The untapped potential of disadvantaged young people for apprenticeships in skilled trades

Hasler, Patrizia Working Paper The untapped potential of disadvantaged young people for apprenticeships in skilled trades ILO Working Paper, No. 137 Provided in Cooperation with: International Labour Organization (ILO), Geneva Suggested Citation: Hasler, Patrizia (2025) : The untapped potential of disadvantaged young people for apprenticeships in skilled trades, ILO Working Paper, No. 137, ISBN 978-92-2-041901-4, International Labour Organization (ILO), Geneva, https://doi.org/10.54394/PQRO8797 This Version is available at: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/318450 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. 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The untapped potential of disadvantaged young people for apprenticeships in skilled trades, ILO Working Paper 137 (Geneva, ILO). https://doi.org/10.54394/PQRO8797 01 ILO Working Paper 137 Abstract Skills development through quality apprenticeships can help young people make a successful transition from school to adulthood with sustainable, satisfying and rewarding employment. But even in Switzerland, which has a very strong standardized apprenticeship system with a good reputation, there is still an average dropout rate of about 20 per cent over the last two decades. This paper seeks to identify the influencing factors of quality apprenticeships and elaborates possible reasons why young people in low-reputation apprenticeships drop out more often than those in popular professions. Two studies conducted by the author with apprentices in the vocational fields of construction and media design serve as the scientific basis. The first study – in the field of media design, a popular field for vocational training – found that the pedagogical and didactic skills of the trainer, in particular the positive handling of errors, trust, honest and direct feedback, as well as the variability of tasks and the relationship with work colleagues, have a significant influence on training satisfaction. It was also found that the important influencing factors of competence growth in the workplace are not the same as those that significantly influence the grades at school The second study – in the field of construction, a vocational training track with low reputation – compared apprentices who terminated their apprenticeship contract with a control group of non-terminators in order to determine the factors influencing the probability of apprenticeship contract termination. Wrong career choice and unfavourable working and training conditions significantly increase the probability of aborting the apprenticeship. This paper goes one step further and combines the results of the two studies with two sociological theoretical concepts, the concept of “social reproduction” and the concept of different “life worlds” taken from SINUS Institute studies; these sociological concepts explain why young people from families with a low socio-economic background belong to the target group of disadvantaged young people but match very well with skilled trades when their specific needs are addressed. For this reason, the author concludes by providing concrete recommendations for policymakers, employers’ associations and trade unions to leverage the untapped potential of disadvantaged young people in order to address the shortage of skilled workers in skilled trades. Social justice demands long-term investment in this disadvantaged group of young people as they deserve not to be left behind. Their human capital is valuable for economic growth as well as for societal and individual prosperity. About the authors Patrizia Hasler is an independent international senior consultant specialising in the field of vocational education and training. Until 2024, she held the position of Director at the Zurich Technical College. Previously she was National Head of Continuing Education and was a member of the Executive Board of the Swiss Federal University for Vocational Education and Training (SFUVET). From 2013 to 2016, she was engaged in the field of Education Policy at the Swiss Association of Master Builders. Furthermore, she holds multiple qualifications in teaching and has been a teacher for over two decades at various academic levels and in a variety of roles, including one 02 ILO Working Paper 137 teaching assignment in Harare, Zimbabwe. Additionally, she has considerable experience in research within the fields of vocational education, inclusion, work-based learning, action competence orientation, vocational socialisation and employability. She has published in these areas and has delivered numerous presentations at international conferences on a variety of topics. Throughout her diverse roles in VET, including director, policymaker, researcher, senior advisor, career developer and teacher, Patrizia Hasler has demonstrated a unique ability to integrate policy, research and practice in the development of VET. She is particularly committed to harnessing the untapped potential of young people. She holds a PhD and an MSC in TVET. 03 ILO Working Paper 137 Abstract 01 About the authors 01 XIntroduction 06 X1 Quality apprenticeships 07 Individual characteristics 08 Task: Job design 08 Trainer 08 Team 09 Curriculum 09 Findings 09 Training satisfaction 09 Self-assessment of own overall performance at work 10 Assessment of domain-specific skills 10 Work-related attitudes 11 School grades 11 X2 Habitus as an expression of cultural and social capital 14 Cultural capital 14 Social capital 15 X3 SINUS Meta Milieus model 17 X4 Matching of milieus and skilled trades: 21 Untapped potential of human capita 21 X5. Conclusions and recommendations 23 Recommendations 23 References 26 Table of contents 04 ILO Working Paper 137 List of Figures Figure 1. Determinants of quality of work-based learning 07 Figure 2. SINUS Meta Milieus model for established markets 17 Figure 3. SINUS Meta Milieus model for emerging markets 19 05 ILO Working Paper 137 List of Tables Table 1. Regression analysis: Dependent-variable training satisfaction 10 Table 2. Regression analysis: Dependent-variable overall performance at work 10 Table 3. Regression analysis: Dependent-variable domain-specific skills 11 Table 4. Regression analysis: Dependent-variable attitudes 11 Table 5. Regression analysis: Dependent-variable school grades 11 Table 6: Optimized model for the prediction of apprenticeship contract terminations 12 Table 7. Re-entry into a certifying apprenticeship after dropout, in months 13 Table 8. Descriptions of SINUS Meta Milieus of established markets 18 Table 9. Descriptions of SINUS Meta Milieus of emerging markets 19 12 ILO Working Paper 137 describe the situation at the workplace, whereas the dependent variable measures the performance at school. Different competences seem to be developed at the workplace and at school. As an insight to all these regression analyses, it is striking that personality traits such as self-efficacy, self-esteem, a positive attitude towards life and persistence all have an impact on learning outcomes and success in life and career. The trainer can moderate the learning process by consciously developed pedagogical competences, such as task-specific requirements, especially variability and challenging work. In the second study in the occupational field of construction, the author compared apprentices who had terminated their apprenticeship contract with a control group of non-terminators and thus determined the factors influencing the probability of apprenticeship contract termination. The dimensions of trainer, task and team of learning in the workplace were adapted to the conditions in construction by means of a factor analysis based on the term “training and working conditions”; the factor analysis of the working and training conditions was based on a second factor, “external framework conditions”, which includes the three items “working outside in all weathers”, “too much pressure on the construction site” and “was too physically demanding”. XTable 6: Optimized model for the prediction of apprenticeship contract terminations BSE B OR Apprenticeship was a compromise solution 1.262 .406 3.534** Wrong career choice -2.179 .447 .113*** Training conditions -1.407 .478 .245** External framework conditions 3.923 .477 50.568*** Note: Constant – 3.458, **p < .01, *** p < .000, R2= .635, p = .000, N = 337; only statistically significant factors are shown. Source: Author. The wrong career choice and unfavourable working and training conditions significantly increase the probability of belonging to the group of terminators (see table 6). When comparing these two groups, a surprising result emerged: the probability of belonging to the group of terminators decreased significantly the more that respondents stated that the apprenticeship was a compromise solution. External factors such as “hard physical work”, “pressure on the construction site” or “working outside in all weathers” were not found to be reasons for quitting. The qualitative data from the interviews provided explanations for this result; young people with a termination of apprenticeship contract had not made a career choice at all but had been streamed into apprenticeships because they had graduated from school with poor results, so that one cannot speak of an actual career choice The author also investigated how long it took for apprentices in the termination group to re-enter a qualifying apprenticeship. It was found that after one year, more than half of the apprentices had entered a new apprenticeship (see table 7). The longer an apprentice did not manage to find a new company in the same or in a new skilled trade, the lower the probability of their re-entering the educational system. 13 ILO Working Paper 137 XTable 7. Re-entry into a certifying apprenticeship after dropout, in months Note: N=76. Source: Author. All these results show that young people from families with a low socio-economic background are disadvantaged in many ways. Even when they enter school, these children do not have the same personal predispositions due to a lack of support from their parents. As they often perform poorly at school due to a lack of social support, they can only choose professions with lower-performance requirements, which represents a further disadvantage. In addition, they often do not develop life skills such as problem-solving, analytical and socio-emotional skills during childhood and adolescence and are often unable to successfully complete an apprenticeship due to multiple problems in everyday life. For a successful transition from school to work, it is crucial to coach them throughout the apprenticeship, especially when the company cannot invest unproductive time in additional support for the apprentice. In order to better understand the needs of this target group, two sociological models were used in addition to the author's two studies, which are discussed in more detail below. 14 ILO Working Paper 137 X2 Habitus as an expression of cultural and social capital Social reproduction is a concept that was developed by the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu. It explains the mechanisms by which existing social and cultural forms, values, attitudes and experiences are transmitted from generation to generation. According to Bourdieu, every child is differently equipped with cultural, economic and social capital when entering school. That means that a child from a family with a low socio-economic background is already very much disadvantaged at the beginning of their school education. It is up to the educational system to help these disadvantaged children to keep up with their schoolmates. Unfortunately, disadvantaged children may be even more disadvantaged by early tracking at the age of 12 into different performance paths, as is the case in Switzerland. Socially disadvantaged families also often live in areas of worse-performing schools than wealthier families and these children may end up on lower-performance tracks with fewer career choices. They may also receive poorer education through worse-performing schools that have more socially disadvantaged children and limited cultural, social and economic capital. In that context, what does habitus as an expression of social and cultural capital mean? Children “inherit” habitus or behaviours from their parents. Their social actions are no longer defined as the result of conscious decisions but are influenced by their parents’ dispositions to think and act. Habitus refers to the individual's attitudes and values in the social world, their habits and way of life. Habitus is acquired in the social environment through experience and dictates how one should move in the social world. Thus, the individual does not move about in the social world on the basis of inner freedom but tries to choose a narrower social world in such a way that their acquired habitus comes into its own and the individual feels comfortable in it. Through the habitus, the social conditions of existence of an individual are created as a kind of protective function of the individual as part of a community, which structures and determines the thinking and acting of the individual. The habitus is based on the concept of capital accumulation, which Bourdieu developed to explain the “inequality of school performance of children from different social classes” (Bourdieu 1983, 185) and to name the principle of social effects. For Bourdieu, capital is “accumulated labor, either in the form of matter or in internalized, ‘incorporated’ form” (Bourdieu 1983, 183), while habitus is an expression of cultural and social capital, which are defined more fully below. Cultural capital Cultural capital manifests itself in three forms: 1. In an objectified state in the form of books, works of art, pictures and technical instruments, cultural capital can usually be expressed directly in monetary amounts and thus converted into economic capital (Fuchs-Heinritz and König 2014). In particular, the possession of books in a family has a considerable influence on certain achievements, especially on the reading skills of children. 2. In an incorporated, internalized state, “cultural capital consists of the cultural knowledge, abilities and skills of an individual” (Fuchs-Heinritz & König, 2014, 130), which may be expressed as “education” in German, “culture” in French and "cultivation" in English. According to Bourdieu, 15 ILO Working Paper 137 the accumulation of culture requires a “process of unification” (Bourdieu 1983, 186). Time must be invested in the appropriation of cultural capital. During primary education, an individual already unconsciously internalizes cultural capital, which varies greatly depending on social background. Growing up in a certain milieu influences the form of cultural capital, which is reflected in the manner of speaking and social behaviour – the habitus. Thus, cultural capital is linked to the person in his or her biological uniqueness and is passed on by way of social inheritance, which admittedly always happens in secret and often remains completely invisible. 3. In addition to incorporated cultural capital, there is also institutionalized cultural capital, the objectified form of incorporated cultural capital; it is declared legitimate in the form of graduation certificates and educational diplomas, because it meets institutional standards in the form of examinations (Fuchs-Heinritz and König 2014). The school diploma represents a form of educational capital and is the product of a transformation of economic capital into cultural capital, as education requires time and money. Social capital Social capital is an individual's network of social relationships, including their friendships, relationships of trust and acquaintances, as well as memberships in groups, organizations or professional associations (Fuchs-Heinritz and König 2014). However, the members of a social group presuppose the recognition of a minimum of homogeneity in habitus among the participants, which strongly influences the possibilities of relationship-building and the endowments of social groups with economic and cultural capital. The network of relationships is the product of individual or collective investment strategies, which are consciously or unconsciously aimed at creating and maintaining social relations that sooner or later promise tangible benefits. To maintain this network of relationships, time-intensive relationship work is necessary, which is what Bourdieu means by “reproduction of social capital”. Finally, social capital serves to maintain and increase economic and cultural capital. However, the members of a social group presuppose the recognition of a minimum of homogeneity in habitus among the participants, which strongly influences the possibilities of building relationships and the endowment of social groups with economic and cultural capital. In summary, according to Bourdieu, it is the endowment of the family of origin with economic, cultural and social capital that ultimately determines the acquisition of educational qualifications and thus educational success. As soon as they enter school, children bring with them different incorporated cultural capital, which is reflected in linguistic expression, different prior knowledge and different ways of interacting and learning (Sacchi et al. 2011). Thus, the different achievements of children owe more to differences in the endowment of incorporated human capital arising from their origin than to their different talents, although the pre-eminence of their talents is often postulated in education policy, thus perpetuating the myth of equal opportunities in the education system. For Bourdieu, “ability” or “talent” is the product of an investment of time and cultural capital (Bourdieu 1983, 186). For Bourdieu, school performance evaluations are also determined by the social background of the pupils, such as non-performance factors in terms of their appearance, clothing and linguistic expression, so that the habitus of a pupil is included in their evaluation. Thus, to a large extent, this also reflects incorporated cultural capital, which “produces permanent, brutal discontinuities from a continuum of minimal differences in performance” (Bourdieu 1983, 190). In other words, the education system converts the slightest differences in performance into permanent “class differences” (Sacchi et al. 2011). 16 ILO Working Paper 137 Social background is decisive not only for success at the individual level of educational decisions but also at the institutionalized level of selection processes .Children from uneducated homes are often given lower grades by teachers than those from educated homes, which is also reflected in selection processes for different achievement levels. Family social capital also plays a major role in the transition to the education market; the social status of the family, as well as the size and quality of its network of relationships, influence the opportunities of family members on the training market. In addition, young people from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds do not exhibit the same behaviour and life aspirations, attitudes, basic values and desired social status and therefore often stay in their own groups, their so-called peer groups, because this gives them a feeling of security and safety. To gain a better understanding of these social clusters, which also form in the world of work, section 3 below links the concept of Bourdieu to the SINUS Meta Milieus model, which clusters groups with similar cultural, social and economic capital. 17 ILO Working Paper 137 X3 SINUS Meta Milieus model The SINUS Meta Milieus model was developed by the SINUS Institute, an independent institute for market and social research in Germany (SINUS Institut 2024). The model is based on the lifeworld analysis of society. At the international level, there are transnational models, one for established markets and one for emerging markets (see figs. 2 and 3). The SINUS Meta Milieus have been established in more than 50 countries. They can be used in the European Union, as well as in the Asia–Pacific, Latin American and North American Free Trade Agreement economic areas, and can be developed for countries in other regions at any time. Common patterns can be identified in almost all countries of the world in terms of value orientations, lifestyles and consumer preferences. Most of the time, it can be seen that people from different countries but comparable milieus have more in common with each other than with the rest of their compatriots. The SINUS model describes different social milieus, each with characteristic attitudes and life orientations. Each social milieu, representing a specific “life world”, determines the recognition of a minimum of homogeneity in social behaviour among group members. Table 8 and 9 explain the characteristics of each milieu in terms of behaviour, life aspirations, attitudes, basic values and desired social status. In figures 2 and 3, the milieus in the model are placed in the X coordinate axis for basic values and the Y coordinate axis for the level of social status. The more a milieu is towards the zero point, the more traditional and safety-oriented is the milieu. The more a milieu is placed to the right on the X axis, the more opener it is to new challenges and cultural differences; people belonging to these milieus can easily handle unsafe situations. They are often freelancers and have their own business as they love change and new experiences. The concept of Bourdieu and the SINUS meta milieu model fit together as they analyse the social behaviour of groups or families. XFigure 2. SINUS Meta Milieus model for established markets Source: SINUS Institut (2024). 18 ILO Working Paper 137 XTable 8. Descriptions of SINUS Meta Milieus of established markets SINUS Meta Milieu Description Established Status-driven conservative elite. High self-confidence; classic responsibility and performance ethics; exclusivity and status claims; acceptance of social order. Intellectuals Academic elite with post-material roots. High affinity for indulgence, sensuality, art and culture; critical of globalization; advocating for justice and public welfare; taking responsibility for oneself and others; affinity for (continuing) education and embracing quality of life. Performers Efficiencyand progress-oriented modern elite. Global economic and liberal thinking; affinity for “best in class” consumption, modern design, early adopting; interest in technology and digitalization; competitive and career-oriented, networker; open to change, new things. Cosmopolitan avant garde Ambitious and individualistic avant garde. Cosmopolitan, urban, mobile and flexible; digital nomads, lifestyle vanguards; pronounced self-expression; postmodern lifestyle elite, anti-mainstream, desire to stand out; joie de vivre, ambitious and success-oriented. Progressive realists Drivers of social transformation. Sustainable lifestyle without ideology of renunciation; driving the global social transformation; progressive, optimistic; taking responsibility for society; ease of dealing with contradictions, party and protest, seriousness and entertainment. Adaptive navigators Adapting modern mainstream. Flexible pragmatists; young modern middle class; high willingness to adapt and perform; modern lifestyle, digital affinity; reliable and loyal, open to new – but tested and verified – things. Sensation-oriented Materialisticand entertainment-focused (lower) middle class. Hedonistic approach, with focus on today; conspicuous consumption; adjustment if necessary, breakout if possible; unconcerned, open to risks; anti-bourgeois yet materialistic lifestyle, rejection of political correctness and conventions; looking for fun, action, entertainment, stimulation. Conventional mainstream Harmony-seeking older middle-class. Middle class under financial and ideological pressure; desire for secure circumstances, fear of losing well-deserved achievements; search for community, cohesion, social life, neighborly support – down to earth; distrust towards the primacy of the elites – feeling of being left out in favour of others. Traditionals Order-seeking older generation. Petty bourgeois world, traditional working-class culture; desire for social security, harmony, consistency; (voluntary) disconnection from modern lifestyle and digital culture; desire for simple, safe, down-to-earth lifestyle. Consumer materialists Lower class striving for orientation and participation. Precarious living conditions; undemanding adaptation to necessities; desire for consumption standard of the middle class; defiant cohesion within their own community; fear of speed of change, being left behind. Source: Sinus Institut (2024). 19 ILO Working Paper 137 XFigure 3. SINUS Meta Milieus model for emerging markets Source : Sinus Institut (2024). XTable 9. Descriptions of SINUS Meta Milieus of emerging markets Sinus Meta Milieu Description Conservative established Heirs of authority and order. Patriarchic, claim of power, status and leadership, familyand clan-thinking; sense of duty and order; social prestige, ethics of responsibility; religion and tradition. Modern established Cultivated connoisseurs. Sophistication, status orientation, strategic life-planning; indulgence and work-life-balance, education and qualification; liberal and tolerant, social and ecological responsibility; leadership with a sense of purpose. Modern performing Competitive modern elite. Economic elite, entrepreneurship, performance and efficiency, self-determination; semi-global thinking; superiority and distinction, willingness to perform; achievers, networkers and risk-takers; best-in-class mindset. Cosmopolitan avant garde Individualistic digital mavericks. Young and wealthy, digital, global, mobile socializers; global-western attitude; creative and individualistic, self-realization; freedom and independence; entrepreneurial spirit. Success-oriented Pragmatic social climbers. Willingness to perform, social climber mentality, flexibilityand security-driven; balance of work and family/friends; sense of tradition and order; pragmatic and ambitious. Sensation-oriented Thrill-seeking trend-followers: Spontaneity, fun, thrills and action; trend adoption and imitation of Western lifestyles; carefreeness, independence; try to keep up with trends and brands; conflict with traditional values and religion; materialism; flexible and mobile. Adapting mainstream Adapted harmony-seekers. Conservative-materialistic, status-oriented, order and harmony; balance of secular and religious life; social rules and moralities; feel pressure to keep up; next-generation thinking; search for community, cohesion, neighbourly support. Traditional rural Enrooted traditionalists. Strong community and family ties; religion and belief (spirituality); ritualized everyday life; obedience and modesty; afraid of losing traditions, rules and values. Urban working class Working class without prospects. Socially deprived, uprooted, fear and resentments; overcharged by modernization, striving for basic needs; short-term consumer orientation, materialism; solidarity within own network; seek entertainment for distractions. Source: SINUS Institut (2024). 20 ILO Working Paper 137 It is therefore not surprising that young people often opt for similar professions to those of their parents; every community of work has its own habitus, its way of social interacting, values and attitudes. As a result the young person chooses a working environment in which his acquired habitus is accepted and gives him safety and protection. To summarize, the author transfers the findings from the studies to the target group of disadvantaged young people in order to make recommendations for policymakers, employers` associations and trade unions. In doing so, she first locates this disadvantaged group of young people in the SINUS model in order to establish a match with the skilled trades. 21 ILO Working Paper 137 X4 Matching of milieus and skilled trades: Untapped potential of human capita A good fit between the apprentice and their training company is a basic prerequisite for successful training (see fig.1). A high quality of training and quality apprenticeships are characterized by an open, trusting atmosphere and a constructive error culture. But this alone is not enough to ensure a high level of fit for the apprentice. If the values, forms of interaction and life aspirations do not correspond to the apprentice's acquired habitus, which he has unconsciously adapted from his family, he will not feel comfortable and protected in the new community of work, which can also lead to dropout. Considering disadvantaged young people, it is usually not the habitus that leads to dropout but the lack of problem-solving skills and learning strategies, as well as the low frustration tolerance combined with the low self-efficacy experienced at school, that have a degrading influence on self-esteem. The importance of individual characteristics for a successful learning process cannot be overemphasized; unfortunately, grades say little about the performance potential of learners, as grades are largely determined by the cultural, social and economic capital of parents as well as the performance expectations of teachers – factors that children and young people from low-income and socially disadvantaged families can hardly influence. For this reason, these children must already be supported in elementary school in order to create equal opportunities so that they can achieve their full potential. When it comes to the transition to the labour market, it is often difficult to catch these young people during the often very difficult period of puberty with hormonal fluctuations, because their personality traits have already been negatively reinforced by the frustrations that they have often experienced despite their best efforts. If addiction problems are already present, it becomes even more difficult to keep them in the education process in the long term. The importance of good training quality as a form of prevention against the risk of dropping out is elaborated in this paper. Training satisfaction and training quality are highly correlated, which is conducive to an optimal fit perception of the chosen profession. Young people with a terminated apprenticeship contract indicate lower self-esteem, lower self-efficacy and lower confidence in their success than young people without a terminated apprenticeship contract. In the contract termination group, the wrong career choice was cited as the main reason for the termination, along with the difficult training conditions. Based on the interviews, it is assumed that young people in lower-performance groups and from families with low socio-economic background often did not make a conscious choice of apprenticeship but rather took the first available apprenticeship for fear of not receiving training, which favours problems with the fit. While conducting the interviews with the contract termination group, it was noticeable that adolescents mentioned similar desires, fears, school experiences and conflict-resolution patterns. Disadvantaged adolescents often had dysfunctional coping strategies. Adolescents with unconscious impulsive and reactive conflict-resolution patterns reported increased use of addictive substances such as cigarettes, alcohol or marijuana. Young people with accumulated negative social and emotional experiences are particularly sensitive to a poor working environment and to caregivers who do not engage with them emotionally. They are very quick to blame themselves and therefore quickly withdraw. ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific DWT–Bangkok ILO Country Office for Thailand United Nations Building, 11th Floor Rajdamnern Nok Avenue, P.O. Box 2-349 Bangkok 10200 Thailand T +662 288 12 34 [email protected] XAdvancing social justice, promoting decent work The International Labour Organization is the United Nations agency for the world of work. We bring together governments, employers and workers to improve the working lives of all people, driving a human-centred approach to the future of work through employment creation, rights at work, social protection and social dialogue. I S B N 9789220419007 9HSTCMA*ebjaah+ 9 789220 419007 Contact details