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Key Elements in Facilitating Student Transitions from Education to Work in The Netherlands

by Famke de Boer, Vera Schuurmans, Merel Wolf, Ada ter Maten-Speksnijder and Minne Bakker

Soc. Sci. 2025, 14(7), 416; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci14070416 - 2 Jul 2025

Viewed by 1262

Many vocational education and training (VET) students in the Netherlands struggle with the transition from education to the labour market, resulting in high dropout rates. VET institutions are actively seeking effective mechanisms to support their students during this transition. This research explored valuable strategies identified by education professionals to facilitate a sustainable transition from education to the labour market. This study employed a realistic evaluation framework using CIMO-logic (which focuses on the Context, Intervention, Mechanism, Outcome) for analysis in order to gain insight into the processes of change. In total, four cases were studied at two Dutch educational institutions. The research followed an inductive approach using within-case and cross-case analyses. Five key elements were identified: skills and competencies, Self-insight, Self-efficacy, Building a professional network, and bridging education and practice. In school-to-work guidance for VET students, these elements are relevant to consider in guidance programs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Rethinking the Education-to-Work Transition for Young People)

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21 pages, 866 KB

Open AccessArticle

»Should I Stay or Should I Go?« Prevalence and Predictors of Spatial Mobility among Youth in the Transition to Vocational Education and Training in Germany

by Linda Hoffmann and Alexandra Wicht

Soc. Sci. 2023, 12(5), 277; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12050277 - 4 May 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3330

Abstract

Spatial mobility is an important means of tackling regional disparities and matching problems in education and labor markets, but it is also a source of individual social inequality as it is associated with higher socio-economic resources and returns; however, there is a paucity of research on the prevalence and predictors of spatial mobility among youth entering vocational education and training (VET). We examine the importance of (a) individual occupational orientations, (b) regional opportunity structures, and (c) social ties for the spatial mobility of youth in this early transition phase using longitudinal data from the German NEPS, which we combined with administrative geospatial data of German districts (NUTS-3). Our results show widespread spatial mobility among students entering the VET system: 16% are mobile within and 22% between regional labor markets. Multinomial logistic regression models show that, in addition to young people’s occupational orientations (status aspirations; search duration) and social ties to friends, regional opportunity structures (general unattractiveness; person–environment mismatch) are crucial for youths’ spatial mobility. This underscores the importance of spatial mobility given regional disparities to promote youths’ access to VET and reduce regional mismatches in the VET market. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Regional Development Dynamics and Their Social, Economic and Political Consequences)

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30 pages, 541 KB

Open AccessArticle

Place of Residence Does Matter for Educational Integration: The Relevance of Spatial Contexts for Refugees’ Transition to VET in Germany

by Franziska Meyer and Oliver Winkler

Soc. Sci. 2023, 12(3), 120; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12030120 - 24 Feb 2023

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3972

Abstract

For the mostly young refugees who arrived in Germany around 2015/2016, completing vocational education and training (VET) represents the most promising opportunity for professional and social integration. However, access opportunities to VET are characterized by spatial inequalities: German districts vary considerably according to labour market structure, economic productivity and demographic development, which constitute the supply and demand for training places in the dual VET sector, to which refugees predominantly have access. This paper examines if the transition chances of young refugees aged 18–30 to VET depend on their place of residence. For this, we analysed the IAB-BAMF-SOEP Survey of Refugees (n = 5216) using multi-level discrete-time event history analysis. On the supply side, higher economic productivity (measured by GDP), a low unemployment rate and a greater number of small versus large businesses in the district are positively associated with refugees’ transition chances. On the demand side, an increasing number of school leavers with no school-leaving certificate and of refugees in the district are negatively associated with the respective chances. Our results suggest that spatial characteristics essentially matter for young refugees’ training opportunities and thus support recommendations to reform current distribution policies, in which central spatial contextual factors remain largely disregarded. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Regional Development Dynamics and Their Social, Economic and Political Consequences)

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16 pages, 941 KB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Cultural Intelligence and Imposter Syndrome on School Belonging through Academic Resilience among University Students with Vocational Backgrounds

by Shiyong Wu, Wenxin Chen, Wei Chen and Wen Zheng

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(13), 7944; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19137944 - 28 Jun 2022

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 7276

Abstract

Background: University students with vocational qualifications encounter more severe cultural, academic, and self-evaluated challenges in the transitional process than their peers with an academic pathway. This study investigated the predictive effect of cultural intelligence (CI), imposter syndrome (IS), and academic resilience (AR) on school belonging (SB) and their interplay mechanism from a positive and negative perspective. Method: We recruited 326 Chinese university students with a vocational route as the research subjects and designed a parallel mediation model to assess the hypothesized construct. Result: The participants had scores above the median in CI, AR, and SB, but they also obtained scores exceeding the median in moderate IS. CI positively and significantly predicted SB both directly and indirectly through AR, while IS negatively and significantly predicted AR. AR both partly mediated the effect of CI on SB and entirely mediated the impact of IS on SB. Conclusion: CI was the most crucial factor impacting SB, followed by AR and IS among Chinese university students with a vocational education and training (VET) pathway. Strategic interventions should be adopted to enhance their abilities to cope with diverse cultures, promote their resilience in facing academic difficulties, boost their self-achievement, and foster their sense of SB. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wellbeing and Mental Health among Students and Young People)

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20 pages, 1737 KB

Open AccessArticle

Transition to Long-Term Baccalaureate School in Switzerland: Governance, Tensions, and Justifications

by Sandra Hafner, Raffaella Simona Esposito and Regula Julia Leemann

Educ. Sci. 2022, 12(2), 93; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12020093 - 29 Jan 2022

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 5559

Abstract

In Switzerland, the baccalaureate school is an important pathway to university education, and the aspirations of families and students to enter baccalaureate school have grown. However, vocational education and training (VET) remains the predominant educational pathway and has a strong lobby. We investigate how in this context, the transition from primary education to baccalaureate school is governed and justified at the cantonal level. We study how two Swiss cantons try to meet the official or unofficial maximum baccalaureate quotas desired by educational policymakers through different selection procedures and admission criteria. Drawing on the Economics of Conventions, we conceptualize selection procedures as cantonal transition chains and show that the strategies, procedures, and instruments applied in governance are rooted in diverse principles of action. This causes tensions within cantons. Our analysis shows that agency and regulating effects in the governance of transitions must be understood as distributed among actors, technologies, and objects. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Regional Disparities in National Education: Origins, Governance, and Consequences)

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