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Abstract
Germany is widely known for its vocational education and training (VET) system and its dual apprenticeship system in particular. What is often overlooked, however, is the vertical stratification within the German VET system. This is the focus of this study. Our analysis shows that the VET system, like the German school system, is highly stratified, resulting in large differences in labour market opportunities. We elaborate on three dimensions of vertical stratification: VET system vs. higher education, fully qualifying vs. prevocational VET programmes and segmentation of the fully qualifying VET programmes by educational attainment and career prospects. All three stratification dimensions are closely linked to school attainment and thereby to social origin.
Acknowledgements
We thank Carsten Bösel for his excellent language assistance and Sajoscha Engelhardt for assistance with the layout of the figures.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1. VET programmes for nurses and similar health occupations are classified as ISCED 5b (see Müller Citation2009, 43).
2. For more detailed information, see: Bildungsbericht (Citation2014, 105) and Statistisches Bundesamt (Citation2014a), Fachserie 1 Reihe 1.3, Statistisches Bundesamt (Citation2014b), Fachserie 11 Reihe 1 and 2.
3. Special Analysis of the Department 2.1 of the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training BIBB, based on BIBB statistics and apprenticeship statistics of the Federal Employment Agency, always for September 30.