The Future of Education
It’s your Choice, Don’t you Know? - Social and Educational Factors Influencing Professional Orientation as Paths to Future Social Exclusion or Inclusion for Young People
Astrid Loff, Ludwigsburg University of Education (Germany)
Abstract
Social and economic participation in Germany depends above average on the social and cultural capital young people bring, as OECD has been reporting repeatedly for years. Social inclusion is determined and directly correlated to the choice of profession and its future prospectives. Problem has it that despite this insight, the number of young people without a professional qualification rise. Albeit an increasing number of formal professions and possibilities in vocational and higher education, many young people take only a very limited scale of options into consideration, as annual governmental reports on vocational and higher education reveal. The current crisis further limits abilities to connect to companies or other future employers. Essential pre-condition for educated vocational choices and decisions under insecurities and limited information is a profound knowledge of possible professions and labor-market demands. The education system has to cope with the occurring gaps. Questions arise what the reasons and responsibilities are for the limitation of knowledge and how to open minds to having more choice than known. Based on a socio-economic framework, the present paper presents empirical results on cognition of vocations by young people standing in the process of professional or vocational orientation. The quantitative research on the scale of proficiency knowledge and its origins reveals that there are conspicuous differences between clusters of pupils in the process of professional orientation, depending on their background and supporting systems. The results provide a base for educational and curricular consequences. Future research could be derived for the fields of socio-economic research with a special focus on economic education.
Keywords: professional orientation, social inclusion, economic education.
References:
- BMBF, BIBB (2020): Berufsbildungsbericht (Federal Report on vocational and higher education). Berlin: BMBF.
- BMBF, DIPF, et al. (2020): Bildung in Deutschland. In: Autorengruppe Bildungsberichterstattung (eds): Bildungsbericht (Federal Report on Education). Berlin/Leipzig.
- Hillmert S. (2009): Soziale Inklusion und Exklusion: die Rolle von Bildung. In: Stichweh R., Windolf P. (eds) Inklusion und Exklusion: Analysen zur Sozialstruktur und sozialen Ungleichheit. Heidelberg: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.
