In May, the written Abitur exams take place in all federal states. But not all prospective Abitur graduates follow the traditional path to university entrance qualification—that is, by spending 8 or 9 years at a Gymnasium. For people who earn the Abitur or Fachabitur through non-traditional educational pathways, social background plays an important role—as studies using data from the National Education Panel show. Students whose parents hold a Mittlere Reife, a university entrance qualification, or a college degree are significantly overrepresented among those pursuing alternative educational paths. However, children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds also benefit from the various pathways leading to university entrance qualifications. It is clear that high educational aspirations are largely determined by the family of origin, but the Gymnasium is by no means the only path to the Abitur.
The findings in NEPS Spotlight No. 35 on traditional and alternative paths to a high school diploma are taken from the following publication:
Buchholz, S., & Pratter, M. (2017). Wer profitiert von alternativen Bildungswegen? Alles eine Frage des Blickwinkels! Eine systematische Rekonstruktion des Effektes sozialer Herkunft für alternative Wege zur Hochschulreife. Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie, 69(3), 409-435. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11577-017-0484-8
About NEPS Spotlight No. 35
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What are the NEPS spotlights?
This and other NEPS spotlights present selected findings from the National Education Panel Study—the largest long-term education study in Germany—in a concise and accessible format. They shed light on topics such as the development of competencies over the life course, as well as aspects of personality, educational participation, integration, and civic engagement. Each Spotlight contains a key message, a brief explanation, and interactive graphics that visualize the respective findings. Sources and further information are also linked. The NEPS Spotlights are provided by the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi) and are coordinated with the authors of the original publications. The collection is continuously expanded.
What is the National Education Panel?
The National Education Panel (NEPS) is the largest long-term education study in Germany. It examines educational processes, their conditions, outcomes, and consequences from early childhood through late adulthood. More than 70,000 participants, as well as approximately 50,000 people from their social circles, are surveyed on a recurring basis. The data collected is made available to the scientific community. More than 4,000 researchers worldwide are already working with NEPS data, and more than 1,900 scientific publications have been produced to date.