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The children of the educational expansion era in Germany: education and further training participation in the life‐course

2008; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 29; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/01425690802263635

1465-3346

Harry Friebel,

Social Policy and Reform Studies

Abstract In this article, we examine the social dimension of inequality in educational participation. We look at the social transmission and gender‐specific channelling of education and further training in the context of employment and family. Based on quantitative survey data and qualitative interview data collected from a multi‐level empirical life‐course study (Hamburg Biographical and Life‐Course Panel: 1980–2006) conducted with a sample of the 1979 cohort of secondary school graduates in Hamburg, Germany, we discuss the education and further training practices in their lives – with special emphasis on social class of origin and gender. Keywords: life‐courseeducationfurther traininggendersocial inequalityGermany Notes 1. In the first round of interviews, we interviewed 252 people; by the 17th round, the number of respondents was down to 138. The documented longitudinal data of the development from the first to the 17th round of interviews here refer exclusively to the people who participated in the 17th interview. Men and women were almost equally represented. Following the fact that an understanding and explanation of the further education biographies within the context of the structural change in higher education and additional training is only possible if we know their formal life structures and the level of common‐sense structures of their everyday life, this longitudinal survey of the education and life‐course has been conducted on a multi‐level analytical basis: with both (quantitative) questionnaire surveys and (qualitative) intensive interviews (cf. Friebel et al. Citation2000). Our aim was to gather and interpret both quantitative and qualitative data (cf. Heinz Citation1991) 2. Direct international comparisons of further training participation at the European level are always characterised by vagueness regarding methodology and content. Therefore, we shall not engage in such comparative discussion here. In national reporting systems, both the target groups of the surveys and the reference points/issues vary (cf. von Rosenbladt et al. Citation2006). With the establishment of the 'Adult Education Survey', the European Union member states are currently making efforts towards the introduction of a reporting system comparable in methodology and content. Results from such Europe‐wide comparable reporting will only be available starting in 2011. 3. The frequency of participation in further training documented here is limited to participation in formal learning programmes such as seminars, training courses, and so forth. However, beyond that, we also posed questions regarding experiences in non‐formal (e.g. work‐based learning) and informal (e.g. self‐learning processes) further training activities. Our bi‐variable analyses show a significant relationship between these forms of learning. Respondents who participated in seminars, training courses, and so forth, also most frequently had experience in work‐based learning and self‐learning processes. 4. For more detailed information on the German three‐tier school system, see Cortina et al. (Citation2003). 5. In the last section of this article, we will present a third perspective with reference to the significance of social class. 6. It should be noted here that the interviewees who claimed that they made the decision to participate in further training themselves (structural push: self) gained participative experience more frequently (frequency category 'rather high') within the survey period. In contrast, those who claimed that others (e.g. a boss, superior, etc.) caused them to participate in further training (structural push: someone else) rarely gathered further training experience (frequency category 'rather low') within the survey period. However, there is no correlation between the source of the push and the findings regarding further training in the employment world as discussed above. 7. The European Commission currently defines the facets of the lifelong learning as such: 'Lifelong learning comprises the sum of all formal, non‐formal and informal learning throughout the human life‐cycle' (European Commission Citation2001, 6). We will limit our analysis here to the illustrative discussion of the EU position as an ideal construction, because this debate had already been on the international agenda before it reached Germany. The German version of this education policy guideline is detailed in the documentation of the Bund‐Länder‐Commission (Bund‐Länder‐Commission for Educational Research Citation2004; cf. also Khayat Citation2004). 8. In the table below the graph in Figure 1, the proportional values of further training of women and men without children are documented according to each interview series. 9. We categorised the educational resources of the families into three levels: 'low' = neither of the parents possesses a higher education qualifying graduation certificate (lower school qualification); 'average' = at least one of the parents possesses a mid‐level certificate – Realschulabschluss (mid‐level school qualification); 'high' = at least one of the parents has a high school certificate – Abitur (higher school qualification) (cf. Cortina et al. Citation2003). 10. In this case, the mid‐level graduation certificate also includes the special high school certificate (Fachhochschulreife), which qualifies for academic study at a technical college (cf. Cortina et al. Citation2003). 11. However, the graduation rate in the city‐state Hamburg is one of the highest in Germany: for 2002, Block and Klemm recorded 15% for the special high school certificate Fachhochschulreife and 31% for the general high school certificate Abitur (Block and Klemm Citation2005, 15). The registrations for class level five in Hamburg are a further symptom of this high preference for higher school education. The registrations for Gymnasiums (German high schools) increased from 37% in 1981 to 49% in 2006. And parallel to this, the registrations for comprehensive schools increased from 28% in 1981 to 31% in 2006 (cf. Working group Citation2006). 12. We want to summarily document this here and we will strive to achieve more detailed works on this topic. We will introduce further results in this regard most probably in 2009.