A new analysis by the National Education Panel shows that young people whose highest level of education is a secondary school diploma are often underestimated when looking for an apprenticeship
Many companies are urgently seeking apprentices and suitable young recruits. At the same time, about one in four young people leaves school with no more than a secondary school diploma and often has difficulty finding an apprenticeship. A new transfer report based on data from the National Education Panel Study (NEPS) shows: The group of young people with at most a lower-secondary school diploma is significantly more heterogeneous than has long been assumed—many possess skills and strengths comparable to those of their peers with a secondary school diploma. An analysis by Anne Christine Holtmann, Laura Menze, and Heike Solga highlights the potential that is often overlooked when awarding apprenticeship positions and explains how transitions into apprenticeship programs can be made more successful.
Today, more than ever, a high level of education is the key to a successful career. This makes young people who leave the school system with no diploma—or at most a secondary school diploma—all the more disadvantaged. They often have difficulty finding an apprenticeship and are more likely to participate in vocational preparation programs. However, the reasons for their difficult transition into the workforce are more varied than assumed and cannot be reduced to a lack of motivation or limited skills.
Existing strengths and skills are often overlooked
It is often mistakenly assumed that adolescents with maximum secondary school completion have across-the-board skill deficits. In fact, this is a very heterogeneous group that has attended various types of schools, ranging from special education schools to academic high schools. A significant proportion of young people with no more than a secondary school diploma achieve the same levels of proficiency in mathematics and reading as those with an intermediate school leaving certificate. This pattern is also evident in personality traits such as prosocial behavior and conscientiousness. (Fig. 1: Skills, deductive reasoning, prosocial behavior)
The authors of the transfer report criticize the fact that these individual strengths too often go unrecognized and are not given sufficient consideration in hiring processes compared to the perception of a high school diploma. Prof. Dr. Heike Solga, co-author of the study and scientific director of NEPS Phase 6: “Those who focus solely on a high school diploma overlook some of the talents that companies urgently need. Our analyses show that many young people with at most a secondary school diploma possess comparable skills and strengths to their peers with an intermediate school diploma.”
“Even in cases where young people have stronger math and reading skills, this often does little to improve their chances of securing an apprenticeship. As a result, much of their potential remains untapped,” adds Solga, director of the Department of Education and the Labor Market at the Berlin Social Science Center (WZB).
The data also show that many young people are not lacking in motivation to learn a profession. For example, 77% of young people with no more than a secondary school diploma planned to pursue an apprenticeship after leaving school—a percentage that was actually higher than that of young people with an intermediate school diploma, many of whom initially aimed to earn a higher school diploma.
The Long Shadow of Social Background
Another important factor contributing to disadvantage in the apprenticeship market is social background: The resources available to young people when searching for an apprenticeship—in the form of educational capital, work experience, and their parents’ professional networks—depend largely on their social background. For example, roughly twice as many young people with an immigrant background have at most a secondary school diploma as young people with an intermediate school diploma.
Parents’ educational attainment also plays a major role. Forty percent of parents have at most a secondary school diploma themselves and are also more likely to work in jobs at the lower end of the labor market. As a result, compared to those with an intermediate school diploma, young people with at most a secondary school diploma are less likely to be able to draw on their parents’ experience and networks when searching for an apprenticeship.
More Than Just a Holding Pattern: Training Opportunities Through Transitional Measures
Opportunities are offered primarily through vocational preparation programs, which are attended by 76% of young people without a high school diploma and 41% of those with a secondary school diploma. The improvement is most pronounced—at 32 percentage points—for young people without a high school diploma. For young people with a basic secondary school diploma, the chances of entering vocational training increase by 15 percentage points, and for those with a qualifying secondary school diploma, by 8 percentage points. The greatest improvement (40 percentage points) was observed among young people without a school-leaving certificate who went on to earn a higher school-leaving certificate while participating in vocational preparation programs.. (Fig. 3: Comparison of Educational Opportunities)
It was not only participation in the vocational preparation program that contributed to improved job application success. In particular, establishing a connection with a company during this phase is a promising factor. In general, it can be assumed that employers often perceived the young people as more mature and motivated after one year, and that the young people themselves had a better sense of career direction and a more targeted approach to job applications.
Despite all the positive effects, however, it is also evident that vocational preparation did not yield the desired results for half of the young people with no more than a secondary school diploma. For them, the path after the program did not lead to an apprenticeship, but rather to another transitional program, unemployment, or low-skilled employment.
The full report, “Youth with No More Than a Secondary School Diploma: Resources, Obstacles, and Opportunities in the Transition to Vocational Training,” can be found here:
About the NEPS and the Data Set
About the NEPS and the Data Set
The analyses are based on data from the National Education Panel Study (NEPS), Germany’s largest long-term education study. The report draws on data from the NEPS Cohort 4, which has been tracking the educational paths of approximately 12,600 adolescents starting in 9th grade since 2010. Of these, approximately 3,500 have at most a lower secondary school diploma, including just over 800 from special education schools with a focus on learning. Thanks to the overrepresentation of lower secondary schools and the inclusion of special education schools, the study provides particularly reliable insights into young people with no more than a lower secondary school diploma. The transfer report has been published in the “NEPS Research Compact” series, which presents the latest research findings from the National Education Panel for practitioners, policymakers, and the general public. The series is edited by the NEPS Network Committee.