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Sources of vocational information are highly transparent and uniform throughout Germany, a fact made clear during interviews with teachers, students, and parents from all types of school. When asked about sources of information for vocational decisionmaking, everyone interviewed mentioned the government-sponsored labor office (Arbeitsamt) and career information center (Berufsinformationszentrum), which are present in most German cities of medium size or larger. The labor office serves many functions: it is a central clearinghouse for vacant positions, it offers advising for unemployed professionals or laborers, it conducts in-school visits and provides one-on-one career advising for students, and it advises university students on career fields and job hunting. The career information center, often housed in the same building as the labor office, is a library containing a wealth of printed material, videotapes, computer databases, and other sources of information on a host of careers. All of these services are available to the public at no charge.
Students also have access to printed information on a multitude of careers published by the federal government (Bundesanstalt f?r Arbeit) and made available to the public. These "career information brochures" (Bl?tter zur Berufskunde) are written by academics or practitioners in the field they describe. Generally, the brochures include a detailed description of entry requirements for the field, programs of study, types of employment within the field, opportunities for further education and advancement, expected earning potential for entry-level and senior practitioners, and lastly, forecasts of employment prospects for the coming years.
In addition to professional career counselors at the labor office, many schools have one or more teachers designated as career advisors, who gather and disseminate relevant career information to students. In many cases, teachers said that the career advisor simply distributes government publications, such as the career information brochures mentioned above. Many said that most career advising in school does not take place with the designated counseling teachers, but rather occurs in an informal manner with regular teachers who take an interest and discuss careers with their students, either individually or with the entire class. Large schools such as the Gesamtschule, in addition to career counseling, normally offer academic advising on school tracks and courses. Teachers emphasized that "school track advising" (Schullaufbahnberatung) is necessary in the Gesamtschule because of the multitude of pathways within the school leading to different types of leaving certificates and ultimately to different career options.
Teachers agreed that it is relatively easy for a student in Germany to find out how to enter a given vocational field–the student simply reads the career information brochure for the intended field and follows the recommended path towards meeting the entry requirements for the apprenticeship or university training program. Once having become certified in a particular field, however, it is difficult to change professions. In many cases, this would involve starting over and completing another training program. Teachers, parents, and students indicated that the "inflexibility" of the German labor market is presently an issue of great concern.
Hamilton (1994) has characterized education and employment in Germany as having high "transparency" and low "permeability." Transparency refers to the ease with which a student can plot a course from school to work for any type of career, i.e., the more formalized the entry requirements are for most jobs, the more transparent the system. In contrast, permeability refers to how easy it is for a student to move from one point to another in the system: in other words, how difficult or easy it is to change career goals once he or she has embarked on an occupational path. Students, teachers and parents largely confirmed Hamilton's characterization of the German educational and employment system.
A Realschule teacher aptly summarized the basic difference between school–to work transition in Germany and the United States:
In America, I can take a test to qualify myself....I do not necessarily need to provide proof of achievement or other qualifications in order to take this test. This is impossible here. In Germany, one must first have studied [at the university] in order to take the exam. And you cannot study unless you have the Abitur. And you cannot attend an upper-level trade school unless you have a middle-level certification. That means that if you miss a qualification when you are 15 or 16, for whatever reasons, then in principle you have missed it for your entire life. This is hard and brutal. On the other hand, the person who gets through this system has achieved something.
Since the German education and employment system is highly structured and credentialed, there is a strong incentive for young people to make vocational decisions early and stick to them. Therefore, it should not be surprising that more than two-thirds of German adolescents surveyed in 1992 said that they had concrete vocational plans (Fischer 1992). According to parents and teachers, this tendency is reinforced not only by education structure and institutions, but also by family, community and peer pressure.
However, in spite of the pressure to make vocational decisions, students demonstrated a notable lack of certainty about future professions and vocational pathways. Many mentioned that "indecision about a future career" was causing them concern and worry. This statement was heard from students, parents, and teachers from all types of schools. Several teachers and parents of Gymnasium students said that their students or children had not decided on a career or vocational path as late as the 12th grade. The mother of one 12th-grade Gymnasium student said that uncertainty about a career is causing her daughter "existential anxiety." She noted that one result of this anguish may be seen in the fact that many young people "wait until absolutely the last minute to decide what to study at the university. Or they begin one course of study and after a semester change to another."
A teacher estimated that as many as 70 percent of students in the upper grades at the Gymnasium do not know what kind of career they wish to pursue. In this regard, he said that men have an easier time dealing with uncertainty about a career than women, because men typically need to complete obligatory military or social service before embarking on a career. This provides additional time for men to consider career options and reach a decision. Many Gymnasium students had the opinion that earning the Abitur was the first step to be completed before giving serious consideration to any particular career. Although the Abitur is the traditional qualification for studying at a university, many students who were not sure they wanted to study at a university still viewed the Abitur as a "security blanket" which would increase their career options later in life.
As an aid to vocational decisionmaking, many schools offer a course in "career studies" (Berufskunde) as part of the regular curriculum. For example, at a Gesamtschule, students indicated they complete a required course in ninth grade in which they learn about various careers and vocational opportunities. In this course, students also learn fundamentals about the labor market, the economy, and legal forms of business organizations.
In addition to the course in career studies, many secondary school students complete one or more internships with local companies and organizations of their own choosing. For example, the same Gesamtschule maintains a list of local firms willing to accept student interns. These practical experiences are valued by teachers, parents, and students as an excellent means of learning the nuts and bolts of business operations and as a useful aid to vocational decisionmaking. The father of a student in the 10th grade at a Realschule described his son's internship with a local photo store:
My son stood behind the counter all day and learned how to deal with customers. He also learned a little bit about how business functions behind the scenes; for example, how inventory is kept. Most importantly, however, he learned what it is like to work all day long and how important education is in order to find a satisfying job.
Students do not normally attend school during their 3-week internships, and they are not tested on what they learn during the internship. Instead, teachers visit their students at the organizations where they are working to check on their progress and to ensure that they are learning from the experience. Students view the internship as a chance to test whether an intended career truly matches their interests.
A teacher at a combined Haupt/Realschule described how the internship process works at her school. She said that students complete internships with companies largely to see whether they could imagine themselves working in a particular field. Teachers guide students through their internship and ask them to write reports and to keep a diary about their experiences. In addition, counselors from the labor office visit the school and advise students in groups and individually about their career options.
Despite the long list of resources available to students, including the labor office, career information brochures, teacher advisors, vocational courses and internships, several students stressed the difficulty of making vocational decisions. For example, regarding the labor office, a student at a vocational Gymnasium said that he did not find it helpful:
If you don't know what you want, no one else can help you decide. There's the labor office, but they also can't help you unless you know what you want. For example, I went there and looked around in the career information center, but there were simply rows and rows of books on different jobs. It was too much. I felt lost.
One Gymnasium teacher was extremely critical of the labor office. He believes the labor office visits secondary schools largely "to promote its own interests." In addition, he said that the information presented by the labor office, including career descriptions and statistics on employment outlook, is "terribly outdated." As an organ of the state, this teacher said, the labor office tries to push young people into those professions in which there are shortages of personnel without regard for students' wishes or well being.
Germany has an extensive system of vocational education with a rich tradition dating at least back to the medieval guilds (Bundesministerium f?r Bildung und Wissenschaft 1994). Graduating secondary school students not intending to study at a university may choose to enter one of about 380 recognized professions, each with its own apprenticeship program leading to professional certification (Arbeitsamt Central City 1993–94). Apprenticeship positions are an integral part of Germany's "dual system," in which student trainees work more than half time in a firm and attend a vocational school for 1 or 2 days a week. (In East City, apprentices alternate every 2 weeks between full-time work and full-time school attendance.) Apprenticeships (Lehre) have an average length of 3 years, and range from 2 to 3.5 years. A large percentage (77 percent in 1990) of German adolescents in each age cohort learn a profession through participation in the dual system (Arbeitsgruppe Bildungsbericht 1994). In 1993, for example, around 570,000 youths nationwide signed an apprenticeship contract signifying the beginning of their professional training (Griesheimer 1994).
According to Gymnasium teachers and parents of Gymnasium students, lucrative apprenticeship positions in insurance and banking are highly sought after by Abitur holders, because they "almost guarantee a job" upon completion. In many cases, banks and insurance firms hire the apprentices as full-time employees after they have successfully completed their training. However, many of these students go on to study at the university after completing professional training. For ambitious students, a professional apprenticeship followed by university studies in business, economics, or a technical field is often the most desirable route to a secure future. For example, a 13th-grade Gymnasium student intended to complete a banking apprenticeship before beginning university studies in international relations. This way, he said, he has a much better chance of getting a job in international banking than he would as a university graduate without career experience.
Abitur holders made up 14.5 percent of all apprentices in 1992 (Bundesministerium f?r Bildung und Wissenschaft 1993). More than half of these are concentrated in just five professions, all of which are in business and service industries. For example, in 1992, over 60 percent of the trainees in the banking and insurance fields in Hessen were Abitur holders. In fields such as information management, publishing, and advertising, Abitur holders made up over 80 percent of trainees. In contrast, in technical or other skilled labor fields, such as industrial mechanics, general business administration, or carpentry, less than 20 percent of trainees in 1992 were Abitur holders (Arbeitsamt Central City 1993–94).
The traditional prerequisite for entering an apprenticeship is a diploma from the Hauptschule or Realschule. However, Haupt/Realschule teachers said that in recent years there has been an increasing tendency for students graduating with the Abitur from a Gymnasium to enter an apprenticeship program instead of studying at a university. This trend has led to a displacement of students with diplomas from Realschulen or Hauptschulen from the more desirable apprenticeship fields, such as banking and insurance. This displacement is of great concern to teachers, parents, and students from the Realschule and Hauptschule. A Hauptschule teacher said, for example, that students with a Hauptschule diploma have few options open to them other than apprenticeships in the manual labor trades.
While the German system of vocational and academic education may appear to be "impermeable," there are in fact numerous alternative pathways open to the dedicated student or professional who wishes to switch academic paths or change careers. Alternative forms of higher education exist alongside the German universities. Many technical subjects are taught in "technical colleges" (Fachhochschulen). Private colleges also exist, usually specializing in one or several related areas of expertise, although private academic institutions are by no means widespread.
Students who earn the Abitur have earned the legal "right" to study at a public university. Technically, the Abitur confers the right on its holder to study any subject at any university in Germany. However, for many subjects there is a system of selection in place, known as numerus clausus, which is based on academic performance. There are entry restrictions for an increasing number of subjects taught at German universities. In subjects such as biology, medicine, psychology, chemistry, and many others, one must demonstrate superior performance (as measured by Abitur grades) to be accepted into a program. Competition for admission is often severe, and many above-average students do not receive immediate placement in their chosen field. These students have the options of reapplying in following years, applying to a less competitive field, or perhaps studying in another country.
Secondary school students have alternative pathways to the Abitur, as do adults who choose to go back to evening school to earn the Abitur. The vocational Gymnasium is one example of an alternative route to the Abitur. Students at the vocational Gymnasium earn the Abitur, while simultaneously taking courses in a vocational area. In fact, several 12th-grade vocational Gymnasium students mentioned that the vocational Gymnasium has the reputation for being an easier route to the Abitur than the traditional Gymnasium, a statement that was reiterated by teachers at the same school.
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[Chapter 4 (Part 5 of 5)]