Dropping out from apprenticeship training as an opportunity for change

In recent years, the VET systems in Germany and Switzerland have been characterised by a shortage of training places which has created a fierce competition for those places among candidates. Nowadays, in Switzerland, almost one out of three school-leaving VET applicants has to wait at least 1 year until he or she secures a suitable place of apprenticeship. Furthermore, the dropout rate in apprenticeships is quite high and challenges educational policy. About one in five apprenticeship contracts is terminated without the apprentice having achieved the aspired degree on the secondary level. Dropping out of vocational education puts youths at great risk of not gaining re-entry into upper secondary education and staying without a secondary level degree. A Swiss survey following circa 1,300 young persons 3 years after dropping out of apprenticeship training shows that three-quarters of the dropouts continued their education within these three years. Although the time around the drop out had been a strain for these young people, most of the ‘education returners’ are more satisfied with their new education than before dropping out. These findings suggest that dropping out of education is not bad per se and should not be avoided in every case. Dropping out can also provide an opportunity to solve problems concerning one’s education, to improve one’s educational situation and to realign. After having changed to another company, another educational level or another field, around two-thirds tend to finish their vocational education. Nonetheless, for one-third of youths dropping out of education represents the end of any education on the upper secondary level. The aim of this chapter is to follow the life courses of dropouts, to describe the educational situation they are in during the first 3 years after dropping out of their apprenticeship training and to discuss in what way dropping out may represent an opportunity for change. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2312-2_8 Posted at the Zurich Open Repository and Archive, University of Zurich ZORA URL: https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-62197 Originally published at: Schmid, Evi; Stalder, Barbara E (2012). Dropping out from apprenticeship training as an opportunity for change. In: Tynjälä, Päivi; Stenström, Marja-Leena; Saarnivaara, Marjatta. Transitions and Transformations in Learning and Education. Dordrecht: Springer, 117-130. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2312-2_8 117 P. Tynjälä et al. (eds.), Transitions and Transformations in Learning and Education, DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-2312-2_8, © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012 Introduction Dropping out of education is usually seen as a risk factor: Dropouts are at risk of remaining without any educational qualifi cations, of unemployment, poverty and health problems. Dropping out is therefore usually just seen as negative event in an adolescent’s educational career. In this chapter, we will argue for a more discerning perspective, which focuses on the positive aspects of dropout: Dropping out from vocational education and training can be seen as an opportunity for change and as a means to improve the educational situation. The dropout phenomenon has so far hardly been investigated from this perspective. Especially in English-speaking countries, dropouts are normally just investigated from a risk perspective (e.g. Alexander, Entwistle, & Horsey, 1997 ; Archambault, Janosz, Fallu, & Pagani, 2009 ; Janosz, Le Blanc, Boulerice, & Tremblay, 2000 ) . In German-speaking countries, educational dropouts and change of apprenticeship position (with an early termination of an apprenticeship contract) are widely discussed by politicians and practitioners. Research in this area, however, is still rare. More specifi cally, only few studies have analysed the consequences of such terminations in depth (Bohlinger, 2002b ; Schöngen, 2003 ) . The early termination of an apprenticeship contract can be considered as a nonnormative stressful life event which requires specifi c actions and coping strategies (Schmid, 2010 ) . According to developmental psychology, stressful life events can E. Schmid , Ph.D. (*) Institute of Education , Zürich , Switzerland e-mail: [email protected] B. E. Stalder , Ph.D. Institute of Work and Organizational Psychology , University of Neuchâtel , Neuchâtel , Switzerland Institute of Sociology , University of Basel , Basel , Switzerland Chapter 8 Dropping Out from Apprenticeship Training as an Opportunity for Change Evi Schmid and Barbara E. Stalder 118 E. Schmid and B.E. Stalder threaten an individual’s social, physical and mental well-being. A stressful life event is thus a risk factor in many ways. However, stressful life events do not only threaten the health and well-being of the persons concerned, but they can also represent a chance for a new start and thus for change and personal development (Filipp, 1995 ) . Based on the longitudinal survey LEVA ( Lehrvertragsaufl ösungen im Kanton Bern , Schmid & Stalder, 2008 ; Stalder & Schmid, 2008 ) , we will discuss two indicators for successful coping of early terminations of apprenticeship contracts: re-entry into upper secondary education and satisfaction with the new education. Both can be defi ned as criteria of effective coping with this stressful life event. First, we will analyse the consequences of the early contract terminations for the subsequent educational pathway by looking at four types of dropping out of apprenticeship training: inter-organisational change, downgrading or upgrading, occupational change and dropping out without re-entry. Second, we will analyse changes in educational satisfaction by contrasting the situation before and after the contract termination. Considering the importance of the educational context for educational pathways as well as for dropouts and change, we will start by outlining the major characteristics of the Swiss apprenticeship system. Vocational Education and Training in Switzerland In Switzerland, vocational education and training is the predominant form of upper secondary education (grades 10 to 12/13/14; age 16+). More than two-thirds of school leavers enrol in VET 1 programmes. The majority enters apprenticeships, which are offered in more than 250 occupations in industry, trades, commerce, domestic service, agriculture and the health sector (OPET, 2009 ) . For low-achieving school leavers, apprenticeship-based training is the only option to gain an upper secondary certifi cate. For higher-achieving youth, there are more possibilities, including apprenticeships as well as purely school-based VET programmes. Like other dual systems, the Swiss apprenticeship system is characterised by a close link between vocational education and training and the employment market (Gonon, 2002 ) . The VET curriculum and the certifi cation system are vocationbound, permeability between occupations is low and pathways from vocational education to employment are highly standardised. Apprentices have a double status: They are not yet ‘full’ workers but no longer ‘pure’ students. Three to four days a week, apprentices are trained in a training company, where they participate in real production processes and earn a modest wage. One to two days a week, they are students in vocational schools (Wettstein & Gonon, 2009 ) . 1 VET = vocational education and training 119 8 Dropping Out from Apprenticeship Training as an Opportunity for Change In Switzerland, apprenticeships can be completed on two different qualifi cation levels: short apprenticeships of 2 years on the one hand and 3or 4-year apprenticeships on the other. The latter enable young people to start skilled work and – after some years of work experience – to enter higher vocational training in the nonacademic branch of tertiary education. Threeto four-year apprenticeships can also be combined with vocational matura qualifi cations, which permit access to the universities of applied science. Short apprenticeships of 2 years are intellectually less demanding and addressed to the ‘more practically gifted young people’. At the end of a short apprenticeship, young people are enabled to start qualifi ed work or to take up a 3or 4-year apprenticeship in the same vocational fi eld. The training companies are responsible for the recruitment and selection of their apprentices and for the practical training during the apprenticeship. Most of the companies select their apprentices on the basis of an application interview, on the general impression they gain during a brief trial apprenticeship ( Schnupperlehre ) before the actual apprenticeship and/or on results of an entry test (Imdorf, 2007 ; Stalder, 2000 ) . The relationship between employer and apprentice is regulated by a specifi c work contract that states the form and duration of the apprenticeship, the salary, the working hours and the vacations. The contract is limited to the duration of the apprenticeship (2–4 years) and can only be changed or terminated early with extraordinary reason by the apprentice or the employer. One of the specifi c features of the apprenticeship contract is that vocational schools, although strongly involved in vocational education and training, are no contract partner and can merely advise on contract changes or cancellations. It is the sole responsibility of the apprenticeship trainer and the apprentice to decide whether or not to cancel the apprenticeship contract before its predefi ned end. For a long time, the dual VET system has been regarded as one of the best ways to provide employers with the needed working force and to enable young people to smoothly and successfully enter upper secondary education and establish their pathway from education to employment (Dubs, 2006 ) . From an international perspective, the relatively moderate range of youth unemployment in Switzerland (5–10%, Bertschy, Böni, & Meyer, 2008 ) has been seen as evidence for the success of the dual system. However, one of the crucial points dominating the current VET debate in Switzerland is the (mal)functioning of the apprenticeship market, that is, the subtle relationship between supply of and demand for apprenticeship places (Dubs, 2006 ; Meyer, 2009 ; OPET, 2009 ) . More than 20% of all young people in Switzerland do not manage to directly enter upper secondary education (Hupka-Brunner, Sacchi, & Stalder, 2010 ; Imdorf, 2005 ) . Most of them fi rst have to enrol in one-year educational programmes, so-called bridging courses, to improve their skills and increase their chances to gain access to an apprenticeship place. This situation results in a competition amongst applicants for VET places, where especially the socially ‘weak’ youth fi nd it hard to compete: Young people from a family with low socioeconomic status, with a migrant background and with low reading or mathematical literacy skills are signifi cantly more often disadvantaged when trying to gain access to upper secondary education (Hupka-Brunner et al., 2010 ; Imdorf, 2005 ) . However, it is not just the transition from compulsory school to apprenticeship training but also the pathways 120 E. Schmid and B.E. Stalder throughout the apprenticeship until graduation which is far from smooth and easy for many young people (Stalder, 2009 ; Stalder, Meyer, & Hupka-Brunner, 2008 ) : Up to 30% of all apprentices in Switzerland do not fi nish their fi rst apprenticeship within the given terms of the contract, but change the occupation or the training fi rm, repeat a year, quit or drop out of the apprenticeship without an immediate alternative in education (Stalder). Dropping out and unplanned educational changes are related to various risk factors, such as poor educational achievement in lower secondary and vocational school, problematic occupational and organisational choices, health and other personal problems or poor training conditions in the training fi rms (Bohlinger, 2002a ; Hunger, Jenewein, & Sanfl eber, 2002 ) . Especially dropping out of an apprenticeship seems to involve a multiple risk situation. Socially disadvantaged backgrounds, stressful life events (moving out from home, childbirth etc.), apprenticeships with unfavourable learning and work conditions and poor achievement in vocational school seem to cumulate and to favour early contract terminations without immediate re-entry into education (Stalder). In summary, although a smooth transition from education to work has long been taken for granted, it is neither quick nor easy for a considerable number of young people. The Stressful Life Event ‘Early Apprenticeship Contract Termination’ The early termination of an apprenticeship contract marks a critical transition in a youth’s educational pathway. It causes the risk of not being able to re-enter upper secondary education and of staying without any upper secondary level degree. Nowadays, a diploma on the upper secondary level is considered as the ‘minimum for successfully entering the labour market and a basis for further participation in lifelong learning’ (OECD, 2005 , p. 3). Without such a degree, young people are at risk of not being able to fi nd employment (e.g. Bertschy et al., 2008 ; Descy, 2002 ) or of only being able to work under precarious conditions (Ecoplan, 2003 ) . They thus run the risk of becoming socio-economically disadvantaged and of being forced to live on public welfare (BFS, 2007a, 2007b ) . An early apprenticeship contract termination can thus be considered as non-normative stressful life event which asks for specifi c actions and coping strategies. In psychological stress research, it is assumed that a stressful life event has been coped with successfully if the person concerned is physically and mentally healthy (or healthy again ). The effectiveness of coping is refl ected in ‘functioning in work and social living, morale or life satisfaction, and somatic health’ (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984 , p. 181). The social, physical and mental well-being is therefore seen as ‘criterion of effectiveness’ (author’s translation, Filipp, 1995 ; Weber, 1994 ) . Typically, the effectiveness of coping is measured by indicators of health and wellbeing (e.g. depression, self-esteem, subjective well-being). Being affected by a stressful life event is mostly seen negatively: The persons concerned are somehow socially, physically or mentally damaged and have to cope 121 8 Dropping Out from Apprenticeship Training as an Opportunity for Change with this situation. In order to recover, they have to try and ‘solve the problem’, that is, to restore health and well-being. In contrast to this traditional clinical psychological perspective, a developmental psychological perspective does not consider stressful life events just as a cause for illness, depression, loneliness and other life problems. As developmental psychology shows, stressful life events do not merely bear risks but also offer opportunities for change. In other words, they also have a positive potential (Filipp, 1995 ) .