and student level) within the range of 55 percent to 70 percent were reached in most countries (Dahmen, Neuert and Fuchs, 2012). In this way the developed methodological instrument is an instrument which follows the main principles of the key international surveys such as PISA (The Programme for International Student Assessment), LFS (The Labour Force Survey) or ESS (The European Social Survey). 19 2. Socio-demographic Characteristics of VET Learners in the 7EU Countries 2 SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF VET LEARNERS IN THE 7EU COUNTRIES The starting points for considering the similarities and differences of VET systems relate to multiple aspects such as adult involvement in lifelong learning, the ratio of graduates between VET graduates and graduates of general education. There are several possible approaches and sources which offer an international comparison of VET students in Europe. In this section, we only present those which hold relevance to later sections. One of the many possible starting points to look at an international comparison of the VET system is to consid- er the adult participation in lifelong learning which is becoming increasingly ‘an extension’ of formal education, and hence indicates to what extent particular EU countries are modernising non-formal edu- cation. As Table 2.1 shows, lifelong learning refers to persons aged 25 to 64 who stated that they had received education or training in the four weeks preceding the survey (numerator). The denominator consists of the total population of the same age group, excluding those who did not answer the question on "participation in education and training". The information collected relates to all education or training whether or not it was relevant to the respondent's current or possible future job. The EU-27 has now reached the participation rate of 8.9 percent but data show that performance has slightly declined since 2005 (9.6 percent). There are significant differences between the countries in- cluded in the 7-EU-VET study with Slovenia (15.9 percent), United Kingdom (15.8 percent) and Aus- tria (13.4 percent) being highly above the EU average and Latvia (5.0 percent), Lithuania (5.9 percent) and especially Greece (2.4 percent) highly below the average. Germany's performance is closest to the EU-27 average (7.8 percent), however it is not reaching it. Countries with the most comprehensive lifelong learning strategies appear to be northern countries (Finland, Sweden and especially Denmark) that all have exceptionally high overall participation rates (more than 20 percent, in the case of Denmark even more than 30 percent). The UK used to be a mem- ber of this group, however its performance has gradually declined since 2004 (from 29 percent to 15.8 percent), therefore this data puts it in the second group together with Slovenia, Austria, Luxembourg (13.6 percent) and the Netherlands (16.7 percent). We can compare Germany's result with e.g. Belgium (7.1 percent), Ireland (6.8 percent) and Cyprus (7.5 percent). The results for Lithuania and Latvia can also be compared with France (5.5 percent), Italy (5.7 percent) as well as Poland (4.5 percent). Greece was lowest with only 2.4 percent and falls into the group of worst performing countries together with Bulgaria (1.2 percent), Hungary (2.7 percent), Romania (1.6 percent) and Slovakia (3.9 percent). 5 Next, the share of the population aged 20 to 24 that completed at least upper-secondary education is presented in Table 2.2. The latest (2011) EU-27 average for the population aged 20 to 24 is 79.5 percent and has slightly improved (by 2.9 percent) since the year 2000. 5 Eurostat. 2012. Adult participation in Lifelong Learning. 20 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries Table 2.1: Adult participation in lifelong learning (in percent) :=not available e=estimated b=break in series i=see metadata p=provisional u=unreliable Source: Eurostat. 2012. Labour force study. Adult participation in Lifelong Learning. 21 2. Socio-demographic Characteristics of VET Learners in the 7EU Countries Table 2.2: Percentage of youth education attainment level, by country :=not available b=break in series i=see metadata p=provisional Source: Eurostat. 2012. Youth education attainment level by gender; Youth attainment level - percentage of the population aged 20 - 24 having completed at least upper-secondary education. 22 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries Amongst the countries included in the 7EU-VET study, attainment rates are highest in Slovenia (90.1 percent), Lithuania (86.9 percent) and Austria (85.4 percent). Due to the specifics of its VET education, Germany has the lowest completion rate (75.8 percent), followed by the United Kingdom (80.1 percent) and Latvia (80.4 percent). The latter two countries are closest to the EU-27 average, while Lithuania, Austria and especially Slovenia are above-average. Slovenia can be included in the group of countries with the highest attainment rates, together with Czech Republic (91.7 percent), Poland (90 percent) and Slovakia (93.3 percent). The averages are also quite high for Lithuania and Austria and can mainly be compared with Bulgaria (85.5 percent), Ireland (86.9 percent) and Finland (85.4 percent). The performances of the United Kingdom and Latvia seem similar to Belgium (81.6 percent), Estonia (82.6 percent), the Netherlands (78.2 percent) as well as Romania (79.6 percent). Germany's result is comparable, e.g. to Italy (76.9 percent) and Luxembourg (73.3 percent). 6 Further, Table 2.3 presents the participation of pupils in general and vocational education for 2010. As Table 2.3 shows, the average in the EU-27 shows almost equal proportions among students enrolled in vocational programmes and general programmes (49.9 percent versus 51.9 percent). However, the EU average masks significant differences among the countries. Germany comes closest to the average with 51.5 percent of pupils enrolled in vocational programmes, together with Bulgaria (52.2 percent), Malta (49.3 percent), Denmark (46.5 percent), Poland (48.2 percent) and Sweden (56.1 percent). The share of pupils enrolled in vocational programmes is (for 7-EU VET countries) the highest in Austria (76.8 percent), that has, together with Belgium (73 percent), Czech Republic (73.1 percent), Slovakia (71.3 percent) and Liechtenstein (80.3 percent), one of the highest overall participations in VET. In Slovenia (64.6 percent) participation is above the EU average, and its participation is comparable to Italy (60 percent), Luxembourg (61.3 percent), the Netherlands (67 percent) and Romania (63.8 per- cent). 6 Eurostat. 2012. Youth education attainment level by gender; Youth attainment level – percentage of the population aged 20–24 having completed at least upper secondary education. 23 2. Socio-demographic Characteristics of VET Learners in the 7EU Countries Table 2.3: Students participating in general and vocational education, by country (in percent) Students at ISCED level 3- Students at ISCED level 3- Students at ISCED level 4- General orientation - Vocational orientation - Vocational orientation - GEO/TIME as % of all students at as % of all students at as % of all students at ISCED level 3 ISCED level 3 ISCED level 4 2010 2010 2010 European Union (27 countries) 50.1 49.9 83.7 Belgium 27.0 73.0 99.3 Bulgaria 47.8 52.2 100.0 Czech Republic 26.9 73.1 63.5 Denmark 53.5 46.5 0.0 Germany (including former 48.5 51.5 74.0 GDR from 1991) Estonia 65.8 34.2 100.0 Ireland 62.5 37.5 100.0 Greece 69.3 30.7 100.0 Spain 55.4 44.6 : France 55.7 44.3 61.6 Italy 40.0 60.0 100.0 Cyprus 86.8 13.2 : Latvia 64.0 36.0 100.0 Lithuania 72.3 27.7 100.0 Luxembourg 38.7 61.3 100.0 Hungary 74.2 25.8 100.0 Malta 50.7 49.3 85.6 Netherlands 33.0 67.0 100.0 Austria 23.2 76.8 100.0 Poland 51.8 48.2 100.0 Portugal 61.2 38.8 100.0 Romania 36.2 63.8 100.0 Slovenia 35.4 64.6 38.8 Slovakia 28.7 71.3 100.0 Finland 30.3 69.7 100.0 Sweden 43.9 56.1 84.3 United Kingdom 67.9 32.1 0.0 Iceland 65.7 34.3 100.0 Liechtenstein 19.7 80.3 0.0 Norway 46.1 53.9 88.0 Switzerland 33.8 66.2 38.4 Croatia 27.9 72.1 : Former Yugoslav Republic of 40.0 60.0 100.0 Macedonia, the Turkey 57.1 42.9 : Albania : : : United States : : 100.0 Japan 76.5 23.5 : Notes: Data for Luxembourg refer to 2009. Data for EU-27 are estimated :=Not available e=Estimated value b=Break in series i=See explanatory text p=Provisional value u=Unreliable or uncertain data Source: Eurostat. 2012. Participation in general and vocational education. 24 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries The proportion of students who were enrolled in vocational programmes at the upper-secondary level of education (ISCED level 3) is lower especially in Lithuania with just 27.7 percent of pupils. Together with Hungary (25.8 percent) and Cyprus (13.2 percent), these are the three countries with the lowest share of students enrolled in vocational programmes. A low participation rate is also seen in Greece (30.7 percent), Latvia (36 percent) and the UK (32.1 percent). Participation is similar to Estonia (34.2 percent), Ireland (37.5 percent) and Portugal (38.8 percent). 7 Following the Eurostat data, trends in VET enrolments vary across the countries included in the 7EU VET survey. In Germany, there were 554,608 graduates in the year 2000 and the number of graduates was slowly increasing during the period 2000-2006 (596,549 graduates) when it dropped sharply to just 565,770 graduates. Over the period 2006-2010 the numbers were still dropping, arriving at only 456,017 in 2010. The pattern seems similar in Greece where there were 36,568 graduates in the year 2000. Over the period 2002-2005 (48,853) the numbers were slowly increasing, reaching their peak in 2003 (50,317). After 2005, the number of graduates dropped sharply to 33,382 in 2008. There are no data available for 2009-2010. In the period 2000-2005, the number of graduates of vocational upper-secondary education was slowly dropping (from 9,292 to 7,427) in Latvia, however the numbers increased in 2006 (8,140). There were 7,682 graduates in 2010. In Lithuania, 9,354 pupils graduated in 2000 compared to only 6,883 in 2005 and 6,616 in 2006. However, in 2007 there was gradual growth leading to 7,847 graduates in 2010. There are no obvious differences over the period 2001-2006 in Austria, although the number of gradu- ates increased in 2007 (49,024 in 2006 to 55,158 in 2007) and even more in 2010 (58,936). In Slovenia, the number of graduates was slowly dropping over the period 2000-2010. There were 24,396 graduates in 2000 and the numbers were dropping year by year to only amount to 15,232 in 2010. There are no data available for the UK. 8 In addition to the general trends, it is important to consider the percentage of school dropouts. 7 Eurostat. 2012. Participation in general and vocational education. 8 Eurostat. 2012. Upper secondary education – level 3 – vocational programmes (ISCED 1997). 25 2. Socio-demographic Characteristics of VET Learners in the 7EU Countries Table 2.4: Percentage of the population (aged 18 to 24) with at most lower-secondary education without further education or training, by country Source: Eurostat. 2012. Upper-secondary education - level 3 - vocational programmes (ISCED 1997). 26 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries As seen in Table 2.4, the percentage of the population aged 18 to 24 with at most lower-secondary edu- cation without further education or training. The EU-27 average for 2011 is 13.5 percent and it has gradually dropped since the year 2000 (17.6 percent). There are large differences between the countries included in the 7EU VET study, however all of them except for the UK are below the EU-27 average or around the average. The most promising result is shown by Slovenia with only 4.2 percent of early school leavers, however the data for Slovenia are possibly unreliable or uncertain. The share is also low in Austria (8.3 percent) and Lithuania (7.9 percent) and can be compared to northern countries Denmark (9.6 percent), Finland (9.8 percent) and the Netherlands (9.1 percent). The results for Germany (11.5 percent) and Latvia (11.8 percent) appear to be a little below-average and can be compared to Estonia (10.9 percent), Ireland (10.6 percent), Cyprus (11.2 percent) and Hungary (11.2 percent). Greece (13.1 percent) falls around the EU-27 average together with Bulgaria (12.8 per- cent), Belgium (12.3 percent) and France (12.0). The United Kingdom has the biggest share of early school leavers (15 percent) and can be included in a group together with Romania (17.5 percent). 9 At this point, we turn our attention to the countries surveyed in the 7EU-VET project, and 17- and 18- year-old VET students. We make a country comparison based on gender, place of living in terms of population density, country of origin, parents’ education, and programme structures. 2.2 Place of living and country of origin The studied countries are also highly characterised by place of living in terms of population density. In Germany and Slovenia, the ratio between students coming from a city and those from a country village or farm is almost 1:1. In Austria there are more (60 percent) of those students from the countryside, while in the other countries most (on average 76 percent) students are from cities with the highest per- centage in the UK at 89 percent. Table 2.5: Settlement of students, by country (in percent) Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia UK (England) City 40 52 80 68 70 45 89 Country village or farm 60 48 20 32 30 55 11 Question: G7 Which phrase below best describes the area where you live? In all 7EU VET countries, most (96 percent) students were born in the country where they study, with the lowest percentage in Greece at 84 percent . i Similarly, when looking at parents' birth place, most of 9 Eurostat. 2012. Early leavers from education and training. 27 2. Socio-demographic Characteristics of VET Learners in the 7EU Countries them (96 percent) were born in the country where their children study, with again the lowest percentage in Greece, again at 84 percent. Table 2.6: Students’ place of birth, by country (in percent) Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia UK (England) In own country 96 96 84 99 98 96 95 In other country 4 4 16 1 2 4 5 Question: G3a Where were you born? 2.3 Gender and programme sector orientation When we look at gender distribution in VET, we can note that according to our data there is a slightly higher percentage of male students in all 7EU VET countries, with the highest share in Greece (64 per- cent) and Lithuania (62 percent), while in the other five countries the ratios of male and female students are very similar with differences of just a few percent (2-8 percent). Chart 2.1: Students’ gender distribution, by country ( in percent) 100 90 80 70 64 62 60 52 54 54 51 52 48 49 50 46 46 48 40 36 38 30 20 10 0 Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia UK (England) % of answers Male Female Question: G1 Are you male or female? 28 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries In the UK, Slovenia, Latvia, Greece and Austria there are more students enrolled in more demanding programmes10, while in Germany and Lithuania the situation is reversed. In Lithuania, 89 percent of students are enrolled in less demanding programmes while, on the other side, 85 percent of students go to more demanding programmes in Latvia, which makes for an interesting comparison between these two neighbouring countries. Chart 2.2: Type of programme students are enrolled in, by country (in percent) 100 89 90 85 80 77 77 70 60 58 60 53 50 47 42 40 40 30 23 23 20 15 11 10 0 Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia UK (England) % of answers Less demanding More demanding Question: B1 What type of school/programme are you enrolled in? and B2b What is the total duration of this programme? In general, across all the countries there are more students enrolled in service programmes than in in- dustry ones (the proportion is 2:3). However, industry sector programmes compared to service sector ones are more popular in Greece and Lithuania (56 percent), while there are bigger shares of students in the service sector programmes in the other four countries with the UK at the extreme with 95 percent of surveyed students being enrolled in service programmes. ii To better understand the demographics in VET programmes, we also reviewed the gender distribution differences between sectors, industry and service. Also here we obtained the expected results, a very high percentage of female students in service programmes (above 83 percent) with Germany and Latvia 10 See Appendix 2 for a detailed elaboration. 29 2. Socio-demographic Characteristics of VET Learners in the 7EU Countries above 92 percent, and the UK with 99 percent of female students. In the industry sector, we can note a higher percentage of male students (55 percent), with Greece and Lithuania having the highest percent- ages among the 7EU-VET countries (approximately 78 percent). Chart 2.3: Percentage of gender distribution between industry and service, by country 99 100 93 92 92 90 87 84 83 84 78 79 80 69 70 65 60 55 56 50 45 44 40 35 31 30 22 21 20 16 17 16 13 8 8 10 7 1 0 Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia UK (England) % of answers Male Industry Male Service Female Industry Female Service Question: B2a What is the title of the programme you are enrolled in? 2.4 Parents’ education and socio-economic status When looking at parents’ education we find there are higher percentages of students with lowly educat- ed parents11. The biggest differences are seen in Austria and Germany (82 percent of students with lowly educated parents) and the smallest in Lithuania (55 percent). 11 High educated parents: one or both parents have ISCED 5A/5B/6 education; if both of parents had less than ISCED 5A they were defined as low educated. 30 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries Chart 2.4: Parents’ level of schooling, by country (in percent) 100 90 83 82 77 80 67 70 61 60 55 50 45 39 40 33 30 23 17 18 20 10 0 Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia % of answers Low education parents High education parents Question: G8 What is the 'highest level of schooling' completed by your father/mother? In all seven countries, the majority (59 percent) of students come from families with an average socio- economic status with the highest rate in the UK, at 73 percent. In Austria (27 percent), Germany (27 percent) and the UK (19 percent) there are more students with an above-average socio-economic status than those from families with a below-average status, while in Greece and the two Baltic countries we can note the reverse situation. In Slovenia these two groups are equally represented (20 percent). 31 2. Socio-demographic Characteristics of VET Learners in the 7EU Countries Chart 2.5: Level of family’s income, by country (in percent) 100 90 80 73 70 61 58 58 60 56 58 51 50 42 40 30 30 27 27 28 20 21 19 20 15 15 13 12 9 10 7 0 Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia UK (England) % of answers Below average Average Above average Question: G14 Which of the descriptions below comes closest to how you feel about your family's income? If we take a look at parents’ employment status, we find that in all seven countries the majority of both parents are employed full-time. Across all the countries most fathers have a full-time job, with the low- est share in Lithuania (58 percent) and the highest in Austria and Germany (88 percent). In Latvia, Greece and Lithuania around 20 percent of students’ fathers have part-time or temporary employment. With students’ mothers’ employment status it is a little different, there is a smaller share of those with full-time employment and a bigger share of those that are part-time employed or unemployed. Only around 50 percent of mothers across the seven countries have a full-time job, with the highest percent- ages in Slovenia (73 percent) and Latvia (68 percent) and the lowest in Greece (37 percent). Around 16 percent of mothers are unemployed, with the highest percentages in Greece, Lithuania and the UK (26 percent). In Lithuania, we can also note the highest rate of unemployed fathers (19 percent). There are no larger differences (no more than 10 percent) in the social-economic status of families among those where both parents were born in the country and those where one parent was born in another country. iii 32 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries Chart 2.6: Parents’ employment status, by country (in percent) Question: G9 What is the employment status of your parents? If we compare employment status in relation to the socio-economic status of the students’ parents, we find that in all seven countries among parents with an average and above-average socio-economic status there are slightly bigger shares of full-time employed mothers and fathers and slightly smaller shares of parents without employment than among those with a below-average socio-economic statusiv. From the comparison of parents’ employment status based on their education we can note that parents with a high education slightly more often have full-time employment and are slightly less often unemployed than those with a low education. These relations are more evident in Lithuania, Latvia and Greecev. 2.5 Conclusions and starting points In the next sections of this chapter we explore in a country comparative fashion the survey results relat- ed to the following six different subject areas: - the transition from earlier education to VET, where in particular we streamline the results to- wards exploring the determinants of the breadth of vocational choice; 33 2. Socio-demographic Characteristics of VET Learners in the 7EU Countries - learning, perception and satisfaction with VET programmes. In this section we explore what drives VET students’ learning habits in school and in their free time, how they perceive VET curricula and which factors determine satisfaction with school success, which is a strong indi- cator of student learning and career motivation; - school success and acquired competencies. This section starts by exploring the determinants of school success. Further on in the section, we explore what impacts the perception of the ability to perform occupational tasks independently and team work. We end by looking at the link be- tween school success and the impact of VET programmes on six generic competencies; - information and communication technology. This section studies the characteristics of the VET programmes in the seven studied countries according to all break variables; and - future career aspirations and further education. In this part, we look at which aspects make ma- jor differences with regard to future career aspiration, and what affects the motivation for fur- ther education. All five sections of the chapter compare results on the country level, however within each country we consider similarities and differences in relation to gender, parents’ education, socio-economic status, programme type and orientation, and school success (grades). 34 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries 3 THE TRANSITION FROM EARLIER EDUCATION TO VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING This chapter addresses questions related to the transition from earlier education to vocational education and training. First, the context of the decision-making process which is related to the question of the general status of VET programmes in particular countries is considered. Second, the chapter explores which personal and external factors affected the personal decision to enrol in VET programmes. Third, it explains how VET students judge the importance of different information sources in their decision- making process. Lastly, it compares how broad the relative choice of VET students is across the coun- tries. Following the book’s overall logic, the comparative aspects include, in addition to countries, rele- vant socio-demographic factors. 3.1 Perceived status of Vocational Education and Training in the EU-27 countries In the decision-making process, it is important to consider the general status of VET in each country under observation. Despite the general trend of decreasing enrolments in VET, most European citizens believe that vocational education and training has a positive image. 71 percent of citizens see its image as fairly positive or very positive. However, there are considerable differences among the countries included in the 7EU VET study. As Chart 3.1 shows, citizens in Austria (88 percent) and Germany (84 percent) show the highest level of approval, while those from Latvia (60 percent) and especially Slovenia (50 percent) show the lowest level. Austria and Germany therefore belong to the group of countries with the highest reputation of vocational education and training, together with Malta (92 percent) and Finland (90 percent). The repu- tation is also above-average in Greece (75 percent) and is comparable to Ireland (76 percent) or Den- mark (74 percent). The UK comes closest to the average with 70 percent of citizens that see the image of VET programmes as positive, together with the Czech Republic (71 percent), Spain (70 percent) and Slovakia (69 percent). Their reputation in Lithuania (64 percent) and Latvia (60 percent) is similar in Sweden (64 percent) and Luxembourg (64 percent). In Slovenia, only every second person believes that VET has a positive image and it is the country with the lowest level of approval together with the Neth- erlands (50 percent). (Special Eurobarometer 369, 2011: 22) A similar question concerns the extent to which VET contributes to economic aims. The results about this are presented in Chart 3.2. 35 3. The Transition from Earlier Education to Vocational Education and Training Chart 3.1: Perception of the image of vocational education and training (in percent) European Union (27 countries) 71 23 6 Austria 88 9 3 Belgium 59 40 1 Bulgaria 86 9 5 Cyprus 75 23 2 Czech Republic 71 25 4 Denmark 74 22 4 Estonia 73 22 5 Finland 90 9 1 France 60 35 5 Germany 84 10 6 Greece 75 23 2 Hungary 59 39 2 Ireland 76 11 13 Italy 79 18 3 Latvia 60 34 6 Lithuania 64 27 9 Luxembourg 64 29 7 Malta 92 4 4 Netherlands 50 45 5 Poland 67 23 10 Portugal 82 12 6 Romania 72 17 11 Slovakia 68 28 4 Slovenia 50 47 3 Spain 69 25 6 Sweden 64 32 4 United Kingdom 70 21 9 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 % of answers Positive Negative Don't know Question: QA9 And you think that vocational education and training has a very positive, fairly positive, fairly negative or very negative image in (OUR COUNTRY)? Source: Special Eurobarometer 369. 2011. Attitudes towards vocational education and training. Pg. 22 36 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries Chart 3.2: Percentage of students who agree that VET positively contributes to the economy of their country European Union (27 countries) 83 Austria 93 Belgium 92 Bulgaria 86 Cyprus 95 Czech Republic 81 Denmark 92 Estonia 85 Finland 97 France 76 Germany 94 Greece 81 Hungary 79 Ireland 82 Italy 82 Latvia 67 Lithuania 74 Luxembourg 81 Malta 87 Netherlands 92 Poland 83 Portugal 79 Romania 70 Slovakia 85 Slovenia 83 Spain 80 Sweden 89 United Kingdom 79 0 20 40 60 80 100 % of answers Question: QA13.1 To what extent do you agree or disagree with each of the following statements? Vocational education and training contributes positively to the economy of (OUR COUNTRY)? Presented answer: Total "Agree" Source: Special Eurobarometer 369. 2011. Attitudes towards vocational education and training. Pg. 62 37 3. The Transition from Earlier Education to Vocational Education and Training The level of agreement with the statement that VET contributes positively to the economy of their coun- try is very high (83 percent). Among the 7EU VET countries, exceptionally high levels of agreement are recorded in Germany (94 percent) and Austria (93 percent). Agreement is only higher in Finland (97 percent) and Cyprus (95 percent). On the other hand, the economic benefits of VET are most widely questioned in Latvia (67 percent) and Lithuania (74 percent). The agreement in these two countries is similar to that in France (76 percent) and Romania (70 percent). Slovenia showed an average level of agreement (83 percent) and can be included in a group together with Poland (83 percent), Ireland (82 percent) and Italy (82 percent) (Special Eurobarometer 369, 2011: 62). In this context, in the following section we explore which factors affect the decision making of those students who enrol in VET programmes. 3.2 Which factors affected the decision making of learners with respect to VET programmes? In this section, we first look at which factors impact the vocational pathway of the decision-making process in 27 European countries. Observations are made from diverse positions after respondents com- pleted education. Later on, we explore this issue further, focusing only on those students that are en- rolled in Vocation Education and Training, who were approached while they were still in the education process. Table 3.1 presents different factors relevant to choosing a vocational path. On the level of the EU-27 countries, the most important factor is personal interest in study, followed by future employment oppor- tunities, type of teaching, school status, length of studies, costs and distance from home12. Hence, it is very important to stress that differences among the countries have been highly impacted in the way people perceive the term “vocational path” (Kramberger, 1999) and therefore the presented results would require further consideration. Nevertheless, these results can give some idea when com- paring the seven studied countries in a broader context. Personal interest in the programme has the highest importance in Greece (98 percent), followed by Austria and the UK (both 96 percent). The importance in Germany is average (94 percent) and comparable to Bulgaria or the Czech Republic. Other EU VET countries are below the average, starting with Slovenia (90 percent) and Lithuania (88 per- cent). The importance of personal interest is the lowest in Latvia (84 percent). 12 In this survey, the most common source of advice for EU respondents to enrol in VET are parents or other family members (22 percent), followed by someone from the world of work (15 percent), a teacher (15 percent), a friend (11 percent) and a headmaster (5 percent). The centrality of some of these items is further elaborated in section 6.2.3. 38 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries Table 3.1: Factors influencing students' choice of their vocational pathway (in percent) Question: QA4a When you decided to follow a vocational pathway, how important was each of the following factors for you? QA4b If applicable, when you decided to follow general secondary or higher education, how important was each of the following factors for you? Presented answer: Total "Important" Source: Special Eurobarometer 369. 2011. Attitudes towards vocational education and training, p. 96 Respondents in Greece seem to take future employment opportunities particularly seriously, followed by those in Austria (96 percent). Future employment is also quite important in the UK (93 percent), and can be compared to Italy (93 percent), as well as Hungary, Poland and Slovakia (all 94 percent). The importance of this factor in Germany is average (89 percent). Results for Slovenia are close to the aver- age (87 percent), together with Poland (87 percent). Those in Lithuania (84 percent) and Latvia (82 39 3. The Transition from Earlier Education to Vocational Education and Training percent) are below-average. Type of teaching was highly considered in the UK (93 percent) and Greece (92 percent). This factor is also important for Austrians (89 percent) who can be included in a group together with respondents from France (87 percent) or Italy (88 percent)). The importance in Germany (84 percent) is closest to the EU-27 average, while the percentage in Lithuania (83 percent) is slightly below-average. Type of teaching is much less important in Latvia (76 percent) and Slovenia, where only 67 percent say it is an important factor. The image of the school institution influenced 73 percent of people and the level of importance varies highly among the 7EU VET countries. Greece and Austria have a high percentage of those that believe the image of the school institution or employer is important, while the figure for the UK is the same as the average (73 percent). This factor is considered slightly less important in Germany (68 percent) and Lithuania (64 percent) that can be put in the same group with Ireland, the Netherlands (both 67 percent), or Spain (64 percent). Percentages are far below the average in Slovenia (58 percent) and Latvia (51 percent) that are, together with Finland (53 percent), countries with the lowest share of people regarding the image of the school institution as an important factor. Interesting results are also found for the factor distance from place of living. Among the observed countries, the highest share was found for Austria (72 percent), followed by Greece (64 percent) and the UK (61 percent). Relatively few people factored distance in their decision making in Germany (53 percent), Slovenia (52 percent), as well as Lithuania (49 percent). The share among the 7EU VET countries is, however, the lowest in Latvia (36 percent) (Special Eurobarometer 369, 2011: 96). When looking at the relative importance of the factors among 17- and 18-year-old students, we see some similarities and differences with regard to the 7EU-VET data, which can allow some speculation, e.g. the VET population and also the younger generation are driven by different factors when choosing VET education, even though the results cannot be compared directly. One observation may be related to the fact that the population approached in the 7EU-VET study is much more pragmatically or extrinsi- cally driven compared to the general education population in the 7EU-VET countries; as presented in Table 3.2, we can notice that the most common factors that influenced students’ decisions on VET pro- grammes across all seven countries were the programme providing a good foundation for a further career and good job prospects. 40 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries Table 3.2: Factors affecting students’ decision making about the programme, by countries (in percent) Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia UK (England) The programme offered good job pro- 78 63 32 53 32 45 70 spects My previous examination grades pre- vented me being able to enrol on more 3 7 8 11 9 7 13 preferable programmes My parents suggested I enrol on this 13 12 12 20 14 11 14 programme The occupation(s) related to the pro- 71 72 32 39 43 57 71 gramme appealed to me The programme provides a good foun- dation for further qualifications / educa- 83 79 48 56 50 56 70 tion My friends have chosen to undertake 21 17 27 22 16 10 14 the same programme The reputation of the programme was 48 41 27 32 28 25 59 attractive to me Former teachers encouraged me to 8 12 13 7 5 5 19 enrol on this programme This programme was the most appro- priate within a reasonable distance from 36 36 16 36 18 20 51 my home Question: A4 How important were the following aspects for you when you were choosing your current programme? Presented answers 4 and 5 on a scale from 1="Not at all" to 5="Very" In Germany and Austria, more than 80 percent of students believe that their programme provides them with a good foundation for further education and there were no larger differences noted among the stu- dents with different grades, once already in the programme. Such differences are noted in the UK and Greece where students with higher grades are more likely to regard their programme as a good founda- tion for further education. In general, students are likely to report that the appeal of an occupation influenced their choice of programme. In Germany, Austria and the UK, around 70 percent of students re- ported this, while in the other countries about 50 percent were of this view, with the exception of Greece where only 34 percent of students agreed with this statement. Not a lot of students (around 20 percent) admitted that they chose the programme because of their friends (see Table 3.2). The highest percentage of students agreeing with this statement is in Greece (26 percent). Students usually choose their programme on factors other than simply because their friends chose the same programme. A rela- tively small proportion of students stated their previous examination grades had prevented them from enrolling in more preferable programmes, across the countries the figure is around 10 percent or less. This is perhaps surprising given that examination grades are held to be important within general educa- tion. We did not find much evidence concerning family socio-economic status affects students’ choice of VET programmes, although this might have been expected. vi However, there are some aspects that vary depending on parents’ status. 41 3. The Transition from Earlier Education to Vocational Education and Training Chart 3.3: Importance of “The programme offered good job prospects”, by country and socio-economic status (in percent) 100 90 81 80 80 77 73 71 70 67 66 63 60 55 52 52 53 50 44 46 44 40 40 36 34 35 30 30 30 20 10 0 Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia UK (England) % of answers Below average Average Above average Question: A4_1 How important were the following aspects for you when you were choosing your current programme? The programme offered good job prospects. Presented answers 4 and 5 on a scale from 1="Not at all" to 5="Very" In Germany students from families with a higher socio-economic status took decisions based on the belief that their programme offers them good job prospects. 55 percent of students from families with a socio-economic status below average agreed with the statement as against 63 percent of those with an average economic status and 67 percent of students from families with an economic status above the average. Moreover, and seen in Chart 3.3, the higher the socio-economic status of a student’s family, the more likely they are to choose a programme based on the appeal of the occupation related with the programme, but the differences are only relevant for some countries. Lithuanian students are more likely to choose their programme because they believed the programme is a good foundation for their further education or qualification when they come from families with a higher socio-economic status. 62 percent of students with a socio-economicstatus that is above-average agree with the statement, 54 percent of students that are in the average socio-economic class and only 47 percent of those with a below-average status. 42 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries Chart 3.4: Importance of “The programme provides a good foundation for further education”, by soci- oeconomic status and country (in percent) 100 90 85 82 84 84 80 77 79 74 72 70 66 62 57 57 58 60 52 52 52 54 55 50 47 47 50 40 30 20 10 0 Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia UK (England) % of answers Below average Average Above average Question: A4_5 How important were the following aspects for you when you were choosing your current programme? The programme provides a good foundation for further qualifications /education. Presented answers 4 and 5 on a scale from 1="Not at all" to 5="Very" In a nutshell, we can conclude that only some socio-economic backgrounds of VET students influence particular factors of school enrolment. However, based on the survey results one can speculate that current school success importantly contributes to the perception of factors related to decision making. The higher the school success, the stronger is VET students’ belief they enrolled in the programme based on the attractiveness of the occupation or the job prospectsvii. Particularly interesting differences are seen in the case of selecting programmes based on friends’ par- ticipation in Austria and Germany. Students with low grades are more likely to be believe they were influenced by friends’ programme choice than those with high grades. On the other side, in Latvia and Greece students with an average or below-average socio-economic status also more often decide on their programme based on friends’ choicesviii. Apparently due to their lower aspirations, students with lower grades or with a lower socio-economic status more often follow their friends’ choices rather than their own desires, the social aspect seems to be more important for them. Due to the survey’s limitations this should be explored further. 43 3. The Transition from Earlier Education to Vocational Education and Training Lastly, it is important to stress parents’ education from the viewpoint of the surveyed population, in our survey did not make any differences with regard to perceived decision-making factors (ixlink to table Factors by parents’ education). 3.3 How do learners judge the importance of different information sources in relation to choosing their VET programmes? While in the previous section we considered the assessment of how the spectrum of different personal and external factors impacted particular decision-making choices of individuals, here we explore how VET students evaluate external factors as information sources. First, we look again at the general Euro- barometer EU-27 data and then to the results of the 7EU-VET survey. The importance of information sources in the international comparison can first be framed by the general assessment of the appropri- ateness of information young people receive from schools and employment services. This has been asked in the Eurobarometer survey (see Chart 3.5). Chart 3.5 presents the data on whether young people receive enough advice concerning their learning and career opportunities from schools and employment services in each country. A majority (52 per- cent) of EU citizens totally agree or tend to agree with this statement, however 39 percent disagree. Among the seven countries, the level of agreement is highly above-average in Austria (70 percent) and Slovenia (66 percent). The results for these two countries are similar to those for Slovakia (70 percent) and Belgium (69 percent). Latvia's result is also above-average with 59 percent of those claiming that people receive enough ad- vice concerning their learning and career opportunities. This puts Latvia in a group together with Den- mark (61 percent), Cyprus (60 percent), the Netherlands (59 percent) and Ireland (58 percent). Agree- ment in other 7EU VET countries is average (UK and Germany) or below-average (Greece and Lithua- nia). Especially Lithuania shows the least promising results (46 percent) and falls into a group of coun- tries with the lowest agreement, together with Luxembourg (50 percent), Romania (45 percent) and especially France (only 36 percent) (Special Eurobarometer 369, 2011: 76). One would expect that in countries where formal institutions do not provide sufficient information sources this would be compen- sated by other sources. 44 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries Chart 3.5: Students’ opinion about the statement that young people in their country receive enough advice concerning their learning and career opportunities from schools and employment services European Union (27 countries) 52 39 9 Austria 70 24 6 Belgium 69 28 3 Bulgaria 57 34 9 Cyprus 60 33 7 Czech Republic 55 37 8 Denmark 62 29 9 Estonia 64 26 10 Finland 78 17 5 France 36 55 9 Germany 52 39 9 Greece 51 45 4 Hungary 54 40 6 Ireland 58 31 11 Italy 53 43 4 Latvia 59 32 9 Lithuania 46 38 16 Luxembourg 48 34 18 Malta 85 10 5 Netherlands 59 31 10 Poland 50 37 13 Portugal 63 26 11 Romania 45 44 11 Slovakia 70 26 4 Slovenia 66 30 4 Spain 61 30 9 Sweden 53 34 13 United Kingdom 52 36 12 0 20 40 60 80 100 % of answers Agree Disagree Don't know Question: QA6. Could you tell me to what extent you agree or disagree with the following statement: In (OUR COUNTRY) people receive enough advice concerning their learning and career opportunities from schools and employment services. Source: Special Eurobarometer 369. 2011. Attitudes towards vocational education and training, p. 76 45 3. The Transition from Earlier Education to Vocational Education and Training As can be seen from the 7EU-VET survey, across the countries the sources most often used are parents and family, online information, informative days, previous internships or work placements, and friends and classmates. Teachers are not generally considered an important source of information about VET programmes by students. Across all of the countries, around 10 percent of students rated teachers as an important information source with the exception of the UK where the percentage is higher at 30 percent. In the UK, concerns have been expressed that teachers in lower-secondary schools, who may not have expertise in vocational programmes, are an important source of advice for students who may be going on to different institutions to take VET programmes. In Germany, Latvia and the UK, students taking more demanding13 vocational programmes were more likely than other students to rate teachers as an important source of information. Between 30 and 40 percent of students across all of the countries rated parents and family members as an important source of information and that share did not vary based on the level of programmes students were interested in. Table 3.3: Percentage of VET students reporting the strong relevance of selected information sources in the process of enrolling in the VET programmes, by country Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia UK (England) Teachers 9 11 17 13 6 7 35 Parents or family members 39 40 22 29 18 22 35 Friends or classmates 22 19 22 20 12 13 27 Job centre 6 14 9 8 4 7 6 Informative days / fair / open days 48 26 9 27 11 39 23 at school Online information and/or other 28 39 16 27 23 21 23 public media (e.g. newspapers) An aptitude test offered by an 14 5 8 16 7 11 16 educational establishment A previous internship or work 18 49 17 13 6 NA 16 placement (not asked in Slovenia) School counsellors or career advi- sors (not asked in Austria and NA NA 18 10 7 14 22 Germany) Question: A5 How important were the following information sources when you were choosing your current programme? Presented answers 4 and 5 on a scale from 1="Not at all" to 5="Very" Around 20 percent of students across the countries used their classmates or friends to obtain information about the programmes they were interested in. In Germany and Austria, students attending more de- manding programmes were more likely than others to rate their classmates as an important information source, while in the UK the situation is reversedx. In the UK, the influence of peers is sometimes believed to lower expectations, whereas in Austria and Germany it may work to raise expectations. 13 Due to the fact that each country has a different structure of VET programmes, we grouped them in two main categories: more demanding and less demanding programmes. You can find the table of grouped programmes in the appendix. 46 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries Job or career centres were rated as important sources of information by approximately 10 percent of students in all seven countries, with the lowest percentages in the UK and Lithuania (4 percent). How- ever, in Germany and Austria students from more demanding programmes gave a lower rating to infor- mation from job centres than students from less demanding ones. The differences in the shares are 5 percent in Germany and 8 percent in Austria. As indicated in Chart 3.6, open days/information days were not rated as an important source of infor- mation by students in Greece (8 percent) and Lithuania (10 percent). In contrast, every second Austrian student rates open days/information days as an important source of information. Chart 3.6: Importance of 'Information days', by country and type of programme (in percent) 100 90 80 70 65 60 50 41 40 33 33 31 28 30 24 26 21 20 12 11 8 9 8 10 0 Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia UK (England) % of answers Less demanding More demanding Question: A5_5 How important were the following information sources when you were choosing your current programme? Informative days / fair / open days at schools. Presented answers 4 and 5 on a scale from 1="Not at all" to 5="Very" In other countries, around 25 percent of students rated open days/information days as important. In some countries, there are also differences among the two groups of students based on the level of the programme. In Slovenia, Austria, Germany and the UK, students in more demanding programmes were more likely to rate open days/information days as important, while in Lithuania we encounter a reverse situation. Lithuanian students in lower level programmes were more likely to value open days/information days. The greatest difference was found in Austria where 65 percent of students in 47 3. The Transition from Earlier Education to Vocational Education and Training more demanding programmes compared to 24 percent in less demanding programmes said they rated open days/information days as important. Online information and other public media were highly valued by students in Germany (38 percent) and the least valued in Greece (16 percent) with Slovenia and the UK in the middle (around 20 percent). Again, there were some differences based on how demanding students’ programmes are. Students en- rolled in more demanding programmes in Slovenia and the UK were more likely to use online infor- mation, while in Germany such students were less likely to use online sources compared to those from less demanding programmes. In Latvia, students in less demanding programmes were more likely to rate school counsellors as an important source of information (16 percent) than those in more demand- ing programmes (9 percent). Students in Slovenia and Austria most often use informative days and parents as a main source of in- formation about the programmes they are interested in. In Lithuania and Germany most students get information about programmes online and from their parents or other family members. While Greek students most often relied on their parents or friends, Latvian students, besides using their parents, used informative days and online sources for information about programmes. Parents and teachers were the main source of information for UK students. In Austria and Germany, students (24 percent) from more demanding programmes more often assess friends and classmates as an important information source than those in less demanding programmes (15 percent), while in the UK we can notice the reverse situation (20 percent : 28 percent). In the other countries there are no larger differences based on the type of programme. 48 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries Chart 3.7: Importance of “friends and classmates”, by country and type of programme (in percent) 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 28 30 24 25 21 22 22 20 20 20 17 14 12 14 10 9 10 0 Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia UK (England) % of answers Less demanding More demanding Question: A5_3 How important were the following information sources when you were choosing your current programme? Friends or classmates. Presented answers 4 and 5 on a scale from 1="Not at all" to 5="Very" We also found that in Austria, Germany, Lithuania, Latvia, the UK and Greece open and information days were rated as important sources of information by more students following programmes relating to the service sector than by those following programmes relating to the industrial sector. These differ- ences are the highest in the UK (9 percent), Austria, Latvia (8 percent) and Germany (7 percent). The biggest share of students using this source can be noticed in Austria and Slovenia, which could mean these information days are well organised and visited in these two countries. 14 14 See Appendix 3 for definition of sectors 49 3. The Transition from Earlier Education to Vocational Education and Training Chart 3.8: Importance of 'Information days', by country and programme sector (in percent) 100 90 80 70 60 51 50 43 40 40 37 28 29 30 24 21 21 20 14 13 11 8 9 10 0 Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia UK (England) % of answers Industry Service Question: A5_5 How important were the following information sources when you were choosing your current programme? Informative days / fair / open days at schools. Presented answers 4 and 5 on a scale from 1="Not at all" to 5="Very" Online information was most often highly rated in Germany (around 39 percent) and least often in Greece (around 16 percent). In Latvia, the UK, Lithuania and Austria, students taking programmes relating to service sector employment were more likely to value online information than those taking programmes relating to industrial employment. 50 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries Chart 3.9: Importance of “online information”, by country and programme sector (in percent) 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 40 37 31 31 28 30 23 20 22 21 23 20 17 19 15 13 10 0 Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia UK (England) % of answers Industry Service Question: A5_6 How important were the following information sources when you were choosing your current programme? Online Information and/or other public media (e.g. newspapers). Presented answers 4 and 5 on a scale from 1="Not at all" to 5="Very" We can conclude from the results that students still very often search for information about programmes among their parents, family members, friends and teachers, which could mean that a programme’s repu- tation influences students’ decisions about the programme. A lot of students (in some countries the majority) use online information and information days to help them with their decisions. We also con- firmed there are some associations between the use of the sources and the types of programmes and the sector of programmes, which would be interesting for further investigation. 3.4 Choosing a VET programme – how wide is the choice, and why? In this section, we explore the percentage of students that considered two or more alternative pro- grammes when deciding on secondary education. The question of the relative choice in the decision making process is very important as in a way it indicates to what extent VET students are predetermined in their vocational path. The results from the 7EU-VET survey are quite surprising, indicating that in 51 3. The Transition from Earlier Education to Vocational Education and Training their final selection the majority of VET students did not (seriously) consider any alternative in their decision-making process. Chart 3.10: Percentage of VET students considering more than one alternative when selecting pro- gramme, by country 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 35 36 30 30 24 26 20 13 12 10 0 Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia UK (England) % of answers Question: A6 Did you consider any alternative programme when you were selecting your current one? Presented answers 3, 4 and 5 on a scale from 1="No, I didn't consider any alternative programme", 2=" I was considering one other alternative programme", 3="I was considering two other alternative programmes" to 5="I was considering more than three alternative programmes" From the results, we can see that on average only one out of four VET students considered an alterna- tive in the decision-making process. The highest percentages of students considering alternatives are seen in Lithuania (36 percent) and Germany (35 percent), while the lowest are in Greece (13 percent) and the UK (12 percent). Therefore, the key concluding question in this section relates to the question of what determines the breadth of VET students’ occupational choices. We assumed that, apart from the socio-demographic characteristics, the relative choice depends on one’s personal preferences and the information a student relied upon. 52 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries Table 3.4: Effects of selected characteristics on considering alternatives to enrolment in the current VET programme, by 7EU-VET countries15 UK Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia (England) Constant (Was considering other 3.865 1.647 1.929 0.666 0.217 1.300 0.435 programme/s) (B) Rationale for programme Exp(B) Exp(B) Exp(B) Exp(B) Exp(B) Exp(B) Exp(B) selection ** ** Appealing programme 0.647 0.826 * 0.887 0.937 0.812 0.897 0.836 * * * Good foundation for further ** 0.846 0.946 0.738 1.019 1.055 0.818 * 1.003 qualifications * Reasonable distance from my 0.997 0.945 0.895 0.897 * 0.960 1.214 ** 0.977 home Consideration of information sources Teachers 0.984 0.792 ** 0.993 0.937 1.113 0.976 0.847 ** ** Family members 1.050 1.039 0.980 1.010 1.137 * 0.944 1.235 * ** Online info. and media 1.042 1.351 1.024 1.132 ** 1.092 0.966 1.083 * Socio-demographic Characteris- tics and School Success Gender (male) 1.208 0.936 1.052 1.255 0.929 1.300 1.021 Parents’ primary and lower- 0.964 0.813 1.031 1.122 2.301 * 2.209 ** NA secondary education Parents’ tertiary education 0.730 1.218 0.624 ** 0.853 1.450 ** 1.279 NA Below-average socio-economic ** 0.911 0.689 1.074 1.094 0.573 0.759 1.642 status * Above-average socio-economic ** 1.157 0.615 ** 0.609 0.796 0.738 0.837 0.515 status * Nagelkerke R Square 0.072 0.141 0.082 0.044 0.080 0.069 0.104 *** = p<0.01; ** = p<0.05; * = p<0.10 In the survey we found no evidence that males consider a wider choice than females. However, we found some evidence that parents’ education affects the breadth of choice but there are large differences among countries. For example, in Slovenia a lower level of parents’ education has a positive effect of a wider choice which means VET students are freer in their decisions. In Lithuania, we found in a way the opposite result: a wider choice characterises students whose parents have a tertiary education. In Greece it is the opposite. Parents with a tertiary education have a negative effect on the breadth of choice. 15 In the model, we also tested the effects of programme type, place of living, father's and mother's employment status. In the case of the UK and Germany, VET students in the medium and more demanding programme types considered more alternatives than students in less demanding programme types. Only in Slovenia and the UK does living in smaller cities or a village have a positive effect on a wider occupational choice. In Latvia and Lithuania, the full-time employment status of fathers has a positive effect, while in Austria such an effect is held by the employment status of mothers. 53 3. The Transition from Earlier Education to Vocational Education and Training Size of the environment in general does not impact the breadth of occupational choice, with the excep- tion of Lithuania where VET students coming from smaller places usually choose from among several different options, and the UK where smaller places limit the available choice. As for socio-economic status, we found some evidence that VET students with a lower socio-economic background consider fewer alternatives when selecting education, while in Germany and the UK this is a characteristic of students from wealthier families. Lastly, in Austria the full-time employment of the mother limits voca- tional choices, while in Lithuania and Latvia we found some evidence that the full-time employment of the father stimulated students to consider more options. As for VET programme structures, we found no differences among more and less demanding programmes, except in Germany where VET pupils at- tending more demanding programmes consider a wider spectrum of choice prior to their enrolment in comparison to those in less demanding programmes. It appears that, more than the abovementioned factors, the breadth of occupational choice is determined by information sources and one’s own preferences for the programme that is finally selected. However, there are large differences among countries and no firm conclusions can be drawn. In Austria, Germany and Lithuania, for example, VET students who made their final decision on programme enrolment based on the fact the programme appealed to them did not consider many alternatives. In Greece, this was the case when VET students made their final enrolment decision based on the fact the programme provided a good foundation for further education. As for information sources, we found evidence that students in Germany who relied on the opinion of teachers and online information and public media were more (pre)determined in considering only one programme to enrol in. Teachers also impacted the more straightforward decision of students in the UK, while considering advice from parents or family members broadened the spectrum of choices. 3.5 Conclusions The perception of VET’s image in society varies considerably across the seven countries under observa- tion. From the Eurobarometer EU-27 survey we can see that VET gains the highest reputation in Austria (88 percent) and Germany (84 percent), while Slovenia (50 percent) has the lowest level. Among the seven countries included in the survey, the most important factor influencing students’ decisions on enrolment in VET programmes were related to vocational interest: the belief that the programme pro- vides a good foundation for a further career, good job prospects or an appealing programme. A relative- ly small proportion of students stated that their previous examination grades prevented them from enrol- ling in more preferable programmes or that they chose the programme because of their friends. We did not find much evidence that parents' education or family socio-economic status affects students’ choices of VET programmes. However, we found the sources most often considered in the decision- making process related to VET enrolment are parents and family. Online information and previous work 54 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries experiences in general take second place. Teachers or information days are generally not considered as an important source of information about VET programmes. On average, only one out of four VET students consider an alternative in the decision-making process. The highest shares of students considering alternatives are seen in Lithuania (36 percent) and Germany (35 percent), while the lowest are seen in Greece (13 percent) and the UK (12 percent). We found some evidence that parents’ education affects the breadth of choice but there are large differences among the countries. For example, in Slovenia a lower level of parents’ education has a positive effect of wider choice which means VET students are freer in their decisions. In Lithuania, we found in a way the op- posite result: a wider choice characterises students whose parents have a tertiary education. We found some evidence that VET students with a lower socio-economic background consider fewer alternatives in selecting education, while in Germany and the UK this is a characteristic of students from wealthier families. Such cross-country differences were also detected when considering personal factors and dif- ferent information sources. 55 4. Acquired Competencies 4 ACQUIRED COMPETENCIES 4.1 Relationship between school success and other acquired competencies The concept of competence development in education has in the last few years been gaining ever more attention. In particular, there is a large debate on the dichotomy and inter-linkage between work-related tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge (Polanyi, 1967; Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995). The first relates more to the work environment, while the second relates more to formal educational institutions, and well comprehends the notion of occupational or professional knowledge. Tacit knowledge to a large extent resembles the concept of competencies which can be defined as the generators of the potential of an individual’s performance, personal characteristics (traits) such as physical characteristics and meth- ods of an individual’s response to a situation, self-concept in the sense of habits, values and knowledge in the sense of information that someone has in specific areas (Spencer and Spencer, 1993: 9-10). This definition mostly describes individually acquired competencies, while employers’ expectations are labelled as required competencies. The transition of learners from education to the labour market is often accompanied by the so-called “matching” issue referring to the compatibility between the individual, their education and the profes- sional destination. One can define horizontally mismatched as working in a job matching one’s own level but not one’s own field of education. Vertically mismatched is related to the condition of working in a job matching one’s own field but not one’s own level of education. In this context, we first look at how well VET systems prepare learners for work in the 7EU-VET countries. 56 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries Chart 4.1: Percentage of citizens agreeing with the statement: “People in vocational education and training learn skills that are needed by employer” European Union (27 countries) 82 12 6 Austria 89 9 2 Belgium 89 10 1 Bulgaria 88 8 4 Cyprus 95 4 1 Czech Republic 83 15 2 Denmark 84 11 5 Estonia 82 12 6 Finland 89 9 2 France 86 9 5 Germany 84 12 4 Greece 83 15 2 Hungary 62 33 5 Ireland 83 5 12 Italy 78 17 5 Latvia 85 12 3 Lithuania 74 18 8 Luxembourg 79 13 8 Malta 89 6 5 Netherlands 81 15 4 Poland 80 11 9 Portugal 80 12 8 Romania 68 21 11 Slovakia 81 17 2 Slovenia 74 24 2 Spain 86 8 6 Sweden 91 5 4 United Kingdom 83 9 8 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 % of answers Agree Disagree Don't know Question: QA10.6 Please tell me to what extent you agree or disagree with each of the following statements. People in vocational education and training learn skills that are needed by employers. Source: Special Eurobarometer 369. 2011. Attitudes towards vocational education and training, p. 25 57 4. Acquired Competencies As Chart 4.1 shows, there is strong agreement across the EU-27 (82 percent) with the statement that people in VET acquire skills that are needed by employers. Most 7EU-VET countries are above-average considering this statement, especially Austria (89 percent) with one of the highest levels of agreement together with Cyprus (95 percent) and Sweden (91 percent). Latvia (85 percent), Germany (84 percent), UK (83 percent) and Greece (83 percent) are very close together and their results can also be compared with Spain (86 percent), Denmark (84 percent), as well as Ireland and the Czech Republic (both 83 percent). The lowest results are seen in Slovenia and Lithuania (74 percent). Together with Hungary (62 percent) and Romania (68 percent), these are the countries with the lowest levels of agreement. (Special Eurobarometer 369, 2011: 25) Eurostat data have also explored to what extent VET systems prepare students to set up their own business. 58 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries Chart 4.2: Percentage of citizens agreeing with the statement: “Vocational education and training does not prepare people to set up their own business” European Union (27 countries) 43 44 13 Austria 42 51 7 Belgium 46 50 4 Bulgaria 32 54 14 Cyprus 25 64 11 Czech Republic 47 48 5 Denmark 51 37 12 Estonia 35 51 14 Finland 38 55 7 France 39 46 15 Germany 44 46 10 Greece 35 61 4 Hungary 62 33 5 Ireland 23 51 26 Italy 55 41 4 Latvia 43 45 12 Lithuania 51 35 14 Luxembourg 38 46 16 Malta 16 65 19 Netherlands 41 42 17 Poland 45 39 16 Portugal 41 38 21 Romania 45 38 17 Slovakia 44 49 7 Slovenia 53 40 7 Spain 41 42 17 Sweden 38 43 19 United Kingdom 32 47 21 0 20 40 60 80 100 % of answers Agree Disagree Don't know Question: QA10.7 Please tell me to what extent you agree or disagree with each of the following statements. Vocational education and training does not prepare people to set up their own business. Source: Special Eurobarometer 369. 2011. Attitudes towards vocational education and training, p. 28 59 4. Acquired Competencies The results shown in Chart 4.2 are different from the results gained earlier. Europeans are divided on the question of whether VET prepares people to set up their own business with 43 percent of them over- all agreeing and 44 percent of them disagreeing with this statement. Slovenia (53 percent) and Lithuania (51 percent) are two of five Member States where a majority of respondents agree with the statement, together with Hungary (62 percent), Italy (55 percent), and Denmark (51 percent). Germany (44 per- cent), Latvia (43 percent) and Austria (42 percent) are all close to the average (43 percent), together with Romania (45 percent), Slovakia (44 percent), as well as Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands (all 41 percent). The level of agreement is, among the 7EU-VET countries, the lowest in Greece (35 percent) and the UK (32 percent). Greece is also the country with the highest disagreement (61 percent compared to e.g. 35 percent in Lithuania). In the UK a large number of respondents answered "I do not know" (21 percent). Greece and the UK can be compared to Estonia (35 percent) as well as Bulgaria (32 percent) and Cyprus (25 percent) (Special Eurobarometer 369, 2011: 28). On this basis, one can assume that preparing VET students for work is quite a different phenomenon than setting up one’s own business, and both goals cannot be achieved at the same time. However, we can speculate that preparation to set up one’s own business can be associated more with factors external to the VET curriculum, in particular where self-employment remains the only option for entering the workforce. In this section we look at the contribution of VET programmes to the development of generic compe- tencies. VET curricula include the development of knowledge and skills corresponding to particular vocations and many include general subject knowledge, such as mathematics and foreign languages. However, it is generally agreed that in addition to vocational and academic knowledge and skills stu- dents need to develop autonomy, responsibility, communication, team working and other 'generic' or 'transverse' or 'key' competencies. The particular catalogue of these additional competencies varies be- tween countries as does the manner in which they are articulated in written curricula (CEDEFOP, 2012). In this survey, an attempt has been made to discover whether and to what degree students believe they are acquiring the following generic competencies: abilities to manage occupational tasks inde- pendently, team work, learning abilities, working under pressure, clear communication of one’s own ideas, and the ability to approach and engage with others with confidence. Students were asked to evaluate their own generic competencies. According to the students, the compe- tence that was most highly developed is being able to work as a team member in all countries, except Greece. In Greece, the most highly developed competence is being able to approach and engage with others with confidence; however, working as a team member, quickly familiarising themselves with new tasks and communicating ideas and suggestions to others clearly were very close to the first one. Only half of the students believed they were able to perform well under pressure, which makes it the ‘least’ acquired generic competence, with especially low percentages in Latvia. The development of generic competencies is relatively strong in Germany, Austria and the UK and somewhat less strong in the other countries. Comparing the countries, we can note the highest percentages of competence ac- quiring in Germany, Austria and the UK, while Slovenia is somewhere in the middle, and Greece, Lat- via and Lithuania have the lowest percentages of students acquiring these competencies. In Austria and 60 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries Germany, the lowest acquired competence is being able to communicate ideas and suggestions to others clearly, while in Greece the lowest one was being able to manage occupational tasks independently. Table 4.1: Percentage of VET students who acquired selected generic competencies to a large extent, by country Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia UK (England) Being able to manage occupational 77 81 45 48 49 54 75 tasks independently Being able to work as a team member 85 87 52 62 63 70 83 Being able to quickly familiarise myself 74 75 53 56 56 60 76 with new occupational tasks Being able to perform well under pres- 69 69 46 39 44 44 66 sure Being able to communicate ideas and 69 62 53 51 49 53 71 suggestions to others clearly Being able to approach and engage with others with confidence (e.g. net- 72 70 55 57 57 58 71 working) Question: E1a The following question asks for your perception of certain skills and abilities which are listed below. Please assess your current level of these abilities. Presented 4 and 5 answers on a scale from 1="Poor" to 5="Excellent" Across all countries, females were more likely than males to report a high level of generic competen- cies, in particular: being able to manage occupational tasks independently, being able to work as a team member, being able to quickly familiarise myself with new occupational tasks, and being able to com- municate ideas and suggestions to others clearly. However, there was no difference between the genders in the development of networking skills and performing under pressure. The biggest differences be- tween genders were seen in Lithuania (8 percent difference) and Austria (7 percent difference), where all or almost all skills are more often developed by female students. 61 4. Acquired Competencies Table 4.2: Percentage of VET students who acquired certain competencies to a large extent, by country and gender UK Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia (England) Male Being able to manage occupational 74 78 43 46 45 53 73 tasks independently Being able to work as a team member 83 86 51 58 59 69 80 Being able to quickly familiarise myself 70 72 52 54 54 60 73 with new occupational tasks Being able to perform well under pres- 67 68 46 39 47 45 67 sure Being able to communicate ideas and 66 64 51 49 47 54 69 suggestions to others clearly Being able to approach and engage with others with confidence (e.g. net- 73 72 52 55 54 59 72 working) Female Being able to manage occupational 81 83 48 51 56 56 78 tasks independently Being able to work as a team member 89 88 54 66 69 71 88 Being able to quickly familiarise myself 79 78 56 59 60 61 79 with new occupational tasks Being able to perform well under pres- 73 71 44 40 41 43 66 sure Being able to communicate ideas and 71 61 57 53 53 52 74 suggestions to others clearly Being able to approach and engage with others with confidence (e.g. net- 71 68 60 61 61 56 71 working) Question: E1a The following question asks for your perception of certain skills and abilities which are listed below. Please assess your current level of these abilities. Presented answers 4 and 5 on a scale from 1="Poor" to 5="Excellent" When considering the sector of the programme as an influence on the development of students’ generic competencies slight differences were noted. Students following programmes related to services were more likely to report good generic competencies of the following kinds: managing occupational tasks independently (service : industry = 64 percent : 56 percent), team work (74 percent : 68 percent) and quick familiarisation with new occupational job tasks (67 percent : 60 percent). In all seven countries, students from service programmes rated as one of the highest acquired competencies being able to quickly familiarise themselves with new occupational tasks, while in all seven countries a commonly highly acquired competence of industry students is being able to work as a team member. The pro- gramme sector is only significantly associated with the acquisition of competencies in Latvia and Aus- tria. In Austria, students from service programmes rate the acquisition of the ability to perform under pressure and to be able to quickly familiarise themselves with new occupational tasks higher, while in Latvia that is the case for all competencies. 62 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries Table 4.3: Percentage of VET students who acquired certain competencies to a large extent, by country and sector of the programme Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia UK (England) Industry Being able to manage occupational 75 79 44 45 48 54 73 tasks independently Being able to work as a team member 85 87 52 58 63 69 82 Being able to quickly familiarise myself 71 73 53 53 55 60 71 with new occupational tasks Being able to perform well under pres- 66 68 46 37 46 44 62 sure Being able to communicate ideas and 69 64 51 48 50 55 77 suggestions to others clearly Being able to approach and engage with others with confidence (e.g. net- 72 71 53 53 56 59 69 working) Service Being able to manage occupational 79 81 46 50 51 55 75 tasks independently Being able to work as a team member 85 87 52 64 63 70 83 Being able to quickly familiarise myself 76 76 54 58 58 60 76 with new occupational tasks Being able to perform well under pres- 72 70 46 41 43 44 66 sure Being able to communicate ideas and 68 61 56 53 49 52 71 suggestions to others clearly Being able to approach and engage with others with confidence (e.g. net- 72 69 57 60 57 57 72 working) Question: E1a The following question asks for your perception of certain skills and abilities which are listed below. Please assess your current level of these abilities. Presented answers 4 and 5 on a scale from 1="Poor" to 5="Excellent" In Latvia and Lithuania, students with well-educated parents are more likely to believe they are able to perform well under pressure. Similarly, in Slovenia, Latvia and Lithuania students with highly educated parents are more likely to develop good communication skills. Again, Slovenian and Lithuanian stu- dents with poorly educated parents are less likely to develop good networking skills compared to those with well-educated parentsxi. In general, across the countries the socio-economic status of the students’ families does not seem to be associated with their reported capability in terms of generic competencies. However, some differences among the three groups can be observed. In Lithuania and Latvia, the better the socio-economic status of the students’ families, the greater the likelihood that they reported good skills in managing occupa- tional tasks independently and quickly familiarising themselves with new occupational tasksxii. According to our results, the most acquired competence across the 7EU-VET countries is being able to work as a team member, followed by being able to quickly familiarise yourself with new occupational 63 4. Acquired Competencies tasks, being able to manage occupational tasks independently and being able to approach and engage with others with confidence. On the other side, students are least comfortable performing well under pressure. We found some association between gender and the percentage of acquired competencies, which showed that usually females have a higher percentage of acquired competencies. A similar asso- ciation exists with the sector of the programme where students in the service sector are more likely to report the higher acquisition of competencies such as managing occupational tasks independently, team work and quick familiarisation with new occupational job tasks. How students acquire selected compe- tencies was also associated with the education and socio-economic status of the students’ parents, how- ever this was only the case for particular countries, not in general. 4.2 Relationship between school success and other acquired competencies In the last section, we presented results showing school success determines the ability to perform occu- pational tasks independently, and team work. In this part of the book we look at the relationship be- tween the ability to quickly familiarise oneself with new tasks related to occupational tasks, to perform well under pressure, the ability to communicate ideas to others and the ability to approach and engage with others with confidence (e.g. networking), acquired competencies and school success. As expected, there are quite large differences in generic competencies between students with low grades and those with high ones. Across the countries, students with higher grades were more likely (by 10 percent or more) to report they have good generic competencies than those with lower grades. 64 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries Table 4.4: Percentage of VET students who acquired certain competencies to a large extent, by country and school success Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia UK (England) Low grades Being able to quickly familiarise myself 69 74 53 56 52 53 65 with occupational tasks Being able to perform well under pres- 62 66 45 40 41 39 54 sure Being able to communicate ideas and 62 62 49 50 46 51 64 suggestions to others clearly Being able to approach and engage with others with confidence (e.g. net- 70 70 52 57 54 55 61 working) High grades Being able to quickly familiarise myself 79 81 60 70 68 71 87 with new occupational tasks Being able to perform well under pres- 76 77 48 45 52 53 78 sure Being able to communicate ideas and 73 65 66 66 59 57 79 suggestions to others clearly Being able to approach and engage with others with confidence (e.g. net- 74 68 65 66 64 62 82 working) Question: E1a The following question asks for your perception of certain skills and abilities which are listed below. Please assess your current level of these abilities. Presented answers 4 and 5 on a scale from 1="Poor" to 5="Excellent" Differences in acquiring the competence of being able to work as a team member between students with high grades and those with low ones were found in Austria, Greece, Slovenia and the UK; with a differ- ence of up to 14 percent. In Austria, Germany, Lithuania, Slovenia and the UK, students with higher grades more often declare they are being able to quickly familiarise themselves with new tasks related to a job occupation compared to students with lower grades. That students with higher grades more often perform well under pressure can be noted in the UK, Slovenia, Austria and Germany. In Greece, Austria, Latvia, Lithuania and the UK, students with higher grades also more often believe they are able to communicate ideas and suggestions to others clearly, while in Slovenia, Greece, Lithuania, Latvia and the UK students with lower grades less often report being able to approach and engage with others with confidences compared to those students with higher grades. The greatest difference, 19 percent, emerges for autonomy, i.e. being able to manage occupational task independently, which means that students with high grades far more often believe they have acquired the mentioned competence than those with low grades. The biggest differences among students based on their school success are noted in the UK (25 percent). In all seven countries female students slightly more often believe the programme contributes to devel- oped competencies, although in Greece and Latvia this difference is slightly stronger. Looking overall, approximately one out of two students in the countries believe their programme prepares them well for 65 4. Acquired Competencies these activities, with the highest percentage in the UK, Austria and Germany and the lowest in Slovenia and Lithuaniaxiii . Lastly, we also looked at students with low grades, who were less likely to judge that their programmes were equipping them with generic competencies than students with high grades. Across all countries, the difference was 37 percent : 53 percent, but it was particularly high in the UK and Greece (18 per- cent) and the lowest in Lithuania (6 percent). This makes sense in the UK because of the emphasis there on generic competencies as an essential element of success, which might not be the case in some other countries or VET systems. Chart 4.3: Percentage of VET students who acquired competencies overall to a large extent, by country and students’ success 100 90 80 72 68 69 70 60 60 60 56 52 53 50 42 41 37 40 30 26 25 20 20 10 0 Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia UK (England) % of answers Low grades High grades Question: E1b Overall, to what extent does your current programme prepare you for these activities? Presented answers 4 and 5 on a scale from 1="Not at all" to 5="Very" Students with low grades were less likely to judge that their programmes were equipping them with generic competencies than students with high grades. Across all countries, the difference was 37 percent : 53 percent, but it was particularly high in the UK and Greece (18 percent) and the lowest in Latvia (6 percent) and Germany (9 percent). In Austria, Slovenia, Lithuania, the difference between these two groups of students is around 14 percent, which again confirms the existing association between school success and a student’s acquisition of the competence. 66 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries In conclusion, we can say that surveying the relationship between school success and acquired compe- tencies raises one of the most vital issues in the international comparison of VET systems. Being aware of the limitations of the self-assessment approach for surveying competencies, we found some associa- tions between both elements. In an earlier section (6.4.2) we speculated that, in the case of the ability to independently perform occupational tasks and team work, school learning and training have a contribution to these competencies, although the model could also be reversed assuming that generic competen- cies help to explain the success of learners because they are competencies that are employed in learning as well as in work. Clearly, there is a need to undertake further survey activities in this direction. 4.3 Conclusions In this section we confirmed that VET pupils who study more achieve better grades. However, we could not find such evidence for Germany and the UK. We assume that in some VET segments and countries it matters more what students do in school than after it, and therefore school systems do not assess in any extensive way study hours after school. We found some evidence that study behaviour patterns importantly determine school success: striving for the highest possible marks has by far the strongest effect in all countries. Interest in practical subjects does not have any effect on school success in any of the surveyed countries. However, striving for the highest possible grades might have not much in common with understanding of the learning subject or studying after school. The importance of understand- ing the learning content positively affects school success only in Slovenia and Latvia. In most countries, we found that the school success of VET pupils is much more driven by trying to impress employers and that ensures access to further education than by school teachers and peers. With the exception of Lithuania, pupils of more educated parents do not have higher grades. We assume that parents whose pupils end up in vocational education and not in general education do not worry how well their children are doing in school and pay more attention to their children’s job destination. There are large differences in the way VET students assess the level of their acquired competencies. The competence that was according to our results the most highly developed is being able to work as a team member, where on average three out of four students have developed this competence well, while only every second student believed they were able to perform well under pressure. The ability to man- age occupational tasks independently was best assessed in Germany, Austria and the UK, while in other countries the share of such learners is significantly lower. In general, across all countries, females and students of service-related programmes were more likely than males to report a high level of generic competencies. Parents’ education only had a positive effect on the level of acquired competencies in some countries: in Slovenia, Latvia and Lithuania students with well-educated parents are more likely to believe they are able to perform well under pressure and to have developed good communication skills. In the case of other competencies, the effect of socio-demographic differences is small. 67 4. Acquired Competencies Other important determinants of the ability to carry out independent work are school success and pro- fessional motives. Those students with better grades and those who in the longer term are driven by the motivation to acquire solid occupation professional skills will, according to our survey data, be able to work more independently and they have better developed some other competencies. Learning behaviour generally had a smaller impact on the level of acquired competencies than one would expect and each country under observation can be labelled according to their different results. Overall, one out of two students believes their programme contributes importantly to the development of generic competencies, with the highest percentages seen in the UK, Austria and Germany and the lowest in Slovenia and Lithuania. However, in most countries we found a relationship between school success and the development of generic competencies. Better grades are an important predictor of a higher level of school success. 68 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries 5 FUTURE CAREER ASPIRATIONS AND FURTHER EDUCATION In this section, we explore the key drivers of VET students' professional careers. Second, we look at which employment sectors learners would like to work in. Third, we examine their motives and prefer- ences regarding further education and the key determinants of further learning decisions. 5.1 The context When observing future career planning, it is very important to consider the particularities of VET sys- tems relating to the transition from education to the labour market and further education. Following the CEDEFOP (2012) report, the transition from formal education to the labour market for medium-level VET graduates suggests that 22 percent of respondents experience an unsuccessful transition regardless of their educational orientation. The transition is, however, smooth or fairly smooth for 75 percent of graduates of workplace-based VET programmes or school-based programmes. In Europe (EU-27), every second graduate of school-based programmes (aged 25–29) finds a job in the first 6 months after leaving their formal education, while in the work-based programmes three out of four graduates do so. On average, almost every third graduate from school-based VET programmes has to wait for their first job for more than 24 months. For 30- to 34-year-olds, less than one out of two finds a job in the first 6 months after leaving their formal education, while for those in work-based VET programmes the situation is better (68.8 percent) (CEDEFOP, 2012: 51)16 16 It should be noted that Germany, Norway and Switzerland have been excluded from the sample. 69 5. Future Career Aspirations and Further Education Chart 5.1: Transition from formal education to the labour market for medium-level VET graduates, by type of VET, 20- to 34-year-olds, EU-27+, 2009 VET work 72,1 2,8 3,4 22,0 VET school 71,7 3,1 3,1 22,2 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 % of answers Smooth Fairly smooth Difficult Unsuccessful It should be noted that Germany, Norway and Switzerland have been excluded from the sample. Source: CEDEFOP, European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training. 2012. From education to working life. The labour market outcomes of vocational education and training, p. 51 Chart 5.2: Minimum duration of periods without employment after leaving formal education for the last time for medium-level VET graduates, by type of VET and age, EU-27+, 2009 30-34 VET work 68,5 14,9 16,6 30-34 VET school 47,3 19,4 33,3 25-29 VET work 71,1 14,5 14,4 25-29 VET school 51,4 19,1 29,5 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 % of answers 0-6 months 7-24 months More than 24 months It should be noted that Germany, Norway and Switzerland have been excluded from the sample. Source: CEDEFOP, European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training. 2012. From education to working life. The labour market outcomes of vocational education and training, p. 51 Chart 5.3 presents employed medium-level graduates by orientation and sector of activity. Graduates of general education programmes mainly find jobs in the field of distribution and transport (37.1 percent), followed by business and other services (24.2 percent), as well as non-marketed services (18.6 percent). They less commonly work in fields of manufacturing (11.1 percent), construction (5.6 percent), as well as in the primary sector and utilities (3.5 percent). Graduates from VET programmes, when compared to those in general programmes, more often work in manufacturing (21.2 percent), as well as construction (11.4 percent), although their primary field of work is still distribution and transport (29.6 percent). 70 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries As expected, general education graduates are more likely to work in service sectors than VET gradu- ates, with this pattern holding true for all countries, except Greece. The percentage of those working in the service sector is, for the 7EU-VET countries, highest in Greece and the UK, followed by Germany, Latvia and Austria, which are all above the EU average. The proportion of medium-level graduates working in the service sector is lowest in Slovenia and especially Lithuania. Chart 5.3: Employed medium-level graduates, by orientation and sector of activity, 15- to 34-year-olds, EU-27+, 2009 100 90 80 70 60 50 37,1 40 29,6 31,7 30 24,2 21,2 18,6 18,3 20 16,7 18,9 15,6 16,5 11,1 11,4 9,7 10 3,5 5,6 5,5 4,9 0 General orientation VET TOTAL (General orientation + VET) % of answers Primary sector and utilities Manufacturing Construction Distribution and transport Business and other services Non-marketed services Source: CEDEFOP, European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training. 2012. From education to working life. The labour market outcomes of vocational education and training, p 61 The results for Greece and the UK can be compared to countries with the highest proportions, such as Luxembourg, the Netherlands, as well as Malta and Portugal. Germany, Latvia and Austria are compa- rable to Spain, Denmark, Finland and Belgium. Slovenia is closest to the average, together with Bulgar- ia and Hungary. Lithuania can be compared to Estonia, Poland and Romania. (CEDEFOP, 2012: 61) Following the CEDEFOP (2012) report, VET graduates are more likely than general education gradu- ates to work in the primary, manufacturing and construction sectors. This pattern is found in all coun- tries except for Greece and it is most pronounced in Eastern European countries, as well as Ireland and Iceland. As seen in Chart 5.3, the percentage of VET graduates is in the majority of countries much more prominent than the percentage of general education graduates, although the difference is not so 71 5. Future Career Aspirations and Further Education significant in Bulgaria, Latvia and, as already mentioned, Greece. Lithuania is one of the countries with the highest percentages of medium-level graduates working in non-service sectors, together with Roma- nia, Poland and Estonia. The figure for Slovenia is closest to the average and is comparable to Ireland, Hungary and Bulgaria. Austria, Latvia and Germany's results are similar. Their results are below- average and comparable to Finland and Spain. The UK and Greece are the two countries with the lowest percentages of medium-level graduates that work in non-service sectors. The shares are only lower in the Netherlands and Luxembourgxiv. A more detailed analysis of the manufacturing sector shows the prevalence of VET graduates: 82.8 percent of 15- to 34-year-old workers with a secondary or upper-secondary diploma are VET graduates; the percentage is greatest for mechanical engineering (87.9 percent), metals and metal products (87.1 percent) and wood and paper (85.9 percent) and the lowest in printing and publishing (73.1 percent) (CEDEFOP, 2012: 62). These data are related to the question of whether VET graduates are more likely believed to be able to find a job after graduation in comparison to graduates of general education. The results are presented in Chart 5.4. 72 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries Chart 5.4: Percentage of citizens' beliefs about whether people who have completed vocational educa- tion and training are more or less likely to find a job after their studies compared to those who have completed general secondary or higher education European Union (27 countries) 56 18 20 6 Austria 49 20 26 5 Belgium 57 22 19 2 Bulgaria 55 12 28 5 Cyprus 66 8 20 6 Czech Republic 50 29 17 4 Denmark 55 18 21 6 Estonia 46 24 25 5 Finland 77 9 11 3 France 73 8 14 5 Germany 50 21 22 7 Greece 57 14 27 2 Hungary 42 30 24 4 Ireland 30 16 40 14 Italy 51 16 29 4 Latvia 47 22 27 4 Lithuania 31 42 19 8 Luxembourg 53 19 24 4 Malta 59 18 17 6 Netherlands 66 12 19 3 Poland 55 20 16 9 Portugal 43 19 30 8 Romania 49 22 18 11 Slovakia 57 21 19 3 Slovenia 60 13 24 3 Spain 53 16 24 7 Sweden 78 8 9 5 United Kingdom 56 20 15 9 0 20 40 60 80 100 % of answers More likely Less likely No difference Don't know Question: QA12. Do you think that people who have completed their vocational education and training are more likely or less likely to find a job after their studies than people who have completed their general secondary or higher education? Source: Special Eurobarometer 369. 2011. Attitudes towards vocational education and training, p. 112 73 5. Future Career Aspirations and Further Education A majority of respondents in the EU-27 believe that completing vocational education and training makes a person more likely to find a job than someone who has completed general secondary or higher education (56 percent), although the differences between countries are significant. Among the 7EU- VET countries, Slovenia (60 percent) and Greece (57 percent) have the highest percentages of those agreeing with the analysed statement and can be compared to Malta as well as Slovakia and Belgium. The UK's result is average, while the percentages in Germany (50 percent), Austria (49 percent), and Latvia (47 percent) are below-average and comparable to the Czech Republic, Romania and Estonia. Lithuania's result (31 percent) is highly below-average and very exceptional. The share of those that believe completing VET makes a person more likely to find a job than someone who has completed general secondary or higher education is only lower in Ireland (30 percent); however, not on account of those that do not agree with the statement (only 16 percent) but those who believe there is no difference (40 percent). This picture is related to the question of the extent to which VET education enables learn- ers to continue schooling with university. (Special Eurobarometer 369, 2011: 112) 74 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries Chart 5.5: Percentage of citizens agreeing with statement: “Vocational education and training enables people to continue with university studies afterwards” European Union (27… 68 21 11 Austria 63 29 8 Belgium 39 58 3 Bulgaria 85 9 6 Cyprus 84 10 6 Czech Republic 70 27 3 Denmark 55 33 12 Estonia 86 9 5 Finland 83 12 5 France 64 21 15 Germany 69 21 10 Greece 59 33 8 Hungary 60 35 5 Ireland 69 9 22 Italy 69 24 7 Latvia 84 11 5 Lithuania 76 11 13 Luxembourg 67 23 10 Malta 83 6 11 Netherlands 57 33 10 Poland 71 16 13 Portugal 68 15 17 Romania 67 22 11 Slovakia 79 19 2 Slovenia 65 28 7 Spain 81 7 12 Sweden 53 30 17 United Kingdom 71 11 18 0 20 40 60 80 100 % of answers Agree Disagree Don't know Question: QA10.4 Please tell me to what extent you agree or disagree with each of the following statements. Vocational education and training enables people to continue with university studies afterwards. Source: Special Eurobarometer 369. 2011. Attitudes towards vocational education and training, p. 42 75 5. Future Career Aspirations and Further Education Over two-thirds (68 percent) of all EU respondents believe that VET enables people to continue with university studies afterwards (25 percent totally agree, 43 percent tend to agree). Latvia is one of the countries with the highest proportions of people agreeing with the statement (84 percent) and can be compared to Estonia, Bulgaria or Cyprus. Percentages in Lithuania (76 percent) and the UK (71 per- cent) are also above-average. The results are similar for Eastern European countries – Slovakia and Poland. The agreement level in Germany falls around the average (69 percent) together with the Czech Republic, Italy or Ireland. The level of agreement in Slovenia (65 percent) and Austria (63 percent) seems to be a little below-average. Greece was the lowest with only 59 percent and falls into the group of countries with the lowest agreement, where the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden can also be in- cluded. (Special Eurobarometer 369, 2011: 42) If we look at Chart 5.5, we can note by far the highest percentage (in both over 75 percent) of Finnish people who believe in both spheres of VET that it enables people to continue further education and that VET graduates are more likely to find a job than those who have finished general education. The lowest share of people (39 percent) believing that VET enables people to continue further education can be noted in Belgium with around 58 percent of people there believing that VET graduates have better chances of finding employment. Lithuania and Ireland have the lowest number of people (around 30 percent) who trust that VET provides a qualification that will guarantee the quick finding of a job, but they a high level of belief in VET as preparation for further schooling (around 70 percent). Beside Fin- land, high percentages of people believing that VET graduates are more likely to find employment than those from general programmes can be noted in Sweden, France, the Netherlands and Cyprus (65 per- cent and above), while the biggest shares of people trusting in VET’s preparation for further education are noticeable in Estonia, Latvia, Bulgaria, Malta, Slovakia and Spain (80 percent and above). Austria and Germany are fairly close to each other with around 50 percent of people judging VET graduates as more likely to find a job and between 60 and 70 percent of people who agree that VET enables people to continue education at university level. In Latvia, there are far more people who trust that VET is an enabler for further education than those (47 percent) who believe VET graduates are more likely to find employment. In Slovenia, Greece and the UK, around 58 percent of people find it more likely that VET graduates will find a job compared to general education graduates. However, when it comes to people agreeing with the statement that VET enables further schooling we can find a slight difference among those three countries with Greece having the lowest percentage (59 percent), followed by Slovenia (65 percent) and the UK with 71 percent. All 7 EU countries except Lithuania have somewhere in between 50 and 60 percent of people that believe VET is more likely to enable a student to find a job compared to general education. In Germany, Slovenia, Greece, Austria and the UK we can note relatively compa- rable results for both objectives of vocational education, finding a job and enabling further education, while in Latvia and Lithuania the percentages of people trusting in VET as an enabler for further educa- tion are higher than those trusting in VET as a better job provider than general education. 76 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries Chart 5.6: Percentage of people agreeing with statement: “Vocational education and training enables people to continue with university studies afterwards” by percentages of people believing VET gradu- ates are more like to find a job compared to graduates of general education Questions: QA12. Do you think that people who have completed their vocational education and training are more likely or less likely to find a job after their studies than people who have completed their general secondary or higher education? Presented answer "More likely" QA10.4 Please tell me to what extent you agree or disagree with each of the following statements. Vocational education and training enables people to continue with university studies afterwards. Presented answer "Agree" Source: Prepared based on data from Special Eurobarometer 369. 2011. Attitudes towards vocational education and training. Pg. 42 In the next section, we look more deeply at the relationship between VET education and further careers, considering only the 7EU-VET countries. 77 5. Future Career Aspirations and Further Education 5.2 What drives VET students towards their professional career? Based on our survey, we were concerned to investigate learners’ aspirations for a future career. First, we looked at which drivers are important for young people across the seven countries and whether a strong aspiration is associated with other important variables. Learners reported which objectives concerning their future professional careers are the most important for them. These objectives represent the aspirations of learners. We would expect these aspirations to be formed as a consequence of socio-demographic factors, but also as a result of past educational experi- ence. Table 5.1: Drivers of VET students’ professional development, by country (in percent)17 Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia UK (England) Obtaining solid occupational profi- 66 66 49 59 44 57 80 ciencies Receiving a high income 82 83 51 66 56 63 86 Gaining job security 91 93 50 67 65 55 84 Having responsibility at work 72 75 48 63 68 54 84 Having opportunities to learn new 79 80 48 63 67 61 87 things at work Undertaking interesting tasks in the 87 85 44 59 56 64 85 workplace Having a job that makes me happy 94 93 56 70 71 75 90 Having a good relationship with 92 92 60 67 72 81 88 colleagues Advancing to a high level of status in 57 53 48 59 62 71 73 society Having enough spare-time to do 84 77 38 59 59 77 78 other things in life Making and maintaining relation- ships with others (e.g. family and 78 76 62 70 74 79 86 friends) Question: D1 To what extent do you agree with the following statements concerning your professional and life goals? Presented answers 4 and 5 on a scale from 1="Not at all" to 5="Completely" In general, the most important objectives overall, in almost every country, were “having a job that makes me happy” and “having good relationships with colleagues” (average 79 percent). Only slightly less highly rated was “making and maintaining relationships with others (e.g. family and friends)” (av- erage 75 percent). We can conclude that the most important objectives for 17- and 18-year-olds across the seven countries are intrinsic and related to professionalism (Pavlin et al., 2010). However, objec- 17 Ranks and percentage points are indicated. 78 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries tives relating to occupational proficiency, income, job security, learning at work, interesting tasks in the work place, social status and leisure are also very important, although we found some important differences across the countries. The first thing we can note is that in the UK, Austria and Germany (79 percent or above on average) the shares are relatively bigger than in other countries, where the average is around 63 percent with the lowest in Greece at around 50 percent. Some objectives were particularly important in some countries but not in others. Austria and Germany have very similar results with having a job that makes them happy, having a good relationship with colleagues and gaining job security as the most important driv- ers, and advancing to a high level of status in society as the least mentioned driver. We can also note some similarities in Greece, Latvia and Lithuania, in all three of these countries the most common driv- ers are having a job that makes them happy, having a good relationship with colleagues and making and maintaining relationships with others. In Greece, having enough spare time to do other things in life is the driver with the lowest percentage, while in Lithuania that is obtaining solid occupational proficien- cies. In Slovenia, the least common driver is having responsibility at work, while the three most often mentioned ones are having a good relationship with colleagues, having enough spare time to do other things in life and maintaining relationships with others, while in the UK students are most often driven when they have opportunities to learn new things at work, have a job that makes them happy and have good relationships with colleagues. Similarly to Germany and Austria, the driver with the lowest per- centage is advancing to a high level of status in society. Learners’ preferences for objectives show the influence of gender, particularly in five countries: Ger- many, Austria, the UK, Lithuania and Slovenia. In these countries, female students usually rate some drivers such as happiness in their work, job security and good relationships with co-workers higher than male learners. Looking more closely at Austria, female students rate obtaining solid occupational profi- ciencies, gaining job security, having responsibility at work, undertaking interesting tasks in the work- place, having a job that makes them happy, having good relationships with colleagues and making and maintaining relationships with others a few percent higher than male students, while they rate advancing to a high level of status in society a little lower. German female students also rate obtaining solid occu- pational proficiencies, gaining job security, having responsibility at work, having opportunities to learn new things at work, having a job that makes them happy, and having good relationships with colleagues higher, while they rate advancing to a high level of status in society and having enough spare time a little lower than male students. In the UK, gaining job security, having responsibility at work, having a job that makes them happy and undertaking interesting tasks in the workplace are rated higher by fe- male students. In Lithuania, this is the case for the following three drivers: obtaining solid occupational proficiencies, having a job that makes them happy and having good relationships with colleagues. Slovenian female students are, compared to male students, more often driven by gaining job security, hav- ing responsibility at work, having opportunities to learn new things at work, having a job that makes them happy, and having good relationships with colleagues, advancing to a high level of status in socie- ty and having enough spare-time and making and maintaining relationships with others. 79 5. Future Career Aspirations and Further Education Table 5.2: VET students’ drivers of professional development, by country and gender (in percent) Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia UK (England) Male Obtaining solid occupational profi- 63 70 48 56 40 56 80 ciencies Receiving a high income 84 87 51 65 54 61 86 Gaining job security 88 92 47 66 62 51 82 Having responsibility at work 69 74 48 61 62 49 81 Having opportunities to learn new 77 77 47 62 63 58 86 things at work Undertaking interesting tasks in the 85 85 43 58 53 63 83 workplace Having a job that makes me happy 91 91 55 66 66 71 89 Having a good relationship with 89 90 59 64 67 78 86 colleagues Advancing to a high level of status in 62 57 48 57 57 67 71 society Having enough spare-time to do 82 81 37 59 57 75 78 other things in life Making and maintaining relation- ships with others (e.g. family and 74 75 60 68 68 76 85 friends) Female Obtaining solid occupational profi- 69 62 49 63 50 58 82 ciencies Receiving a high income 80 79 52 66 58 65 86 Gaining job security 94 94 54 68 70 59 87 Having responsibility at work 75 77 50 65 77 61 87 Having opportunities to learn new 80 83 50 65 74 64 89 things at work Undertaking interesting tasks in the 90 85 46 61 62 66 88 workplace Having a job that makes me happy 98 95 59 74 79 80 93 Having a good relationship with 95 94 62 69 80 84 90 colleagues Advancing to a high level of status in 53 49 48 61 69 76 76 society Having enough spare-time to do 86 73 41 59 62 80 78 other things in life Making and maintaining relation- ships with others (e.g. family and 83 76 64 72 82 83 88 friends) Question: D1 To what extent do you agree with the following statements concerning your professional and life goals? Presented answers 4 and 5 on a scale from 1="Not at all" to 5="Completely" There were some associations between socio-economic status and the commitment of learners to partic- ular objectives. In Austria, Germany, Latvia and the UK, a higher socio-economic status is associated 80 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries with a stronger commitment to striving for occupational proficiencies. Higher socio-economic status is associated with a stronger commitment to ‘having a job that makes me happy’ in Austria, Germany, Latvia and the UK. In Austria, students with a lower socio-economic status rank the importance of gain- ing job security higher than those students with a higher socio-economic status. However, in Greece the situation is reversed since students with an above-average or average socio-economic status value gain- ing job security more than those with a below-average status. In general, we find that socio-economic status does have some significant associations, but they vary among the countries and there is no clear influence on certain types of objectivesxv. 5.3 Which employment sectors do learners aspire to work in? The most popular employment area among students is services (34 percent or above), with the highest rate in Slovenia and Latvia (44–45 percent) and the lowest in Lithuania and Austria (34–35 percent). In Austria, with 26 percent industry and trade areas share second place in popularity among students. In Germany, the second most popular employment area is industry (35 percent), in Lithuania, Latvia, Slo- venia and the UK that is trade (32 percent), while for Greece are the other areas (22 percent). The least popular area is non-governmental organisations in all seven countries, with 8 percent or less. Table 5.3: Students’ preferences for working in major employment areas, by country (in percent)18 Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia UK (England) Industry (e.g. producing industry, 26 35 21 16 29 18 27 steel, motor, oil) Services (e.g. nursing, policing, 35 36 37 44 34 45 41 hairdressing) Trade (e.g. banking, financing, 26 20 19 36 32 28 32 business) Agriculture, forestry and fishery 10 7 8 12 9 10 4 Public administration (e.g. local 19 19 9 13 12 18 16 government, education) Non-governmental organisation (e.g. 3 4 6 7 5 8 4 charities, not-for-profit organisations) Other 17 19 22 15 10 18 6 Question: D5 Which sector would you like to work in the most? If we compare students’ preferences for employment areas by sector of their programme, we can obser- ve some interesting differences. Across all seven countries, students from industry programmes have far stronger preferences than those from service programmes, with the biggest differences in Austria (39 percent) and the UK (33 percent) and the lowest in Germany (22 percent) and Lithuania (20 percent). As expected, we obtained the reverse results for working in services with the highest differences in 18 Ranks and percentage points are indicated 81 5. Future Career Aspirations and Further Education Greece (33 percent) and the UK (30 percent) and the lowest Austria (16 percent) and Germany (22 percent). In Austria, Germany and Latvia, service students expressed a stronger preference for working in trade than industry students, however in Greece we can notice the opposite situation. Agriculture, forestry and fishery are more popular among industry students in all countries except Germany and the UK, where we see no significant difference. In contrast, work in public administration is more attractive to service students in Austria, Germany, Lithuania, Slovenia and the UK. We observe that the sector of a programme is significantly associated with students' preferences. Students from an industry program- me expressed a stronger attraction to industry as well as agriculture, forestry and fishery, while service students were more attracted to services, trade, and public administration. Table 5.4: Students’ preferences for working in major employment areas, by country and sector (in percent) Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia UK (England) Industry Industry (e.g. producing industry, steel, 49 57 32 33 38 33 77 motor, oil) Services (e.g. nursing, policing, hair- 25 21 20 28 23 36 12 dressing) Trade (e.g. banking, financing, busi- 14 12 22 28 31 26 21 ness) Agriculture, forestry and fishery 15 7 10 21 13 16 6 Public administration (e.g. local gov- 11 14 9 13 11 12 2 ernment, education) Non-governmental organisation (e.g. 2 3 5 5 4 7 0 charities, not-for-profit organisations) Other 14 22 25 16 11 23 4 Service Industry (e.g. producing industry, steel, 10 25 8 7 18 7 24 motor, oil) Services (e.g. nursing, policing, hair- 41 43 57 52 47 53 42 dressing) Trade (e.g. banking, financing, busi- 35 23 15 40 33 30 33 ness) Agriculture, forestry and fishery 7 7 5 7 5 5 4 Public administration (e.g. local gov- 24 21 9 13 14 22 17 ernment, education) Non-governmental organisation (e.g. 4 5 7 9 6 8 4 charities, not-for-profit organisations) Other 20 18 19 15 9 15 6 Question: D5 Which sector would you like to work in the most? Further, students’ aspirations in relation to employment sectors were gendered in all countries: gender was significantly associated with commitments to work in different sectors. Across the countries, 37 percent of males as against 10 percent of females wanted to work in industry, with the highest percent- age of male students in Germany (53 percent) and the lowest in Latvia (26 percent). 53 percent of fe- 82 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries males as against 26 percent of males wanted to work in services, with the highest rates of female stu- dents in Greece (65 percent) and Latvia (60 percent) and the lowest in Austria (45 percent) and Germa- ny (48 percent). In Latvia and Austria, female students prefer to work in trade compared to male stu- dents, while in Greece the situation is the reverse with 23 percent of male students compared to 12 per- cent of female students desiring to work in trade. Agriculture, forestry and fishery is more popular among male students in all countries except the UK with the highest differences in Slovenia (14 per- cent) and Latvia (13 percent). On the other hand, female students more often expressed a preference for working in public administration and non-governmental organisations. The first association can be not- ed in Austria, Germany, Lithuania and Slovenia with a difference of approximately 10 percent, while the latter is in Austria, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovenia with a difference of 4 percent. We can conclude from the results that working in industry, agriculture, forestry and fishery is more preferable for male students, while working in services, trade, public administration and non-governmental organisations is more strongly desired by female students. xvi. In the next part, we examine students’ drivers for continuing further education. 5.4 Further education Vocational programmes can lead to immediate employment or to further education. In this research, we are interested in the intentions of students to continue their education as well as their objectives in relation to work. Deciding to continue education can greatly increase the value of the vocational education for the learner, so it is worthwhile to try to understand which factors influence this choice and whether this choice is associated with other factors. Despite the large differences in VET systems across the countries, including variations in the formal permeability paths, the share of learners who said they were likely to continue in school or further edu- cation were not as big as one might assume. Results ranged from a high of 49 percent in Germany down to 35 percent in Lithuania (see Chart 5.7). Females were more likely (by more than 10 percent) to ex- pect to continue in all countries except Germany, where the situation is reversed. However, this associa- tion was not significant in Slovenia and the UK (see Chart 5.8). 83 5. Future Career Aspirations and Further Education Chart 5.7: Percentage of VET students considering continuing schooling, by country19 100 90 80 70 60 49 48 50 43 45 39 39 40 35 30 20 10 0 Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia UK (England) % of answers Question: D6 Do you plan to continue schooling or further education after your programme has ended (for example doing a specialised programme)? Presented answers 4 and 5 on a scale from 1="Definitely not" to 5="Definitely" Chart 5.8: Percentage of VET students considering continuing schooling, by country and gender 100 90 80 70 60 52 52 48 49 50 45 46 46 47 43 44 37 40 32 33 31 30 20 10 0 Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia UK (England) % of answers Male Female Question: D6 Do you plan to continue schooling or further education after your programme has ended (for example doing a specialised programme)? Presented answers 4 and 5 on a scale from 1="Definitely not" to 5="Definitely" 19 Ranks and percentage points are indicated 84 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries In Austria, Greece, Lithuania and Latvia, students in programmes associated with employment in ser- vices were more likely to expect to continue their education than those in programmes associated with employment in industry. This relationship did not hold in the other three countries. Learners taking more challenging programmes were more likely to expect to continue their education than those taking less challenging programmes in Austria, Germany, Slovenia and the UK. It seems possible that the differences among programmes – in terms of level, duration and status – in these countries will hold greater significance for learners than the differences in the other countries. xvii The relationship between current perceived grades and intentions was more pervasive. At least 11 per- cent more students with high grades plan to continue education than their peers with low grades. The highest difference is noticed in Latvia (33 percent) and the lowest in Greece (11 percent), with other countries not far away with differences of approximately 16 percent. Chart 5.9: Percentage of VET students who consider to continue schooling, by country and school suc- cess 100 90 80 69 70 61 59 60 52 49 48 50 47 44 43 40 37 36 38 33 31 30 20 10 0 Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia UK (England) % of answers Low grades High grades Question: D6 Do you plan to continue schooling or further education after your programme has ended (for example doing a specialised programme)? Presented answers 4 and 5 on a scale from 1="Definitely not" to 5="Definitely" In every country, except the UK, there was a significant relationship between socio-economic status and the intention to continue education: learners with an above-average socio-economic status were more 85 5. Future Career Aspirations and Further Education likely to plan to continue their education than those with a low socio-economic background, where these differences are quite high in Austria (29 percent), Greece (29 percent) and Latvia (26 percent) and a little lower in Germany (17 percent), Slovenia (18 percent) and Lithuania (13 percent). xviii Our research also sought to understand what 17- and 18-year-olds expect to gain from further education. If we are to understand young people as agents making decisions, it will helpful to discover which bene- fits they expect to obtain from their programmes. Students were invited to express their agreement with statements about how they would benefit from further education or training. The most strongly support- ed statements across the seven countries were that further education or training “enhanced career op- tions” (72 percent), that it “gave me a good education or qualification” (71 percent) and that it enabled “me to earn a high income later in life” (71 percent). However, there were national differences, for example, Greek learners were less likely to agree with all of the statements about how further education would help them. These preferences demonstrate that the majority of learners expect multiple benefits from their vocational programmes: better careers, good education, a long-term payback in terms of income (see Table 5.5 below). Table 5.5: Students’ main drivers for continuing education, by country (in percent)20 Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia UK (England) Further education enables me to follow 70 62 42 51 50 53 80 my professional interest Further education enables me to gain a 84 83 44 71 61 65 84 good qualification/education Further education enables me to take 70 69 39 64 43 56 69 on leadership role later on in life Further education enables me to earn a 82 80 56 69 62 64 85 high income later in life Further education enables me to be- 71 68 60 68 63 66 82 come an expert in my field Further education enables me to en- 81 80 52 74 63 70 82 hance my career options Further education enables me to post- 30 26 33 44 32 38 46 pone starting full-time work Further education enables me to expe- 24 19 21 40 31 29 44 rience a pupil exchange programme Further education enables me to fulfil 26 28 28 38 35 38 45 my parents’ expectations Question: D8 This is about your opinion regarding further education (e.g. advanced training or studying). To what extent do you agree with the statements below about undertaking further education (or participating in further training)? Presented answers 4 and 5 on a scale from 1="Not at all" to 5="Completely" Following professional interest was as the main driver of further education most often chosen by stu- dents from the UK (80 percent) and Austria (70 percent), while it was least often chosen in Greece (42 percent). That further education enables one to gain a good qualification most often is believed by stu- dents in the UK, Austria and Germany (84 percent) and again the least often in Greece (44 percent). In 20 Ranks and percentage points are indicated 86 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries Greece, students most often believe that further education enables them to become experts in the field (60 percent), which is still the lowest percentage among the countries. That further education enables a high income and the enhancement of a career is believed in all seven countries (above 50 percent), with the highest results in Austria, Germany and the UK (above 80 percent) and the lowest in Greece. In all seven countries, most students do not decide on further education because they want to postpone start- ing full-time work, to experience a pupil exchange programme or to fulfil their parents’ expectations (all three less than 50 percent). Gender was also associated with judgements about the benefits of further education (see Table 5.6). Female students in Austria, Greece, Lithuania, Latvia and the UK were more likely than males to be- lieve that they were enhancing their career options through further education; however, in Germany the association was reversed. Austrian, Latvian, Lithuanian and Slovenian female students also agree to a higher extent than male students with the statement that further education will enable them to follow their personal interest. Female students in Austria, Germany, Greece and both Baltic countries also more often believe that further education will enable them to gain a good qualification. Male students in Austria, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovenia are also less often than females driven by the as- sumption that further education will enable them to experience a pupil exchange programme. In general, female students more often agreed with the mentioned drivers of further education. Students taking a programme related to employment in services were more likely to judge that further education provides a ‘good qualification or education’ than those taking a programme related to em- ployment in industry. Other statements were similarly influenced in only some countries or not signifi- cantly influenced at all by the employment or programme sectorxix. Further, students that reported high grades (in all countries) were more likely to agree with statements about their benefits from further education than those with low grades (see Table 5.7). In particular, high-achieving learners in all countries were more likely to believe that further education would enable them to follow their professional interest, gain a good qualification/education and become an expert. In the UK, Austria, Slovenia, Lithuania and Greece students with high grades rated the moti- vational driver of further education enabling them to take on a leadership role later on in life higher than those with low grades. Similar is seen with the belief that further education will enable them to earn a high income later in life, which is more often believed by students with high grades in Austria, Greece and Slovenia. Students with high grades in Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia, Greece and Austria are also more often driven to continue their education because that would enable them to enhance their career options. It is possible that the valuation of further education contributes to success by raising motivation, but it is also possible that students with good grades are encouraged by those grades to believe that, in the future, further benefits will flow to them. 87 5. Future Career Aspirations and Further Education Table 5.6: Students’ main drivers of continuing education, by country and gender (in percent) Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia UK (England) Male Further education enables me to follow 66 61 39 44 49 50 78 my professional interest Further education enables me to gain a 80 81 40 67 56 64 84 good qualification/education Further education enables me to take 69 70 37 62 41 56 69 on leadership role later on in life Further education enables me to earn a 81 82 56 69 61 66 85 high income later in life Further education enables me to be- 73 72 58 66 60 66 83 come an expert in my field Further education enables me to en- 78 82 49 70 61 68 79 hance my career options Further education enables me to post- 32 28 32 43 33 41 43 pone starting full-time work Further education enables me to expe- 19 16 22 35 29 27 45 rience a pupil exchange programme Further education enables me to fulfil 27 29 30 43 38 40 48 my parents’ expectations Female Further education enables me to follow 74 63 45 58 53 56 82 my professional interest Further education enables me to gain a 88 86 51 75 68 66 87 good qualification/education Further education enables me to take 71 68 42 66 47 56 68 on leadership role later on in life Further education enables me to earn a 82 78 56 70 63 61 86 high income later in life Further education enables me to be- 69 64 63 70 67 66 82 come an expert in my field Further education enables me to en- 84 78 57 78 68 73 85 hance my career options Further education enables me to post- 28 25 35 44 30 34 50 pone starting full-time work Further education enables me to expe- 30 21 20 44 35 33 43 rience a pupil exchange programme Further education enables me to fulfil 26 27 24 32 29 36 42 my parents’ expectations Question: D8 This is about your opinion regarding further education (e.g. advanced training or studying). To what extent do you agree with the statements below about undertaking further education (or participating in further training)? Presented answers 4 and 5 on a scale from 1="Not at all" to 5="Completely" 88 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries Table 5.7: Students’ main drivers of continuing education, by country and school success (in percent) Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia UK (England) Low grades Further education enables me to follow 63 60 39 48 49 45 76 my professional interest Further education enables me to gain a 77 84 39 69 58 58 81 good qualification/education Further education enables me to take 66 67 37 64 42 51 64 on leadership role later on in life Further education enables me to earn a 78 79 54 71 62 60 84 high income later in life Further education enables me to be- 66 66 56 67 61 61 79 come an expert in my field Further education enables me to en- 74 79 47 74 62 67 80 hance my career options Further education enables me to post- 31 26 32 43 32 35 44 pone starting full-time work Further education enables me to expe- 23 19 21 39 29 24 41 rience a pupil exchange programme Further education enables me to fulfil 28 28 27 38 35 37 43 my parents’ expectations High grades Further education enables me to follow 75 70 50 73 54 65 83 my professional interest Further education enables me to gain a 89 90 55 85 71 77 88 good qualification/education Further education enables me to take 73 73 45 72 48 65 74 on leadership role later on in life Further education enables me to earn a 84 81 63 73 63 70 87 high income later in life Further education enables me to be- 75 75 69 76 69 74 85 come an expert in my field Further education enables me to en- 85 83 61 83 69 77 83 hance my career options Further education enables me to post- 29 26 37 50 33 41 48 pone starting full-time work Further education enables me to expe- 25 19 21 41 37 38 47 rience a pupil exchange programme Further education enables me to fulfil 25 24 32 36 34 40 48 my parents’ expectations Question: D8 This is about your opinion regarding further education (e.g. advanced training or studying). To what extent do you agree with the statements below about undertaking further education (or participating in further training)? Presented answers 4 and 5 on a scale from 1="Not at all" to 5="Completely" Lastly, based on the regression model we looked at the most important drivers of continuing schooling assuming that in most countries formal permeability paths exist, even though there are variations in programme types’ access and formal requirements that VET graduates need to meet in order to pro- gress. We assume the key drivers are not only related to motives for further education, but also to pro- fessional goals, satisfaction with the programme, paid work and school success. 89 5. Future Career Aspirations and Further Education Table 5.8: Effects of selected characteristics on students' plans to continue schooling, by 7EU-VET countries21 As expected, in general the most important contribution to VET students continuing schooling are indi- vidual expectations from further education. In general, VET students who believe further education enables them to follow a professional interest and that it leads to good qualifications are more likely to continue with schooling. We confirmed this in almost all countries, except Slovenia. Moreover, in Aus- tria we found that following a professional interest is more important than gaining good qualifications (e.g. better certificate), but the opposite is true for Germany. In Greece, Lithuania and the UK both dimensions are important. 21 In the model we also tested the effects of programme type, father’s and mother’s employment status. In the case of Germany, VET students in medium demanding programme types are more likely to have plans to continue schooling than those in less demanding programmes, while in the UK the situation is reversed as students from medium demanding programmes are less likely to continue with education. Only in Slovenia does the father's employment status have a positive effect on students' plans to continue schooling. 90 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries Further, only in Slovenia are those students whose professional goal is to receive a high income more likely to enrol in further education. In the other countries this extrinsic motive plays no role. In Austria, Germany and Lithuania, those who prioritise good relationships with colleagues are less likely to enrol in further education. We also found that those students with higher school success are more likely to continuing schooling, which was found in Austria, Germany, Latvia and Slovenia. As indicated earlier in the chapter, one would expect students’ positive experience with schooling to impact on positive attitudes to this type of learning. Surprisingly, as seen in Table 5.8, we found that satisfaction with the current programme has almost no impact on continuing schooling. This can be interpreted in two different ways: first, VET students might have a completely different perception of further schooling and, second, those satisfied with the programme are more likely to start working. However, as expected, doing paid work in Greece, Latvia and Lithuania has a negative impact on personal preferences for continuing schooling. In addi- tion, in the case of Greece and Lithuania we found some evidence that more time spent on learning after school raises the probability of continuing with schooling, which was not the case in the other countries. We found that socio-demographic characteristics had some relevance to a higher probability of consid- ering schooling, but again as with other characteristics, there are variations from country to country. In most countries, we found some proof that in this age group females develop more positive attitudes to continuing schooling, although in the case of Germany it is the opposite. As anticipated by theory, a higher level of parents’ education had a positive impact on students' further schooling in Austria, Ger- many and Greece and, surprisingly, not in other countries. In some countries this can also be stated for socio-economic status. Parents’ employment status has no impact on students’ decisions to continue schooling, with the exception of Slovenia where fathers’ full-time employment status had a positive effect on students’ future enrolment. Lastly, in Austria, Greece, Latvia and Slovenia we found that com- ing from a less densely populated environment had a negative impact on continuing schooling. 5.5 Conclusions In most EU (EU-27) countries, there are only small differences between VET and general education in the way people perceive employment options. In this context, the most important objectives for 17- and 18-year-old VET students across the seven countries are intrinsic, such as finding a job that makes them happy or having good relationships with colleagues. Female students usually rate happiness in their work, job security and good relationships with co-workers more highly than male learners. However, extrinsic objectives such as a high income or job security were also importantly stressed, in particular in Austria, Germany and the UK. In several countries, a higher socio-economic status is associated with a 91 5. Future Career Aspirations and Further Education stronger commitment to striving for occupational proficiency, but there are large differences here across the countries. In general, the most desirable employment area among students is services (e.g. nursing, policing, hair- dressing), however in Austria or Germany industry is in second place and rates similarly as trade or public administration. The least popular area is non-governmental organisations in all seven countries. These preferences are very strongly related to gender and study programme types. In general, 37 percent of males as against 10 percent of females wanted to work in industry, while 53 percent of females as against 26 percent of males wanted to work in services. Despite the large differences in VET systems across the countries, including variations in the formal permeability paths, the share of learners who said they were likely to continue in school or further edu- cation were not as large as one would assume: from 49 percent in Germany down to 35 percent in Lith- uania. Important determinants of further learning are gender and school success: at least 11 percent more students with high grades plan to continue education than their peers with low grades. The majority of learners expect multiple benefits from their vocational programmes: better careers, good education, a long-term payback in terms of income, and here it was not possible to identify any cross- country patterns. Nevertheless, the most important contributions to VET students for continuing schooling are school success and individual expectations from further education. In general, VET stu- dents who believe further education enables them to follow a professional interest and that it leads to good qualifications are more likely to continue schooling. In Austria and the UK, following a profes- sional interest is more important than gaining good qualifications, but the opposite is true in Germany. Only in Slovenia are those students whose professional goal is to receive a high income more likely to enrol in further education. Undertaking paid work in Greece, Latvia and Lithuania has a negative impact on personal preferences for continuing schooling. Lastly, socio-demographic characteristics have a lower impact on preferences to continue schooling, as we would expect. A higher level of parents’ edu- cation, for example, had a positive impact on students’ desire for further schooling in Austria, Germany and Greece and, surprisingly, not in the other countries. These findings clearly call for further investigation, particularly in relation to the formal permeability paths and types of further education. 92 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries 6 CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF VET POLICIES Vocational education and training (VET) systems in Europe prepare youth in different ways for short- and long-term careers. Variations between the systems importantly encompass several aspects, such as the ratio between the general and practical orientation of curricula, occupational specialisations, the organisation of apprenticeships, duration and programme requirements, tracking, certification and the permeability paths with post-secondary education. At the macro level, the distinctions impact particular- ly strongly on the VET system’s segmentation (programme types), the ratio of young people enrolled in the VET system in comparison to general education and, in particular, the status and perception of sys- tems in relation to the labour market. On the basis of a large-scale survey among over 17,600 17- and 18-year-old VET students, this book looks at differences and similarities in seven EU countries: Austria, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Lithua- nia, Slovenia and the UK. In times of an economic downturn and the growing flexibilisation of knowledge recognition processes, the conclusions presented in the following sections are for anyone interested in education, the labour market and especially the interrelation of both areas. They touch upon issues of under- and over-qualification, social inclusion, vertical and horizontal skill (mis)matches, various aspects of employability and vocational professionalism and professionalisation emerging from within (VET students) or from above (system requirements). i) THE SURVEY RESULTS ON PERCEPTIONS OF THE VET SYSTEM IN 27 EU COUNTRIES PROVIDE AN IMPORTANT REFERENCE FRAMEWORK FOR FURTHER EXPLORATION OF THE VET POPULATION IN THE 7EU COUNTRIES As expected, when looking at how the countries included in the 7EU-VET survey are positioned on the EU-27 scale (Eurobarometer Survey and Eurostat LFS), we encounter large differences among them – particularly in relation to the key national-level findings identified in this book. Austria The Austrian VET system is characterised by the highest enrolment ratio in comparison to general edu- cation, the highest reputation of the system and highly perceived quality learning and teachers’ compe- tencies among the 27 EU countries. As expected, most people in Austria believe (79 percent, the EU-27 average is 55 percent) that vocational training leads to jobs that are well paid and also the ratio of those considering that the VET system equips pupils with skills that are needed by employers is among the highest. 93 6. Conclusions and Implications for the Development of VET Policies However, when looking at the share of people who believe that completing vocational education and training makes someone more likely to find a job in comparison to general or higher education, the percentage of Austrians (49 percent) is lower than the EU-27 average (55 percent) and this also applies to the share of those believing that VET enables people to continue with university studies afterwards. Among the surveyed countries, Austrian VET students have the highest share of lowly educated par- ents, but with a high socio-economic background and a full-time job. Here the VET population, more than in the other surveyed countries, comes from the countryside. The main VET structures the 7EU-VET survey in Austria examined were VET Colleges (Berufsbildende Höhere Schulen), VET Schools (Berufsbildende Mittlere Schulen) and Dual appren- ticeships (Duale Ausbildung). Germany Germany comes close to the EU-27 average proportions of students enrolled in vocational programmes and general programmes. Similar to Austria, in Germany the proportion of VET students with lowly educated parents is the largest, but at the same time they have an above-average socio-economic back- ground and parents with a full-time job. The reputation of the VET system in Germany is among the highest in the EU-27, and so is the percep- tion of high-quality learning in the VET system which has similarities with Austria but, unlike Austria, the belief that vocational training leads to jobs that are well-paid and also the permeability to tertiary education is around the EU-27 average. Moreover, the perception that VET students acquire skills needed by employers ranks lower than in Austria. The belief that completing vocational education and training makes a person more likely to find a job position is below the EU-27 average in Germany which also has the highest percentage of the population aged 18 to 24 with at most a lower-secondary education without further education or training. The main VET structures in the 7EU-VET survey in Austria were upper secondary schools with a voca- tional bias (Fachgymnasien or Berufliche Gymnasien), full-time vocational schools (Berufsfachschulen) and part-time vocational schools (Berufsschulen). Greece In Greece the proportion of students enrolled in vocational programmes at the upper secondary level of education in comparison to general education is (30.7 percent) significantly lower than the EU-27 aver- age (50 percent). Among the 7EU-VET countries, Greece has the highest share of male students (64 percent), and the share of those enrolled in less demanding programmes (Epangelmatiki scholi, EPAS) is, unlike most of the 7EU-VET countries, higher than in more demanding programmes (Epangelmatiko lykeio, EPAL). In the 7EU-VET survey we found indications that programmes here are more related to industry than services compared with the other countries. The reputation of VET programmes is above-average in Greece (75 percent) and is comparable with Ireland (76 percent) or Denmark (74 percent); however, there is less agreement that VET programmes 94 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries deliver high-quality learning in Greece than in the other countries. Surprisingly, also above the EU-27 average is the share of Greek people who believe the vocational training leads to jobs that are well-paid, while matching the EU-27 average are the perceptions that: (a) VET students acquire skills needed by employers; (b) completing VET makes a person more likely to find a job than someone who has com- pleted general secondary or almost completed higher education and (c) VET enables people to continue with university studies afterwards. The employment status of Greek VET students’ parents ranks the country among the least prosperous: around 20 percent of the students’ fathers have part-time or temporary employment and one out of four mothers are unemployed: only 37 percent of them have a full-time job. Latvia Latvia falls into the group of countries with the smallest enrolment proportion (36%) of VET students in comparison to general education (the EU-27 average is 49.9% versus 50.1%). The reputation of the VET system is 10 percentage points below the EU-27 average: also lower than the average is the per- ception that the VET system delivers high-quality learning and that completing vocational education and training makes a person more likely to find a job than someone who has completed general second- ary or higher education. The share of respondents who believe that vocational training leads to jobs that are well-paid and delivers skills needed by employers matches the EU-27 average. Latvia is one of the countries with the highest proportion of people agreeing that VET enables people to continue with university studies afterwards and can in this regard be compared to Estonia, Bulgaria or Cyprus. The VET structures considered in the 7EU-VET survey were three types of vocational schools: arodvidusskola, arodskoarodskola (vocational school) and professionala vidusskola (vocational upper secondary school). Lithuania With six different types of VET schools22, along with Hungary and Cyprus Lithuania falls into the group of countries with the lowest VET enrolment rates (27.7%) in the EU-27. According to the 7EU-VET data, the system is characterised by a male population which is oriented more towards industry than services. The reputation of VET programmes, and the belief that VET education delivers high- quality learning and equips students with skills needed by employers are lower in Lithuania than in the other EU-27 countries (64%). While the share of respondents in the EU-27 believing that completing VET makes a person more likely to find a job than someone who has completed general education is around 56%, the results for Lithua- nia are well below-average (31%) and only comparable with Ireland (30%). As expected, the share of people believing VET leads to jobs that are well-paid is also below the EU-27 average. However, based 22 Aukštesniojo ir aukštojo išsilavinimo nesuteikiantis povidurinis mokymas; Pirminio profesinio mokymo programos, skirtos asmenims, turintiems vidurinį išsilavinimą; Pirminio profesinio mokymo programos, turintiems pagrindinį išsilavinimą; Pirminio profesinio mokymo programos, turintiems pagrindinį išsilavinimą, ir suteikiančios galimybę įgyti vidurinį išsilavinimą; Pirminio profesinio mokymo programos, neturintiems pagrindinio išsilavinimo and Pirminio profesinio mokymo programos, neturintiems pagrindinio išsilavinimo, bet suteikiančios galimybę jį įgyti. 95 6. Conclusions and Implications for the Development of VET Policies on the 7EU VET survey the proportion of those who believe that VET enables people to continue with university studies afterwards is above the EU-27 average in Lithuania. In Lithuania, the share of parents with a high level of education is larger than in other countries. How- ever, the 7EU VET survey results show this country is characterised by a surprisingly high share of unemployed fathers (19%). Similar to some other countries, around 20% of the students’ fathers have part-time or temporary employment with a significant share of unemployed mothers (20%). Slovenia Even though enrolment figures for the VET system are decreasing in Slovenia, the proportion between VET education and general education is still above the EU-27 average, indicating that more young people are enrolling in the VET system or vocationally-oriented general education. A significantly higher proportion (2:1) is enrolled in four-year Technical Upper Secondary Education and Training (Srednje poklicno-tehniško izobraževanje) than three-year Vocational Upper Secondary Education and Training (Srednje poklicno izobraževanje). From the international comparative perspective, the Slove- nian VET system is characterised by the lowest reputation among all EU-27 countries: in this country only every second person believes VET has a negative image (the average is 71%). As expected, also low is the share of people who believe that VET provides high-quality learning (64%), compared to the EU-27 average (75%). Slovenia is the exception when we consider the belief that vocational training leads to jobs that are well- paid with only 36% of people agreeing and 60% (the most in the EU-27) of people disagreeing with that statement. A similar rank is also attained for the belief that VET provides students with skills that are needed by employers. Therefore, there is a surprising above-average share of people (60%) believing that completing vocational education and training makes a person more likely to find a job than some- one who has completed general secondary or higher education. The level of agreement in Slovenia (65%) about VET enabling people to continue with university studies afterwards is below the EU-27 average. The UK (England) The VET system in the UK is very oriented to the labour market; however, there are large differences among the four programme types considered in the 7EU VET survey: “Level 3 programmes”, two-year programmes give access to HE, a professional chef diploma and Level 1 or 2 programmes (English QCF). The UK is among the countries that experience one of the lowest proportions (32.1%) of VET enrolments (with more than 89% coming from cities, which is the highest share among the 7EU VET countries). The reputation of VET programmes in the UK is close to the EU-27 average and so is the belief that the system offers high-quality learning, whereas “VET students acquire skills needed by employers” and “VET leads to jobs which are well-paid” were marked by a large number of people answering "I do not know". Also at the average EU-27 level is the perception that completing vocational education and 96 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries training makes a person more likely to find a job. Less than three out of four people believe that VET enables people to continue with university studies afterwards. As can be seen from the data presented above, there are significant differences across the VET systems in terms of how they prepare their students for their careers. In the following sections we look more closely at the cross-country differences and similarities. ii) TRANSITION FROM EARLIER EDUCATION TO VET: THE KEY FACTORS AFFECTING THE TRANSITION TO VET ARE THE SAME IN ALL OF THE SURVEYED COUNTRIES – THEY ARE ALL ARE CLOSELY LINKED TO THE PERCEIVED BELIEF OF CAREER DEVELOPMENT From the viewpoint of VET students, three key factors affect the transition to VET from earlier educa- tion. These are: (a) an appealing occupational programme; (b) good job prospects; and (c) established bases for further education. The least important factors are the support and advice of former teachers, and low grades. In the survey we found some evidence that the higher socio-economic status of a stu- dent’s family positively affects occupational choice based on own interest. In Austria and Germany, students with lower grades are more likely to believe they were influenced by a friend’s programme, while the importance of peers in Latvia and Greece is influenced by socio-economic status. Parents’ education did not account for any difference with regard to perceived decision-making factors. When making a decision on the transition to VET, the most important information source for learners in all the countries was parents and family members. Also highly assessed in all countries was online in- formation, while in Austria, Latvia and Slovenia informative days were also highly assessed. Teachers were considered an important information source only in the UK, while information sources were not perceived to be important in any of the studied countries. These results indicate there is a need to increase the centrality of objective information sources related to enrolment in VET, which includes training teachers in this direction and presenting the possible effects of considering other information sources. Career guidance activities have significant room for improvement in most of the countries. Across the countries VET students consider surprisingly limited options regarding the choice of a further occupational path The majority of VET students, in general three out of four, did not consider any alternative in their decision related to enrolling in a VET programme. In the survey we found some evidence that parents' education affects the breadth of choice but there are large differences among the countries: in Slovenia a lower level of parents’ education has a positive effect of a wider choice which means VET students are freer in their decisions, while the situation in Lithuania is the reverse. In some countries, VET students with a lower socio-economic status considered fewer alternatives when selecting their education. In most countries and on the EU level, there is a need to assess the appropriateness of presenting a broad-er range of different programme options while paying particular attention to students with a weaker social background. We can say that in the transition into VET pupils should be alert to alternative options, particularly in the event they have a dream vocational path. 97 6. Conclusions and Implications for the Development of VET Policies iii) ACQUIRED COMPETENCIES: VET STUDENTS GENERALLY PERCEIVED TEAM WORK AND THE ABILITY TO FAMILIARISE THEMSELVES WITH NEW TASKS RELATED TO OCCUPATIONS AS THE MOST DEVELOPED COMPETENCIES OF VET LEARNERS Our results reveal large differences across the countries in the way learners assess their own level of acquired competencies. The development of generic competencies was relatively strong in Germany, Austria and the UK. One of the least developed competencies is the ability to perform well under pres- sure. Across all the countries, girls were more likely than boys to report a high level of generic competencies, in particular: being able to manage occupational tasks independently, being able to work as a team member, being able to quickly familiarise myself with new tasks related to job occupations, and being able to communicate ideas and suggestions to others clearly. In addition, learners following pro- grammes related to services were generally more likely to report good generic competencies of the following kind: managing occupational tasks independently. In general, across the countries the socio- economic status of the students’ families does not seem to be associated with their reported capability in terms of generic competencies. The most important determinant of the ability to conduct independent work is school success and professional motives In most countries, learners with better grades and those who in the longer term are driven by inspiration to acquire solid occupation professional skills will, according to the data of our survey, be able to work more independently. The opportunity to learn new things impacts the ability for responsible work only in Germany and Greece. One can speculate that the perception of VET students of performing vocation- al tasks is related to the learning environment in schools only to a limited extent. As expected, across the countries students with higher grades were more likely to report they had good generic competencies than those with lower grades However, there are some interesting differences among the countries. In Austria, students with higher grades have, according to the self-assessment approach, better developed all of the surveyed competen- cies (managing occupational tasks independently, team work, learning competencies, performing under pressure), except communication skills. In Germany, differences among learners with good and bad grades were only found between managing occupational tasks independently and working under pressu- re. With minor variations, in Greece, Latvia and Lithuania differences were only found between inde- pendent occupational performance, learning abilities and communication. In Slovenia, differences were found in all the surveyed competencies except communication skills, while in the UK a relationship between school success and acquired competencies was found in the case of all learning competencies. Surveying the relationship between school success and acquired competencies raises one of the most important issues of the development of VET systems. The countries should establish a clear under- standing of which competencies are reflected in assessment procedures and which are not. However, 98 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries the relationship considered could also be reversed, assuming that generic competencies help to explain the success of learners because they are competencies that are employed in learning as well as in work. iv) FUTURE CAREER ASPIRATIONS: PERSONAL MOTIVES ARE MORE IMPORTANT FOR VET LEARNERS IN THEIR FUTURE CAREERS THAN SALARY, JOB SECURITY OR REPUTATION The employment sectors where learners most aspired to work are services. Industry, trade and other sectors attracted less interest with some noticeable difference across the countries. The most important driver of a professional career for VET students is finding a job that makes them happy and having a good relationship with one’s colleagues. In Austria and Germany another particular motive was job security, and in Slovenia “having enough spare time to do other things in life”. In the UK, learning opportunities and a high income were seen as particularly important. VET systems should make learners aware of employment and employability possibilities. For some VET learners the next step in their career is to enrol in further education Despite the large differences in the VET systems’ permeability paths, the share of learners who said they were likely to continue in school or further education were not as large as one might assume: the results ranged from 49% in Germany to 35% in Lithuania. Females (by more than 10%) were more likely to expect to continue in all countries except Germany, where the situation is reversed. The most strongly supported statements across the seven countries were related to the enhancement of career options, attaining a good education or qualification and possibility earning a higher income. Learners with an above-average socio-economic background, those who are on services-related paths and those with better grades were more likely to plan the continuation of their education. The relationship be- tween parents’ education and plans for continuing learning were, surprisingly, only found in some coun- tries. v) TOWARDS THE POLICY DEVELOPMENT IN VET Even though we should stress the need for highly diversified policy recommendations and national adaptations, we can arrive at some universal conclusions by stating there is a need to gain a deeper un- derstanding of the link between curricular processes and acquired competencies. At present, modernisa- tion of the VET system is understood in many countries as programme modularisation and implementa- tion of the learning outcome approach. In many cases this is accompanied by the question of whether systems are based on the proper number of programmes, and on what bases specialisations depend. The question of VET’s fusion with general education and permeability between VET schools and higher education is particularly sensitive. In relation to this, there is a lot of discussion in the EU about how VET can raise its status and reputation, which in many countries is based on one side on the problem of the falling enrolments in VET institutions and at the same time on the increasing need for ready-made skills. These concerns are partially reflected in the Europe 2020 Strategy by interrelated flagship initiatives such as Youth on the Move (improvements in education and job mobility), the Agenda for new skills 99 6. Conclusions and Implications for the Development of VET Policies and jobs (improvements in educational and job matching) and the Digital agenda for Europe (improve- ments in accessibility and usability of ICT skills). These directions are also related to expected im- provements in the quality and efficiency of education and training and the promotion of equity, social cohesion and active citizenship, reducing drop outs and, generally speaking, improvements in the quali- ty, attractiveness and accessibility of learning opportunities. The 7EU-VET project analysed these goals in particular through the policy framework of the Copenha- gen Process and Bruges Communiqué (2010). These documents anticipate that future developments in VET will be particularly related by enhancing its attractiveness, quality and performance, transparency, established information and guidance systems, recognition of competencies and qualifications. Building on this, this book has explored VET systems from the perspective of VET learners and their reflections on primary education, higher education and the labour market. 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Knowledge Directions 1 (2): 48-63. 103 Index INDEX A - C grades 14, 16, 19, 34, 41, 43, 54, 64-68, 85, 87, 89, 92, 97-99 Austria 17, 19-20, 23-25, 27-32, 35, 38-41, 43- high grades ................... 43, 65-66, 85, 87, 92 44, 46-50, 53-54, 58, 60-63, 65-68, 71-72, low grades .............. 43, 64-66, 85, 87, 92, 97 74, 76, 78-83, 85-94, 97-99 Greece 17, 19-20, 24-25, 27-33, 35, 38-41, 43- career 8, 10-13, 16-17, 34, 40, 44-47, 54, 86- 44, 46-50, 52-55, 58, 60-63, 65-66, 71, 74, 89, 99 76, 78-83, 85-94, 97-98 career aspirations ................................... 8, 17 income ............. 11, 32, 78-80, 86-89, 91-92, 99 future career............................. 18, 34, 69, 78 industry sector .......................................... 29-30 professional career ................... 18, 69, 78, 99 information sources 18, 35, 44, 46-47, 49-51, CEDEFOP ................................ 8, 10, 60, 69-72 53-55, 97 competencies 8, 10, 16-18, 34, 56, 60, 62-68, international exchange programme ............... 18 93, 98-100 generic competencies 8, 16-17, 34, 60-64, J - L 66-68, 98-99 key competencies ........................................ 9 job prospect .................................. 40-43, 54, 97 country comparison ................................... 9, 27 knowledge ................... 12-13, 15-16, 56, 60, 93 country of origin ...................................... 18, 27 Latvia 17, 19-20, 23-25, 27-29, 32-33, 35, 38- 41, 43-44, 46, 48-50, 53-54, 58, 60-63, 65- D - F 67, 71-72, 74, 76, 78-82, 85-89, 91- 93, 95, 97-98 decision making 10-13, 18, 35, 38, 40-41, 43- lifelong learning ................................. 16, 20-21 44, 51-52, 54-55, 97 Lithuania 17, 19-20, 23-25, 27-30, 32-33, 35, drivers .......................... 17, 69, 78-80, 83, 86-89 38-41, 44, 46-50, 52-55, 58, 60-63, 65-68, education 8-12, 16-20, 22-27, 30, 33-35, 37- 71-72, 74, 76, 78-83, 85-93, 95-99 41, 43-44, 51, 53-56, 59, 64, 67, 69-77, 81- 83, 85- 97, 99-100, see also "schooling" and M - O "studying" continuing education76, 83, 85-86, 88-89, 92 motivation ........................ 10, 13-14, 34, 68, 87 further education 17-18, 26-27, 34, 41-43, occupation ................... 11-12, 41-43, 65, 68, 98 54, 67, 69, 76, 83-92, 94, 97, 99 employer .................................................. 40, 57 P - R employment 8-10, 13, 17-18, 32-33, 38-39, 44- 45, 50, 53-54, 60, 69-70, 76, 81-83, 85, 87, parents education ........................................... 18 90-92, 95-96, 99 permeability paths ........ 9, 18, 83, 89, 92-93, 99 employment sector ............. 18, 69, 81-82, 99 place of living .............................. 18, 27, 40, 53 Eurobarometer 35-40, 44-45, 54, 57-60, 73-77, policies .......................................................... 18 93 policy ................................... 8-9, 16-18, 99-100 European countries ............................ 38, 71, 76 qualification ..... 8-10, 42, 76, 86-89, 93, 99-100 gender 10-11, 18, 22-23, 27-30, 34, 62, 64, 79- 80, 82, 84, 88, 92 S - U G - I schooling ..................... 31, 74, 76, 84-85, 90-92 continuing schooling ... 74, 84-85, 89-92, 117 Germany 17, 19-20, 23-25, 27-32, 35, 38-44, service sector ..................... 29, 49-50, 64, 71-72 46-50, 52-55, 58, 60-63, 65-72, 74, 76, 78- skill ......................................................... 8-9, 93 83, 85-94, 97-99 104 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries Slovenia 17, 19-20, 23-5, 27-29, 31-32, 35, professional success ............................ 10, 16 38-41, 44, 46-49, 53-55, 58, 60-63, 65-68, school success 8, 10, 16-18, 34, 43, 56, 64- 71-72, 74, 76, 78-83, 85-92, 93, 96-99 68, 85, 89, 91-92, 98 social partners .................................................. 9 team work ........................ 34, 60, 62, 64, 67, 98 socio-demographic characteristics 8-9, 11, 17- transition .............. 10, 13, 18, 33, 35, 56, 69, 97 18, 52, 91-92 united kingdom 17, 19-20, 23-25, 27-32, 35, socio-economic status 18, 30-31, 33-34, 41-43, 38-41, 44, 46-50, 52-55, 58, 60-63, 65-68, 53-54, 63-64, 80, 85, 91, 97, 98 71-72, 74, 76, 78-83, 85-93, 96-99 study programme 8-9, 17-18, 27-30, 34, 38, 40-43, 46-54, 62-66, 68, 81, 84-93, 96-97, V - Z 99 programme sector orientation .............. 18, 28 vocational education and training 8-9, 12-13, programme types ....... 9, 53, 89-90, 92-93, 96 16, 18, 23-26, 33, 35-39, 45-46, 51, 54, 57, studying ............................ 10, 15, 67, 86, 88-89 59-60, 67, 70-71, 73-77, 83, 86, 92-97 success ....... 10-13, 16, 34, 43, 64, 66-68, 87, 98 work experience ............................. 9, 11-13, 55 105 Appendix APPENDIX Appendix 1: Descriptors for less and more demanding programmes for each country Country/Category Less demanding programmes More demanding programmes Austria Dual apprenticeships, VET schools VET colleges (5-year) Full-time vocational schools (Berufsfachschulen), upper second- Part-time vocational schools Germany ary school with vocational bias (Berufsschulen) (Fachgymnasien or Berufliche Gym- nasien) Greece Vocational schools (EPAS) Vocational lyceums (EPAL) Higher theoretical preparedness and Theoretical and practical training in professional skill accrued in voca- Latvia vocational school (Arodskola) tional secondary school (Arovid usskola) Pirminio profesinio mokymo pro- gramos, neturintiems pagrindinio išsilavinimo; Pirminio profesinio mokymo pro- gramos, neturintiems pagrindinio išsilavinimo, bet suteikiančios gali- Aukštesniojo ir aukštojo išsilavinimo mybę jį įgyti; nesuteikiantis povidurinis mokymas; Lithuania Pirminio profesinio mokymo pro- Pirminio profesinio mokymo pro- gramos, turintiems pagrindinį išsilav- gramos, skirtos asmenims, turintiems inimą; vidurinį išsilavinimą Pirminio profesinio mokymo pro- gramos, turintiems pagrindinį išsilav- inimą, ir suteikiančios galimybę įgyti vidurinį išsilavinimą Secondary vocational education (3- Secondary technical education (4- Slovenia year) year) Level 1 or 2 programmes, profes- 2-year programmes give acces to UK sional chefs diploma HE, level 3 programmes Source: 7EU VET Project: http; see http://www.7eu-vet.org/ 106 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries ENDNOTES i Table: Students’ place of birth, by country in percentage. Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia UK (England) In own country 96 96 84 99 98 96 95 In other country 4 4 16 1 2 4 5 Question: G3a Where were you born? ii Table: Percentage of students enrolled in industry and service sector programmes, by country. Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia UK (England) Industry 42 31 56 34 56 42 5 Service 58 69 44 66 44 58 95 Question: B2a What is the title of the programme you are enrolled on? iii Table: Percentages of at least one of parents born in other country, by country and socio-economic status. Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia UK (England) Parents in country Below average 15 13 39 28 27 18 8 Average 56 57 53 58 61 60 75 Above average 29 30 7 14 11 22 17 Parents other country Below average 13 22 44 33 29 30 10 Average 68 61 49 52 52 52 63 Above average 19 16 7 15 19 18 27 Question: G14. Which of the description below comes closest to how you feel about your family's income? 107 Endnotes iv Table: Parents’ employment status by country in percentage. Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia UK (England) Below average (Father employment) Full-time 83 79 66 66 51 77 78 Part-time/temporarily 7 12 28 24 27 11 14 Not employed 10 9 7 9 22 11 9 Below average (Mother employment) Full-time 45 42 34 62 43 74 59 Part-time/temporarily 35 42 43 20 26 12 25 Not employed 20 15 23 18 31 14 16 Average (Father employment) Full-time 90 88 72 73 60 80 75 Part-time/temporarily 6 6 17 18 23 8 10 Not employed 4 6 11 8 17 12 15 Average (Mother employment) Full-time 48 40 39 70 52 72 48 Part-time/temporarily 36 43 31 15 23 11 24 Not employed 16 17 29 15 25 18 28 Above average (Father employment) Full-time 90 91 80 83 68 84 87 Part-time/temporarily 3 5 12 8 20 10 4 Not employed 7 4 8 9 11 6 9 Above average (Mother employment) Full-time 51 37 51 76 61 84 58 Part-time/temporarily 35 48 20 9 25 6 25 Not employed 14 15 29 15 14 10 16 Question: G9 What is the employment status of your parents? 108 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries v Table: Parents’ employment status, by country and parents’ education Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia High education parents (Father employment) Full-time 88 90 78 78 64 78 Part-time/temporarily 8 6 16 17 23 12 Not employed 4 4 6 5 12 10 High education parents (Mother employment) Full-time 56 40 44 73 59 79 Part-time/temporarily 34 47 38 18 23 12 Not employed 10 13 18 9 18 9 Low education parents (Father employment) Full-time 89 88 63 69 53 80 Part-time/temporarily 5 7 26 20 23 9 Not employed 6 5 11 11 24 12 Low education parents (Mother employment) Full-time 46 41 34 63 44 72 Part-time/temporarily 37 44 36 17 24 11 Not employed 17 15 30 20 32 17 Question: G8 What is the 'highest level of schooling' completed by your father / mother? 109 Endnotes vi Table: Factors affecting students’ decision making about the programme, by countries and socio- ecnomic status in percentage. Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia UK (England) Below average SES The programme offered good job prospects 77 55 36 52 30 44 66 My previous examination grades prevented me being able to enrol on more preferable pro- 4 8 9 13 10 10 14 grammes My parents suggested I enrol on this programme 13 11 12 19 12 7 22 The occupation(s) related to the programme appealed to me 71 70 30 36 43 54 63 The programme provides a good foundation for further qualifications / education 82 77 47 52 47 50 66 My friends have chosen to undertake the same programme 22 17 28 26 16 10 18 The reputation of the programme was attractive to me 46 39 27 31 27 28 57 Former teachers encouraged me to enrol on this programme 9 13 13 6 6 6 29 This programme was the most appropriate within a reasonable distance from my home 43 36 16 40 20 18 54 Average SES The programme offered good job prospects 81 63 30 52 35 46 73 My previous examination grades prevented me being able to enrol on more preferable pro- 3 8 7 10 9 6 13 grammes My parents suggested I enrol on this programme 13 13 11 20 15 11 14 The occupation(s) related to the programme appealed to me 71 73 30 39 48 59 75 The programme provides a good foundation for further qualifications / education 85 79 52 57 54 55 74 My friends have chosen to undertake the same programme 20 16 27 18 18 9 13 The reputation of the programme was attractive to me 50 43 28 33 30 23 60 Former teachers encouraged me to enrol on this programme 6 14 13 6 6 5 17 This programme was the most appropriate within a reasonable distance from my home 36 36 15 35 19 21 54 Above average SES The programme offered good job prospects 80 67 34 53 40 44 71 My previous examination grades prevented me being able to enrol on more preferable pro- 2 6 6 7 9 5 12 grammes My parents suggested I enrol on this programme 17 11 11 15 16 9 15 The occupation(s) related to the programme appealed to me 69 75 39 38 35 59 80 The programme provides a good foundation for further qualifications / education 84 84 52 57 62 58 72 My friends have chosen to undertake the same programme 18 17 12 17 15 9 12 The reputation of the programme was attractive to me 45 38 21 31 29 21 67 Former teachers encouraged me to enrol on this programme 9 14 12 5 6 3 20 This programme was the most appropriate within a reasonable distance from my home 36 34 15 38 14 15 48 Question: A4 How important were the following aspects to you when you were choosing your current programme? Presented answers 4 and 5 on a scale from 1="Not at all" to 5="Very" 110 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries vii Table: Factors affecting students’ decision making about the programme, by countries and school success in percentage. Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia UK (England) Low grades The programme offered good job prospects 76 62 29 54 31 44 63 My previous examination grades prevented me being able to enrol on more preferable pro- 3 9 9 11 10 8 13 grammes My parents suggested I enrol on this programme 17 13 11 20 13 11 15 The occupation(s) related to the programme appealed to me 67 68 30 38 43 55 66 The programme provides a good foundation for further qualifications / education 83 77 44 55 49 54 66 My friends have chosen to undertake the same programme 26 19 28 21 16 9 15 The reputation of the programme was attractive to me 49 41 28 30 27 24 57 Former teachers encouraged me to enrol on this programme 8 12 11 6 5 5 18 This programme was the most appropriate within a reasonable distance from my home 37 37 14 36 18 20 49 High grades The programme offered good job prospects 80 70 39 55 38 47 77 My previous examination grades prevented me being able to enrol on more preferable pro- 3 4 6 6 6 6 13 grammes My parents suggested I enrol on this programme 11 10 14 13 15 10 14 The occupation(s) related to the programme appealed to me 74 77 38 49 45 60 78 The programme provides a good foundation for further qualifications / education 85 80 56 63 54 59 74 My friends have chosen to undertake the same programme 18 13 25 19 15 9 12 The reputation of the programme was attractive to me 48 39 27 48 31 25 61 Former teachers encouraged me to enrol on this programme 7 13 17 9 5 5 20 This programme was the most appropriate within a reasonable distance from my home 35 36 16 31 17 17 54 Question: A4 How important were the following aspects to you when you were choosing your current programme? Presented answers 4 and 5 on a scale from 1="Not at all" to 5="Very" viii Table: Importance of 'My friends have chosen to undertake the same programme', by country and school success in percentage. Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia UK (England) Low grades 26 19 28 21 16 9 15 High grades 18 13 25 19 15 9 12 Question: A4_6 How important were the following aspects to you when you were choosing your current programme? My friends have chosen to undertake the same programme. Presented answers 4 and 5 on a scale from 1="Not at all" to 5="Very" 111 Endnotes Table: Importance of 'My friends have chosen to undertake the same programme', by country and soci- oeconomic status in percentage. Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia UK (England) Below average 22 17 28 26 16 10 18 Average 20 16 27 18 18 9 13 Above average 18 17 12 17 15 9 12 Question: A4_6 How important were the following aspects to you when you were choosing your current programme? My friends have chosen to undertake the same programme. Presented answers 4 and 5 on a scale from 1="Not at all" to 5="Very" ix Table: Factors affecting students’ decision making about the programme, by countries and parents' education in percentage. Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia High education parents The programme offered good job prospects 80 63 27 51 35 44 My previous examination grades prevented me being able to enrol on more preferable pro- 1 6 9 12 9 6 grammes My parents suggested I enrol on this programme 13 17 14 19 17 12 The occupation(s) related to the programme appealed to me 67 67 27 43 46 55 The programme provides a good foundation for further qualifications / education 83 80 45 57 56 55 My friends have chosen to undertake the same programme 23 18 29 21 18 13 The reputation of the programme was attractive to me 44 35 24 33 31 22 Former teachers encouraged me to enrol on this programme 8 13 12 6 6 3 This programme was the most appropriate within a reasonable distance from my home 33 32 17 34 18 21 Low education parents The programme offered good job prospects 81 66 33 54 34 45 My previous examination grades prevented me being able to enrol on more preferable pro- 3 7 7 11 8 7 grammes My parents suggested I enrol on this programme 13 10 11 22 11 11 The occupation(s) related to the programme appealed to me 73 75 34 38 44 57 The programme provides a good foundation for further qualifications / education 86 80 50 56 49 56 My friends have chosen to undertake the same programme 19 17 26 21 16 8 The reputation of the programme was attractive to me 49 44 29 33 28 23 Former teachers encouraged me to enrol on this programme 7 12 11 7 4 6 This programme was the most appropriate within a reasonable distance from my home 37 38 14 39 17 18 Question: A4 How important were the following aspects to you when you were choosing your current programme? Presented answers 4 and 5 on a scale from 1="Not at all" to 5="Very" 112 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries x Table: Information sources students used when deciding for programme by country and type of pro- gramme in percentage. Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia UK (England) Less demanding Teachers 7 7 17 17 6 8 21 Parents or family members 42 41 22 30 18 24 27 Friends or classmates 17 14 21 22 12 9 28 Job centre 10 17 8 10 4 9 5 Informative days / fair / open days at school 24 21 8 33 12 33 11 Online information and/or other public media (e.g. newspapers) 26 43 16 26 24 15 14 An aptitude test offered by an educational establishment 13 5 5 20 7 12 15 A previous internship or work placement (not asked in Slo) 40 60 16 13 6 NA 12 School counsellors or career advisors (not asked in Aus and Ger) NA NA 17 16 7 17 21 More demanding Teachers 9 17 18 12 5 7 41 Parents or family members 38 39 23 29 19 21 32 Friends or classmates 24 25 22 20 10 14 20 Job centre 2 12 9 8 3 6 4 Informative days / fair / open days at school 65 31 9 26 8 41 28 Online information and/or other public media (e.g. newspapers) 29 34 16 27 20 23 27 An aptitude test offered by an educational establishment 15 6 11 15 9 10 13 A previous internship or work placement (not asked in Slo) 3 33 19 12 5 NA 13 School counsellors or career advisors (not asked in Aus and Ger) NA NA 19 9 5 13 20 Question: A5 How important were the following information sources when you were choosing your current programme? Presented answers 4 and 5 on a scale from 1="Not at all" to 5="Very" 113 Endnotes xi Table: Percentage of VET students who acquired certain competence to a large extent, by country and parents’ education – no data for UK Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia Students with high education parents Being able to manage occupational tasks independently 79 80 42 51 54 56 Being able to work as a team member 84 86 50 63 66 73 Being able to quickly familiarise myself with new tasks related to job occupations 76 78 51 59 61 62 Being able to perform well under pressure 73 68 47 44 52 48 Being able to communicate ideas and suggesti- ons to others clearly 72 67 52 57 59 63 Being able to approach and engage with others with confidence (e.g. networking) 76 70 56 61 64 67 Students low education parents Being able to manage occupational tasks independently 80 84 48 51 53 56 Being able to work as a team member 88 90 55 65 67 71 Being able to quickly familiarise myself with new tasks related to job occupations 77 78 58 55 60 61 Being able to perform well under pressure 71 71 47 38 43 44 Being able to communicate ideas and suggesti- ons to others clearly 70 64 55 51 47 52 Being able to approach and engage with others with confidence (e.g. networking) 73 73 57 58 57 56 Question: E1a The following question asks for your perception of certain skills and abilities which are listed below. Please assess your current level of these abilities. Presented answers 4 and 5 on a scale from 1="Poor" to 5="Excellent" 114 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries xii Table: Percentage of VET students who acquired certain competence, by country and socio-economic status. Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia UK (England) Below average Being able to manage occupational tasks independently 78 80 45 45 48 58 73 Being able to work as a team member 89 82 45 59 65 73 77 Being able to quickly familiarise myself with new tasks related to job occupations 71 72 51 51 56 63 70 Being able to perform well under pressure 69 68 45 38 47 42 55 Being able to communicate ideas und suggesti- ons to others clearly 65 56 52 47 50 50 66 Being able to approach and engage with others with confidence (e.g. networking) 73 68 53 54 58 60 68 Average Being able to manage occupational tasks independently 78 82 47 51 53 56 76 Being able to work as a team member 88 88 56 64 67 70 86 Being able to quickly familiarize myself with new tasks related to job occupations 76 76 57 58 60 61 77 Being able to perform well under pressure 69 69 45 41 44 44 67 Being able to communicate ideas und suggesti- ons to others clearly 68 61 54 53 52 56 73 Being able to approach and engage with others with confidence (e.g. networking) 73 69 57 59 59 59 74 Above average Being able to manage occupational tasks independently 81 83 43 57 60 60 79 Being able to work as a team member 87 89 56 62 68 75 89 Being able to quickly familiarize myself with new tasks related to job occupations 77 78 69 66 68 68 84 Being able to perform well under pressure 74 70 37 45 55 51 71 Being able to communicate ideas und suggesti- ons to others clearly 72 66 65 56 54 57 74 Being able to approach and engage with others with confidence (e.g. networking) 73 73 59 60 62 59 71 Question: E1a The following question asks for your perception of certain skills and abilities which are listed below. Please assess your current level of these abilities. Presented answers 4 and 5 on a scale from 1="Poor" to 5="Excellent" xiii Table: Percentage of students who believe that their current programme prepared them well for surveyed competences all together, by country and gender. Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia UK (England) Male 63 67 43 37 20 28 61 Female 60 64 56 47 23 30 64 Question: E1b Overall, to what extent does your current programme prepare you to these activities? Presented answers 4 and 5 on a scale from 1="Not at all" to 5="Very" 115 Endnotes xiv Chart: Distribution of medium-level graduates working in detailed manufacturing sectors by educa- tional orientation, 15-34 year-olds, EU-27+, 2009. Mechanical engineering 87,9 12,1 Metals and metal products 87,1 12,9 Wood and paper 85,9 14,1 Motor vehicles and other transport equipment 83,8 16,2 Manufacturing n.e.c. 83,0 17,0 Total manufacturing 82,8 17,2 Electronics and electrical engineering 81,6 18,4 Fuels, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, rubber, plastics, 80,1 19,9 minerals Food, drink and tobacco 79,2 20,8 Textiles, clothing and leather 78,7 21,3 Printing and publishing 73,1 26,9 0 20 40 60 80 100 % of answers VET General orientation Source: CEDEFOP, European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training. 2012. From education to working life. The labour market outcomes of vocational education and training. Pg. 62 116 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries xv Table: Drivers of VET students for professional development, by country and gender in socio- economic stauts Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia UK (England) Below average Obtaining solid occupational proficiencies 59 53 49 57 42 55 75 Receiving a high income 85 80 51 64 56 66 80 Gaining job security 93 90 49 65 63 61 80 Having responsibility at work 73 71 50 63 64 55 75 Having opportunities to learn new things at work 76 77 49 63 67 63 82 Undertaking interesting tasks in the workplace 84 81 44 56 56 69 80 Having a job that makes me happy 91 89 58 69 72 77 86 Having a good relationship with colleagues 90 88 58 64 73 85 88 Advancing to a high level of status in society 57 51 48 56 62 78 78 Having enough spare-time to do other things in life 81 75 37 54 60 82 78 Making and maintaining relationships with others (e.g. family and friends) 77 75 62 68 75 82 78 Average Obtaining solid occupational proficiencies 66 67 50 60 47 56 80 Receiving a high income 85 86 53 68 59 64 88 Gaining job security 94 95 53 70 69 56 86 Having responsibility at work 71 77 48 64 72 55 84 Having opportunities to learn new things at work 80 81 48 65 70 61 87 Undertaking interesting tasks in the workplace 89 85 45 61 58 62 85 Having a job that makes me happy 96 93 57 72 73 76 91 Having a good relationship with colleagues 94 95 60 69 75 80 88 Advancing to a high level of status in society 59 53 49 61 64 71 75 Having enough spare-time to do other things in life 84 79 39 60 60 76 76 Making and maintaining relationships with others (e.g. family and friends) 81 76 63 72 76 80 86 Above average Obtaining solid occupational proficiencies 75 75 68 69 47 61 93 Receiving a high income 79 80 69 67 59 67 86 Gaining job security 87 93 71 70 69 51 89 Having responsibility at work 77 74 60 69 73 55 91 Having opportunities to learn new things at work 83 80 60 70 73 64 94 Undertaking interesting tasks in the workplace 92 87 48 66 59 70 94 Having a job that makes me happy 97 96 70 79 78 77 96 Having a good relationship with colleagues 94 91 74 68 77 82 95 Advancing to a high level of status in society 54 49 47 61 64 73 72 Having enough spare-time to do other things in life 86 74 50 69 66 84 84 Making and maintaining relationships with others (e.g. family and friends) 78 74 74 76 75 85 92 Question: D1 How far do you agree with following statements concerning your professional and life goals? Presented answers 4 and 5 on a scale from 1="Not at all" to 5="Completely" 117 Endnotes xvi Table: Students’ preferences towards working in »services«, by country & gender in percentage. Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia UK (Engalnd) Male Industry (e.g. producing industry, steel, motor, oil) 41 53 30 26 39 31 37 Services (e.g. nursing, policing, hairdressing) 25 25 20 30 21 35 33 Trade (e.g. banking, financing, business) 21 18 23 33 31 28 34 Agriculture, forestry and fishery 16 8 11 18 14 16 4 Public administration (e.g. local government, education) 12 15 8 14 9 13 15 Non-governmental organisation (e.g. charities, not-for-profit organisations) 2 4 4 5 4 6 3 Other 17 18 24 15 11 19 6 Female Industry (e.g. producing industry, steel, motor, oil) 11 17 4 4 14 3 15 Services (e.g. nursing, policing, hairdressing) 45 48 65 60 54 57 50 Trade (e.g. banking, financing, business) 32 21 12 40 33 27 30 Agriculture, forestry and fishery 5 5 3 5 2 2 3 Public administration (e.g. local government, education) 26 24 9 12 18 23 19 Non-governmental organisation (e.g. charities, not-for-profit organisations) 5 5 7 10 7 11 4 Other 18 21 18 15 9 17 6 Question: D5 Which sector would you like to work to the most? xvii Table: Percentage of VET students who consider to continue schooling, by country and type of pro- gramme Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia UK (Engalnd) Less demanding 34 45 38 37 36 35 34 More demanding 50 54 40 40 32 52 54 Question: D6 Do you plan to continue schooling or further education after your programme has ended (for example doing a specialised programme)? Presented answers 4 and 5 on a scale from 1="Definitely not" to 5="Definitely" xviii Table: Percentage of VET students who consider to continue schooling, by country and socio- economic status Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia UK (England) Below average 29 42 32 32 34 39 51 Average 44 46 42 41 38 51 44 Above average 58 59 61 58 47 57 46 Question: D6 Do you plan to continue schooling or further education after your programme has ended (for example doing a specialised programme)? Presented answers 4 and 5 on a scale from 1="Definitely not" to 5="Definitely" 118 Comparative Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in Seven European Countries xix Table: Students’ main drivers for continuing education, by countries and employment/programme sector in percentage Austria Germany Greece Latvia Lithuania Slovenia UK (England) Industry Further education enables me to follow my professional interest 67 62 41 44 50 54 71 Further education enables me to gain a good qualification/education 83 80 41 65 59 67 75 Further education enables me to take on leader- ship role later on in life 70 70 38 61 42 59 71 Further education enables me to earn a high income later in life 83 83 58 71 62 68 82 Further education enables me to become a expert in my field 74 72 61 65 62 69 85 Further education enables me to enhance my career options 78 83 50 68 62 69 80 Further education enables me to postpone starting a full-time work 31 27 33 42 33 42 40 Further education enables me to experience a pupil exchange programme 18 17 23 34 30 29 42 Further education enables me to fulfil my parents expectations 27 29 32 45 37 39 56 Service Further education enables me to follow my professional interest 72 62 42 54 50 52 80 Further education enables me to gain a good qualification/education 85 85 47 73 64 63 85 Further education enables me to take on leader- ship role later on in life 70 69 40 65 44 53 68 Further education enables me to earn a high income later in life 80 78 53 69 61 61 85 Further education enables me to become a expert in my field 69 67 58 69 64 63 82 Further education enables me to enhance my career options 83 78 54 77 65 71 82 Further education enables me to postpone starting a full-time work 30 26 33 44 31 35 46 Further education enables me to experience a pupil exchange programme 29 20 19 42 33 30 44 Further education enables me to fulfil my parents expectations 26 28 22 35 32 37 45 Question: D8 This is about your opinion regarding further education (e.g. advanced training or studying). How far do you agree with the statements below about undertaking further education (or participate in further training)? Presented answers 4 and 5 on a scale from 1="Not at all" to 5="Completely" 119 Document Outline TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES LIST OF CHARTS 1 INTRODUCTION 1.2 Background 1.3 Theoretical and conceptual framework 1.4 Purpose, goals and structure of the book 1.5 Short methodological overview 2 SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF VET LEARNERS IN THE 7EU COUNTRIES 2.2 Place of living and country of origin 2.3 Gender and programme sector orientation 2.4 Parents’ education and socio-economic status 2.5 Conclusions and starting points 3 THE TRANSITION FROM EARLIER EDUCATION TO VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING 3.1 Perceived status of Vocational Education and Training in the EU-27 countries 3.2 Which factors affected the decision making of learners with respect to VET programmes? 3.3 How do learners judge the importance of different information sources in relation to choosing their VET programmes? 3.4 Choosing a VET programme – how wide is the choice, and why? 3.5 Conclusions 4 ACQUIRED COMPETENCIES 4.1 Relationship between school success and other acquired competencies 4.2 Relationship between school success and other acquired competencies 4.3 Conclusions 5 FUTURE CAREER ASPIRATIONS AND FURTHER EDUCATION 5.1 The context 5.2 What drives VET students towards their professional career? 5.3 Which employment sectors do learners aspire to work in? 5.4 Further education 5.5 Conclusions 6 CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF VET POLICIES REFERENCES INDEX APPENDIX Appendix 1: Descriptors for less and more demanding programmes for each country ENDNOTES