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Vocational orientation is aimed at supporting young people in identifying their own strengths and interests and developing career perspectives, with a view to easing their transition from school into work. But which forms of guidance and support do young people want during this phase, and do existing forms of provision offer the right kind of help?In this issue, inconsistencies and open questions are held up for scrutiny. Conceptual considerations are addressed from the viewpoint of developmental psychology and attention is directed to research findings on young people's information-gathering and research strategies, among other topics. In addition, some reflections are offered on potential analysis, one of the key instruments in vocational orientation, and on its effectiveness.
From 2007 to 2011 in Germany, the proportion of unsuccessful applicants for apprenticeship places fell markedly. In 2012 this trend reversed, however, and the situation worsened once again in 2013. It is striking that not only is the proportion of unsuccessful applicants back on the upturn but, at the same time, companies are increasingly struggling to fill their places. The article describes the situation and inquires into the causes.
The transition from school into working life is such a crucial step in young people’s biographies that young people find it very difficult to make the “right” choice at this juncture. What is important to them with regard to their future working lives, why do they find the decision so hard, and what support would they like during this phase? These and other questions must be taken into consideration if the aim is to organise offers of vocational orientation and educational pathways in such a way as to offer all young people good career prospects as far as possible.
Concepts and instruments for school-based and non-school-based vocational orientation have been developed and evaluated in the course of numerous support programmes and projects. Despite the diversity of different first-hand reports, organisational proposals and declarations of intent, a widespread policy consensus seems to prevail in Germany as regards the understanding of vocational orientation and the underlying educational models. Yet this consensus is not free from inconsistencies, and throws up a number of questions that are reflected upon in the article.
Vocational development is an individual and lifelong process. Ideas about the world of work, career intentions and vocational choices arise in the process of the developing individual’s engagement with his or her specific social environment. Drawing on developmental psychology, the article puts forward theoretical perspectives on this process, reports empirical findings and discusses the consequences for supporting children and young people.
In their search for training occupations, young people come across numerous offers and market players intent on pointing them in particular directions. In the face of this diversity, the question that arises is how young people experience the phase of career choice and job-hunting, and what forms of provision they find most helpful: are personal contacts and conversations as high a priority as ever, or is the Internet the primary means of attracting young people’s attention? And do information-finding and searching strategies vary with selected socio-demographic attributes? Current empirical findings on these questions are supplied by the 2012 Vocational Training Applicant Survey conducted by the Federal Employment Agency (BA) and BIBB.
Improving vocational orientation is the stated aim of almost all vocational preparation schemes, which are aimed at supporting young people from school into training. This is based on the expectation that improved vocational orientation substantially increases young people's chances in the training market. With reference to the evaluation of projects on “Raising the certification rate – increasing employability 2” (AQB2) and “Extended vocational orientation and practical experience” (VBoP), however, this article shows that vocational orientation can be particularly effective when it simultaneously establishes contact between the young people and training firms (e.g. through long-term placements).
Since 2010 a potential analysis has been a firm component of the vocational orientation programme of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Having been embedded in major national and federal-state programmes, competence assessment has now reached a large number of school pupils. As yet, however, the effects of such methods have not yet been systematically documented in the context of early vocational orientation, and the function and objectives have not been clearly defined. The article sets out the challenges that arise for the instrument of potential analysis in this unresolved area.
Despite all manner of vocational orientation projects motivated by equal opportunities policy in the technical and skilled crafts sectors, there has been little change in the proportion of women in the skilled crafts and in industrial-technical occupations. Hence the effectiveness of such projects is questioned. Taking two selected Girls' Day events as examples, the article shows the extent to which equality-oriented support projects have interactively softened, or indeed hardened, gender divides in the technical and skilled crafts sectors.
The Bonn/Rhein-Sieg prevocational training centre (Haus der Berufsvorbereitung Bonn/Rhein-Sieg) offers disadvantaged school pupils from the region a one-year work-based course, giving them the opportunity to prepare for initial vocational training in the dual system while they are still at school. Its aim is to open the door to a training place, and hence long-term employment, for these young people. Furthermore, it enables training companies in the region to recruit young people with the requisite maturity for an apprenticeship, who will be available to them as committed skilled workers on completion of their training. The article reports on experience gained and the challenges of this vocational education work.
Labour market forecasts show a dramatic reduction in unskilled jobs. Linked to this is the increasing employment risk of low-qualified employees and those without a formal vocational certificate. The most recent findings of a representative BIBB survey of companies confirm that around 300,000 companies are interested in certification-oriented second-chance training for this group of individuals. Based on insights gained from models for improving the flexibility of existing occupational profiles with training modules and modular qualifications, the article discusses how these experiences can be put to use for the second-chance qualification of young adults.
Early dissolutions of training contracts have become more and more of a focus for academic studies in recent years. In view of an impending shortage of skilled workers in many sectors, media coverage of the theme has also become much more prevalent. In that context the dominant image is of young people being unwilling and unable to persevere, while terminating a contract is viewed negatively as "dropping out”. The outcomes of the study presented here draw a more nuanced picture: they give insights into the reasons for early contract dissolutions in the skilled crafts sector, and also into young people’s subsequent prospects after having dissolved a contract.
On August 1, 2014 the revised regulation for initial vocational training in office management enters force. The three previous training occupations of office clerk, clerk and specialist in office communication are merged under the new designation of Office Management Clerk (Kaufmann/Kauffrau für Büromanagement). German industry, commerce, the skilled crafts and the public services now have at their disposal a training occupation that will be one of the largest, accounting for over 80,000 training contracts. The article sets out the innovations in structure and content and the challenges of developing the occupation.
The German National Qualifications Framework (DQR) in practice
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) hesitate to use existing methods of competence assessment offered by the market, because often these have not been developed for the everyday realities of the workplace. The SME competence book is an instrument that attempts to do justice to the requirements and developments of company and employee objectives in equal measure. It is oriented to the German national qualifications framework (DQR) definition of competence and has already been implemented and consolidated in 62 companies in the federal state of Hessen.
As every year, the main point for discussion at the final meeting of the year 2013, under the chairmanship of Monika Wenzel, was the supply of training places relative to demand as of 30 September. Other major items were the future of the pilot studies supported by BIBB pursuant to § 90 para. 3 no. 1d of the Vocational Training Act (BBiG), the implementation of the German national qualifications framework (DQR), and the outcomes of the OECD “Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies” (PIAAC).