Education and Occupation in Germany, 1880–1980: Some Long-Term Developments

Abstract

For a long time to come schoolng was not a major avenue toward occupational qualification. This can be shown if age cohorts are taken as the base of reference for the educational structure of the young working population. Only fairly recently occupational training has been conquered by schooling. Such findings warn against overestimating the importance of educational credentials for job opportunities in a historical perspective. It is mainly the public sector where we find a close linkage between qualification and occupation. Consequently, holders of more elevated educational credentials traditionally flock to public service. During the last decades female students successfidly participated in these trends. By contrast, employees in the private sector show much more educational heterogendty while working in similar jobs. These favorable conditions for the less-qualified youth may change if we witness a constant “oversupply” of highly qualified manpower.