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We empirically investigate whether the relationship between the fraction of filled apprenticeships in a particular occupation in the past and the fraction of prospective apprentices having very early intentions to train in this occupation has an impact on the decision to change the intended choice of occupation. We use a unique dataset from Switzerland containing detailed information on students' early occupational 'dreams' (ages 13-14), before they undergo intensive career counselling, and combine it with information on their ultimate choice of occupation at the end of compulsory schooling (ages 15-16). The estimation results show that although the majority of students revise their initial intentions, those students who dreamed of learning an occupation with more training positions filled in previous years than peers interested in learning this occupation have a significantly higher probability of sticking to their initial dream occupation. Conversely, students who wished to train in an overly popular occupation have a higher probability of delaying the transition to upper-secondary education for at least one year, instead of switching to another occupation. In addition, we find on an aggregated level that a favourable situation on the apprenticeship market ultimately increases the premature contract termination rate due to a person-occupation-mismatch.

Using data from a survey of all high-school graduates in a Swiss canton, we analyze the relationship between students' political orientation and their choice of a university major. Analyzing this question in the context of the Swiss higher education system adds to the existing literature because unlike students in other countries, Swiss students are completely free to choose their place of study and their major. The selection of a university major is therefore not affected by university admission rules and policies. We find that students in different university majors differ systematically with regard to their political orientation. However, when controlling for socio-demographic factors, school-related aspects and personality, the association between political orientation and educational choice becomes small and mostly statistically non-significant. We can conclude from this that political orientation is not influencing the choice of university major in a causal way.

Building on earlier work that explored within-student variation in hours of instruction across school subjects, we investigate the impact of instruction time on student test scores in Switzerland, as measured by the PISA 2009 test. Our results confirm the results of previous studies of a positive effect of instruction time on student performance. Moreover, we find considerable heterogeneity in the effectiveness of instructional time across ability-related tracks, with the more able students benefitting more. Additional instruction time increases the within-school variance of subject-specific test scores, indicating an increase in educational inequality.

This study presents in-depth empirical analyses of drop-outs from all Swiss universities for the entire student population between 1975 and 2008. The results show that most identifiable factors associated with a greater or lesser probability of dropping out are identical to those found in a recent Systematic Review (Larsen et?al., 2013). The main findings are that: first, since the 1970s, there has been a marked trend towards falling drop-out rates which is largely due to female students who, today, have lower drop-out rates than their male counterparts; secondly, not only are there different drop-out rates for specific subjects of study, but there are also differences in baccalaureate profiles, which indicates that the skills acquired prior to entering university have a great impact on successful study; thirdly, students who change their first subject choice are at great risk of dropping out. No firm conclusions can yet be drawn about the Bologna reform but, based on the subjects which changed to the Bachelor/Master system between 2001 and 2003, no reduction in drop-out rates can be found as a result of the reform.

This paper investigates the fitness-for-purpose and soundness of bibliometric parameters for measuring and elucidating the research performance of individual researchers in the field of education sciences in Switzerland. In order to take into account the specificities of publication practices of researchers in education sciences, the analyses are based on two separate databases: Web of Science and Google Scholar. Both databases show a very unequal distribution of the individual research output, and the indicators used to measure research performance (quantity of publications and citation impact) from the two data sources are highly positively correlated. However, individual characteristics of the researchers, such as age, gender and academic position, that serve to explain the great variance in research performance, can only be identified if the Web of Science is used as a benchmark of research performance. The results indicate that Google Scholar is so inclusive that it impedes a meaningful interpretation of the data. However, the Web of Science inclusion policy for journals is also associated with certain shortcomings that put some researchers at an unjustified disadvantage. Therefore, problems currently exist in regard to both citation databases when used to benchmark individual research performance.

We use a unique data set about the wage distribution that Swiss students expect for themselves ex ante, deriving parametric and non-parametric measures to capture expected wage risk. These wage risk measures are unfettered by heterogeneity which handicapped the use of actual market wage dispersion as risk measure in earlier studies. Students in our sample anticipate that the market provides compensation for risk, as has been established with risk augmented Mincer earnings equations estimated on market data: higher wage risk for educational groups is associated with higher mean wages. With observations on risk as expected by students we find compensation at similar elasticities as observed in market data. The results are robust to different specifications and estimation models. (Contains 5 tables and 4 figures.)

This paper presents the results of an empirical investigation trying to explain individual time-to-degree variances with business cycle fluctuations. Assuming that students determine the optimum study length at university weighing up the cost of an additional semester against the consumption benefit of studying and not yet working, the general economic environment during the study period should, in turn, influence the individual time-to-degree through changes in the cost level and the consumption benefit of an additional semester. The investigation, using a representative data-set based on Swiss university graduates from 1981 to 2001, shows that changes in the unemployment rate have a significant impact on individual time-to-degree. (Contains 5 tables and 6 notes.)

The pathways of individuals into teaching exhibit several moments of choice that impact crucially on the final composition of the teaching workforce. Though the transition from training into teaching has frequently been studied, the self-selection into the institutions of teacher education has received little attention until now. Sorting into teacher education plays a major role in the determination of the potential quality of the teaching workforce. The question is, therefore, who is interested in teacher training. The analyses contained in this study are based on a representative sample of 1567 high school students in Switzerland shortly before graduation. The findings indicate that there is systematic self-selection into teacher training institutions which is principally based on gender, socio-economic background and high school profile. This sorting is reinforced by the institutional and structural characteristics of the types of higher education institutions and the courses of study they offer. Accordingly, the findings of this paper tend to indicate that, to a large extent, the choices made by future teachers depend also on where and how teachers are trained. (Contains 4 tables and 8 notes.)

The number of university students participating in exchange programs has risen sharply over the last decade. A survey of Swiss university graduates (classes of 1999 and 2001) shows that participation in student exchange programs depends significantly on the socio-economic background of students. We further analyze whether the participants benefit from additional advantages caused by these exchange programs. Analyses show that student exchange programs are associated with higher starting salaries and a higher likelihood of opting for postgraduate degrees. Analyses using instrumental variable estimations (IV), however, show that these outcomes are not causally related to participation in exchange programs.

Purpose - The classical form of dual vocational training in Switzerland is on-the-job training combined with theoretical education in a school. In order to be an attractive educational choice for both enterprises and pupils, the apprenticeship model has to be constantly adapted to the demands of the labour market. As a potential model for future apprenticeship training, large firms started to concentrate their apprenticeship training in one or a few sites. More recently, independent external firms have been set up with the express purpose of training apprentices for other companies. This article aims to discuss these new developments. Design/methodology/approach - This article bases its discussion of the developments on the basis of a unique data set comprising more than 2,300 training companies in Switzerland. Findings - The observations reported in this article suggest that training in a training centre is a viable alternative to the usual in-house apprenticeship system where the apprentice is trained within the company. However, training centres will never be an ideal solution for all occupations or for every company. Training centres are primarily worthwhile for investment-intensive occupations where the main objective is to invest in an apprentices human capital and thus help ensure a steady supply of highly qualified workers. Originality/value - The article presents useful developments in the use of training centres.

Salaries and appropriateness of jobs found by graduates of a Swiss university of applied science were analyzed. Grades and majors did not influence salaries, but the labor market favored part-time study. A majority felt their jobs were appropriate to their education. Graduate follow-up provides important data on the success of the new universities of applied science. (Contains 17 references.) (SK)

A cost-benefit model for calculating private rates of return to education uses existing wage structure, cost of education, and risk premiums for school dropout. A Swiss study applying the model shows that, once educational costs are deducted, wage earning advantages for different educational levels are insignificant. (SK)

Even though the recession in Switzerland triggered by COVID-19 ultimately remained without consequences for the apprenticeship market, significantly fewer apprenticeship contracts had been signed in the months of the first shutdown in 2020 than in the same months of the previous year. Using daily search queries on the national administrative platform for apprenticeship vacancies from February 2020 until April 2021 as a proxy for the supply of potential apprentices, we find a temporal pattern that coincides perfectly with the development of signed apprenticeship contracts. Furthermore, the analyses show that the initially very strong relationship between the intensity of the politically imposed restrictions to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and the daily search queries diminished over time, leading to a search intensity in March 2021 that was back at pre-pandemic level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a unique and original dataset measuring preferences of adults for academic vs. vocational education in Switzerland, we explore differences between Swiss citizens and foreign residents regarding individual preferences for these different types of education. We find that first-generation foreigners exhibit stronger preferences for academic education, whereas the preferences of second-generation foreigners do not significantly differ from those of Swiss citizens. Further, variation across subgroups of foreigners based on their nationality indicates that cultural aspects matter to a certain extent as less well-integrated ethnic groups express stronger preferences for academic education and are also less likely to value the labour market outcomes of vocational education. Interestingly, the presence of a well-established VET system in the country of origin does not appear to strengthen preferences for vocational education in Switzerland. This might be related to less positive labour market outcomes for VET graduates' countries of origin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores how private tutoring relates to students’ transitions to demanding post-compulsory schools and their success there, considering their competencies after tutoring but before the transition. Analyzing PISA and linked register data from Switzerland, we find that students who received private tutoring before the transition are more likely to struggle in selective schools compared to non-tutored peers with similar competencies. While our results are not causal due to the non-random nature of private tutoring uptake, our findings underscore a potential concern regarding selection mechanisms for entry into selective education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we assess the effectiveness of a social public procurement policy in Switzerland that gives firms that train apprentices a preferential treatment. We estimate the effectiveness of this social procurement policy on a firm's training participation, training intensity, and training quality using information from a representative and large firm survey. The results show that the policy increases the number of training firms, and does not affect training quality negatively. However, the effect is limited in size, as only small firms and firms operating in sectors where public procurement represents a large share of the business, are affected positively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Willingness to compete has been found to predict individual and gender differences in educational choices and labor market outcomes. We provide further evidence for this relationship by linking Swiss students' Baccalaureate school (high school) specialization choices to an experimental measure of willingness to compete. Boys are more likely to specialize in math in Baccalaureate school. In line with previous findings, competitive students are more likely to choose a math specialization. Boys are more likely to opt for competition than girls and this gender difference in competitiveness could partially explain why girls are less likely to choose a math-intensive specialization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many extensions of classical human capital theory regard labour market rigidities as a prerequisite for firms to invest in general training. From this perspective, the German labour market reforms since 2003 should have reduced their willingness to support the apprenticeship training system. This article demonstrates that, on the contrary, German firms did not abandon the training system but instead changed their training strategies after the implementation of the labour market reforms. We analyse the new training strategies that German firms deployed to cope with the increased labour market flexibility engendered by the labour market reforms. Switzerland, where no such reforms occurred, serves as the counterfactual. The results demonstrate that German firms successfully reduced the net costs of training by involving apprentices in more work and reducing non-productive tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Swiss Journal of Sociology / Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Soziologie is the property of Sciendo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper uses an original dataset from a survey conducted in Switzerland in 2007 to explore the dynamics of education policy preferences. This issue has largely been neglected in that most studies on welfare state attitudes do not look at preferences for education. We argue that education policy preferences vary along two dimensions: the distribution of resources across different sectors of the education system (that is, vocational training versus academic education) and the level of investment in education both from public and private sources. With regard to the former, the findings suggest that individual educational experience matters most, that is, individuals prefer to concentrate resources on those educational sectors that are closest to their own educational background. With regard to the latter, we find that affiliation to partisan ideologies matters much more than other variables. Proponents of the left demand more investment both from the state as well as from the private sector and oppose individual tuition fees. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper uses unique Swiss longitudinal data that include information on Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2000 scores and the pathways chosen after completing compulsory school. Descriptive results show that students in vocational training, who obtained lower PISA results, are significantly more likely to be in an inadequate employment situation 2 years after finishing vocational training. Further analysis shows, however, that it is the type of vocational training pursued at upper secondary level that is decisive for a successful transition. Nevertheless, individual PISA scores have an indirect impact on the transition results, as they are an important factor explaining which pupils are more likely to get into an intellectually demanding vocational training and which ones are not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Zeitschrift für Pädagogik is the property of Julius Beltz GmbH & Co. KG Beltz Juventa and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

It is a widely held belief that apprenticeship training represents a net investment for training firms, the cost of which needs to be recouped after the training period. A new firm-level data set for Switzerland reveals large variation in net costs across firms and, remarkably, negative net costs for 60 per cent of all firms. We use these data to estimate the effect of net costs on the number of apprentices hired by a firm. The results show that the costs have a significant impact on the training decision but no significant influence on the number of apprentices, once the firm has decided to train. For policy purposes, these results indicate that subsidies for firms that already train apprentices would not boost the number of available training places. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The latest study investigating the cost–benefit ratio of apprenticeship training for Swiss companies has shown that most apprentices offset the cost of their training during their apprenticeship on the basis of the productive contribution of the work they perform. Given this outcome, it is worth investigating why so many firms choose not to train apprentices. Maximum-likelihood selection models were used to estimate the net cost of training for firms without an apprenticeship programme. The models show, firstly, that non-training firms would incur significantly higher net cost during the apprenticeship period if they would switch to a training policy and, secondly, that this less favourable cost–benefit ratio is determined less by cost than by absence of benefit. For the apprenticeship system as such the results indicate that, as long as training regulations and the market situation permit a cost-effective training of apprentices, companies do not need specific labour market regulations or institutions to offer training posts. In this respect, the Swiss findings might be of interest for the ongoing German discussion about the expected repercussions of a more general labour market deregulation on the apprenticeship training system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines college students' labor market expectations in Switzerland. Wage expectations; Rates of return to education; Subjective job perspectives.

Focuses on a study which examined the opposition of retail sector employees to shopping hours liberalization in Switzerland. Explanation of a theory about different positions adopted by sales employees; Hypothesis and problem identification; Data and model specifications; Results and discussion.

Abstract The sudden slump in the labour market of the 1990s made it necessary for Switzerland to alter its labour market policy, which from being almost exclusively passive became an active policy. Indeed a lack of suitable qualifications can be considered as one of the main factors prolonging the unemployment of those concerned, in Switzerland. Even so, the policy of relying on massive continuous education and retraining programmes as the most efficient solution to this problem needs to be called into question. For many years a majority of those who now find themselves unemployed neglected the option of seeing to their own continuous education needs. The reasons for this inactivity at the individual level may well lie in the lack of financial incentives. This in turn is the result of a wage structure that is still very much linked to years of service, with education-related differences in wages being very slight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is about the effects of unemployment on consumption behaviour through "job security" in Switzerland. Based on a behavioural model of consumption the paper establishes the links between job security and consumption empirically. In a secon d step, perceived "job security" as reported in the Swiss Consumer Surveyis then connected with the labour market. The paper finds that the record high level of unemployment since 1991 has mainly caused the observed deterioration of the perceived "job se curity". Two different scenarios of unemployment rates are then developed to show the quantitative effects unemployment had on perceived "job security" and finally through this measure of consumer confidence on consumption expenditures. In conclusion the unusually high number of unemployed have acted as a psychological shock to change the subjective assessment of "job security" to such a degree that significant changes in consumer behaviour have resulted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a Swiss research project seeking to uncover what other factors other than distance from home might influence a would-be student's decision to attend a local university and to enroll in a particular course of study. The results showed that financial and socio-economic factors were not a major issue except in terms of transportation costs but that distance does influence choice based on program of study options available. Implications for admissions selectivity are suggested.