Abitur - Vocational training - Higher education : the strategy of acquiring double qualifications among those with the upper secondary leaving certificate (Abitur)

Abstract

"In the public debate concerning the graduate labour market there has for some time now been controversy surrounding the issue of the employment prospects of university graduates who first completed a course of vocational training after passing their Abitur (German upper secondary leaving certificate). At the request of the Institute for Employment Research (IAB), the Higher Education Information System (HIS) has used various current data sources from their own surveys to attempt to provide the most exact picture possible of the situation of these 'doubly qualified' individuals. The study reaches the following conclusions: The motives for taking a course of vocational training before starting university studies lie essentially both in the expectation of gaining a better specialist insight into the subject matter of the future course of study through practical experience in the training course; and in the endeavour to acquire, within a clear period of time, an initial vocational qualification which cushions the occupational risks of a higher education qualification. The time lost as a result of the vocational training is compensated considerably by a comparably short duration of the specialist and general studies at university, i.e. by the individual studying with above-average determination. For the majority of the doubly qualified people,this training and study strategy has no disadvantageous effects on the transition into work and in this respect has no increased employment risk either. On average doubly qualified people manage to enter into work more rapidly than university graduates without work experience. The first occupational position of a doubly qualified individual tends to be more stable than that of someone who went into higher educationstraight from school and the doubly qualified also judge their first job as more satisfactory than the other group does. Even after completing their university studies the vast majority of the doubly qualified people still stand by the method of completing a course of vocational training before entering higher education. This training strategy would have been preferred by a considerably larger number of people, when seen retrospectively after completion of a university course, than was the case with the decision made regarding training after leaving school. Ageneral recommendation for or against acquiring double qualifications is of no use; it depends on the examination of the individual case, of the possibilities of using the abilities and certificates acquired during the vocational training later on, of the individual requirements, inclinations and motivation." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Cite article

Lewin, K., Minks, K. & Uhde, S. (1996): Abitur - Berufsausbildung - Studium. Zur Strategie der Doppelqualifizierung von Abiturienten. In: Mitteilungen aus der Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, Vol. 29, No. 3, p. 431-454.