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Transitions - Research with longitudinal data

Edited by
Prof. Dr. Stephan Schumann, University of Konstanz, Germany
Prof. Dr. Susan Seeber, University of Goettingen, Germany
Prof. Dr. Kurt Häfeli, University of Applied Sciences of Special Needs Education, Zurich, Switzerland

Research studies on transitions of adolescents and young adults receive increasing attention from scholars, politicians and practitioners. In general, individual transitions are a result of individual decisions regarding contextual variables. They are determined by the structural opportunities within the educational system and further by the conditions at the labor market in particular. Hence, in countries with a capacious system of Vocational and Educational Training, young people make other decisions than adolescents in countries with more academic-oriented systems.
Against this background, this thematic series will concentrate on transitions from school to vocational training, transitions within vocational training and moreover from there to employment.


  1. Investigating individuals’ sequences of occupations and identifying suitable patterns is a complex task. Most research focuses on single time-points, single jobs and single transitions and only few longitudina...

    Authors: Claudia Schellenberg, Annette Krauss, Achim Hättich and Kurt Häfeli
    Citation: Empirical Research in Vocational Education and Training 2016 8:15
  2. Mathematical competency is central to life in modern society, and it is particularly important for many occupations and professions. In Germany, young people with insufficient mathematical skills experience si...

    Authors: Simon Weißeno, Susan Seeber, Janna Kosanke and Constanze Stange
    Citation: Empirical Research in Vocational Education and Training 2016 8:14
  3. This paper examines the transitions made by lower secondary school leavers and intermediate secondary school leavers into vocational education and training in Germany. With the basis that boys have long been u...

    Authors: Ursula Beicht and Günter Walden
    Citation: Empirical Research in Vocational Education and Training 2016 8:11
  4. Regional opportunity structures have received little attention in research on educational aspirations and attainment. This papers aim is to address whether regional opportunity structures affect educational at...

    Authors: David Glauser and Rolf Becker
    Citation: Empirical Research in Vocational Education and Training 2016 8:8
  5. The Federal Vocational Baccalaureate constitutes the major link between the academic and vocational tracks in the Swiss educational system. Statistics show that only 20 % of a cohort move immediately to an aca...

    Authors: Michael Jüttler, Andreas Jüttler, Stephan Schumann and Franz Eberle
    Citation: Empirical Research in Vocational Education and Training 2016 8:6
  6. Social integration is an important outcome of organizational socialization. It helps adolescents after transition to their first job to adapt rapidly to the new work and organizational situation. Positive soci...

    Authors: Christof Nägele and Markus P. Neuenschwander
    Citation: Empirical Research in Vocational Education and Training 2016 8:4